Once upon a time there was Valcar-Travel&Service, an Italian continental team, desired, created and shaped by the expertise and passion of Valentino Villa and Davide “Capo” ArzeniToday, its best athletes are scattered between Lidl-Trek, Uae Team Adq, FDJ-Suez, and Cofidis. We were talking about it just a few days ago. with Roberto Amadio, identifying in it the best example of an Italian team, capable of valorising some of the best athletes, working in close collaboration with the FCI.
Dino Salvoldi didn't give any discounts, but he had found common ground with Arzeni. And one by one they arrived. Elisa Balsamo's two road world championships, the Gand-Wevelgem, the Ronde Van Drenthe, the Binda Trophy and the Valenciana. In addition to the results on the track of that group of terrible girls who still represent today the backbone of Marco Villa's national teamAs Arzeni told us, the Bergamo team had earned respect for the squadrons based on results.
The WorldTour bomb
The WorldTour hit the world of these teams like a water bomb. And when the picture finally came together, it turned out that it would become more difficult for the continentals to move forward every yearThe more astute ones have been absorbed by richer realities. They have met their need to structure themselves with a female team and have become an integral part of it.
Valcar hoped until the very end to find a major sponsor that would allow it to make the leap into the higher category. However, in the end, owner Villa had to give upChampions like Cavalli, then Balsamo, Guazzini, Alzini and Sanguineti signed for WorldTour teams, while others continued with Arzeni until 2022.
The disappears Alé-BTC
Meanwhile the Italian panorama has suffered another blow, with the acquisition of the WorldTour license of Alé-BTC Ljubljana from the newborn UAE Team Adq. After Pogacar's second Tour, it seemed urgent for the Emirates group to have a women's team, which supported the policies of emancipation. Thus it was Gianetti who suggested the name of Rubens Bertogliati as a team manager. While he was at the head of the structure from the very beginning Melissa Moncada, a Colombian manager who also took part in the acquisition of Colnago.
Strengthened by the guidance of Lacquaniti and Devoti, the first year went well. It just continued on the activity and method of the Venetian team, with four victories by Marta Bastianelli and four by “Mavi” Garcia. Wanting to further grow, the following year it was Bertogliati himself who to promote absorption of the group still led by Arzeni. So to the UAE Athletes such as Consonni, Persico, Gasparrini, Baril and Carbonari passed through. Lacquaniti was not confirmed, while alongside Arzeni the very experienced Marcello Albasini.
The managers' claim is the desire to match the achievements of the men's team, without considering the fact that certain peaks don't come simply by combining athletes, money, and resources. The team's deployment of resources at the races is quite impressive, but the results don't always live up to such abundance. And when at the end of the 2023 Bertogliati resigned it was clear that something was not going as classic cycling would have suggested. And it still sounds strange that the men's team of the Emirati team is not involved and does not want to be involved in the management of the women's team.
Arzeni also leaves
2024 started with the introduction of new trainers and the need for Arzeni to no longer train "his" girlsThe criterion can be shared: everyone must do their part, without overlapping responsibilities. Perhaps to support the decision, At the December retreat, the sporting directors were left at home. The girls spent those two weeks with just the coaches. Wasn't it once said that the winter retreat was for building the group?
Cherie Pridham took over from Bertogliati and recently Yana Seel has been hired as Head of Business and CommunicationThe manager was already known in cycling for having pushed Vinokourov away from "her" Astana. As expected, when the Kazakh returned to lead the team, the doors closed for her. A similar fate awaited Lotto-Dstny. Called by team manager John Lelangue, after two years and his resignation, Yana Seel also changed direction.
The fact is that the results of 2024 have so far been well below the team's potential. The victories there are 10, including 2 by Gasparrini, 3 by Consonni and one by Silvia Persico. Girls expected to achieve important consecrations (with the exception of Consonni's Olympic gold, which has little to do with the management UAE), they lost the thread. And when Arzeni also resigned on the eve of the Giro, it was understood that something atypical was going on. Probably It's unfair to point the finger at athletes who don't perform as they should., if the team management is constantly changing direction and guidelines.
Once upon a time there was Valcar
Once upon a time there was Valcar-Travel&Service, just as there were Lampre and Liquigas before them. Teams in which the Italian matrix has had the development of talents at heart for yearsWhat came next, rightly or wrongly, overshadowed the needs of the Italian cycling movement. The best athletes were handed over to managers of other nationalities with other goals at heart. This is why we need an Italian WorldTour team that can bring together the best men and women. With their respective I have to team up and the very talented technicians who have found success abroad for years.
If money were enough, la UAE Team Adq would have already won the Giro and the Tour. Instead, it è came out with broken bones and – we are now almost certain – not due to a lack of willpower or quality of the athletes. In the space of six months, two of the people who could have made its fortune have resigned.We don't believe this is just an indication of a desire for change. You change if something doesn't work or if you have a solution that works better.Otherwise, it will be destroyed, and it's a shame that Italian athletes who deserve more in the prime of their careers will suffer. Let's hope the new management finds a way forward soon, which will likely involve much simpler steps than one might think.
