# Alessio–Bianchi

Alessio–Bianchi was an Italian professional cycling team which existed from 1998 to 2004. It was created in 1998 as Ballan. In 1999 Italian wheels manufacturer Alessio came in as co-sponsor, and in 2000 as main sponsor. The team was dissolved by the end of the 2004 season.

## History

The team began in 1998 as Ballan. Flavio Miozzo, the team director said he selected the riders for the team very carefully filling a roster of only fourteen riders and hoping to race in some of the largest races in the world.

### 2004

The final year of the team started with a team presentation in Italy with Bianchi coming across from the now defunct Team Coast to sponsor the team. In early February news surfaced of the team being unable to pay some of their Scandinavian riders. On 13 February 2004 Memory Corp came in as a new sponsor to cover the wages of the riders who missed theirs. The team's first win came in Stage 3 of Giro della Provincia di Lucca by Alessandro Bertolini which led to Bertolini taking the leaders jersey by 1:51. Bertolini was one of eighteen who finished inside the time limit of the stage after the peloton allowed the break to get an advantage of over thirty minutes. Bertolini held onto the jersey to take the overall finishing 9 seconds down on the stage 4 winner Florent Brard. One of the Team's goals was the 2004 Tour de France with Pietro Caucchioli being their man in contention for the overall. The team had two riders finish in the top 10 of Stage 3.

## Final Roster (2004)

    As of 1 January 2004
| | Rider | Date of birth |
| Magnus Bäckstedt (SWE) | Magnus Bäckstedt (SWE) | (1975-01-30)30 January 1975 (aged 28) |
| Fabio Baldato (ITA) | Fabio Baldato (ITA) | (1968-06-13)13 June 1968 (aged 35) |
| Alessandro Bertolini (ITA) | Alessandro Bertolini (ITA) | (1971-07-27)27 July 1971 (aged 32) |
| Pietro Caucchioli (ITA) | Pietro Caucchioli (ITA) | (1975-08-28)28 August 1975 (aged 28) |
| Raffaele Ferrara (ITA) | Raffaele Ferrara (ITA) | (1976-10-03)3 October 1976 (aged 27) |
| Angelo Furlan (ITA) | Angelo Furlan (ITA) | (1977-06-21)21 June 1977 (aged 26) |
| Martin Hvastija (SLO) | Martin Hvastija (SLO) | (1969-11-30)30 November 1969 (aged 34) |
| Ruslan Ivanov (MDA) | Ruslan Ivanov (MDA) | (1973-12-18)18 December 1973 (aged 30) |
| René Jørgensen (DEN) | René Jørgensen (DEN) | (1975-07-26)26 July 1975 (aged 28) |
| Marcus Ljungqvist (SWE) | Marcus Ljungqvist (SWE) | (1974-10-26)26 October 1974 (aged 29) |
| | Rider | Date of birth |
| Denis Lunghi (ITA) | Denis Lunghi (ITA) | (1976-01-21)21 January 1976 (aged 27) |
| Vladimir Miholjević (HRV) | Vladimir Miholjević (HRV) | (1974-01-18)18 January 1974 (aged 29) |
| Cristian Moreni (ITA) | Cristian Moreni (ITA) | (1972-11-21)21 November 1972 (aged 31) |
| Claus Michael Møller (DEN) | Claus Michael Møller (DEN) | (1968-10-00)October 1968 (aged 35) |
| Andrea Noè (ITA) | Andrea Noè (ITA) | (1969-01-15)15 January 1969 (aged 34) |
| Franco Pellizotti (ITA) | Franco Pellizotti (ITA) | (1978-01-15)15 January 1978 (aged 25) |
| Ellis Rastelli (ITA) | Ellis Rastelli (ITA) | (1975-01-18)18 January 1975 (aged 28) |
| Michael Skelde (DEN) | Michael Skelde (DEN) | (1973-08-13)13 August 1973 (aged 30) |
| Scott Sunderland (AUS) | Scott Sunderland (AUS) | (1966-11-28)28 November 1966 (aged 37) |
| Andrea Tafi (ITA) | Andrea Tafi (ITA) | (1966-05-07)7 May 1966 (aged 37) |

## Major wins

Sources:

### 1998

    Stage 1 Giro di Calabria, Endrio Leoni
    Stage 4 Tirreno–Adriatico, Gabriele Colombo
    Stage 3a Four Days of Dunkirk, Alexandre Gontchenkov
    Stage 5 Four Days of Dunkirk, Gabriele Colombo
    Luk-Cup Bühl, Piotr Ugrumov

### 1999

    Stage 5 Tour Méditerranéen, Fabio Baldato
    Trofeo Pantalica, Andrea Ferrigato
    Berner Rundfahrt, Andrea Ferrigato
    Stage 4 Giro del Trentino, Alexandre Gontchenkov
    Stage 2 Four Days of Dunkirk, Andrea Ferrigato
    Stage 1 OBV Classic, Carlo Finco
    Stage 2 Danmark Rundt, Fabio Baldato
    Stage 3 Danmark Rundt, Nicola Loda
    Stage 4 Tour de Suisse, Gilberto Simoni

### 2001

    Stage 2 & 8 Tirreno–Adriatico, Endrio Leoni
    Stages 8 & 17 Giro d'Italia, Pietro Caucchioli

### 2002

    Stage 6 Tirreno–Adriatico, Franco Pellizotti
    Stage 4 Tour of the Basque Country, Franco Pellizotti
    Stages 17 & 20 Vuelta a España, Angelo Furlan

### 2003

    Stage 5 Tirreno–Adriatico, Ruggero Marzoli
    Stage 3 Tour de Romandie, Laurent Dufaux
    Stage 2 Giro d'Italia, Fabio Baldato

### 2004

    Overall Giro della Provincia di Lucca, Alessandro Bertolini
       Stage 3, Alessandro Bertolini
    Gran Premio di Chiasso, Franco Pellizotti
    Paris-Roubaix, Magnus Bäckstedt
    Stage 5 Course de la Paix, Martin Hvastija
    Stage 1 Route du Sud, Cristian Moreni
    Italy Road Race Championships, Cristian Moreni
    Scandinavian Open Road Race, Marcus Ljungqvist
    Coppa Bernocchi, Angelo Furlan
    Stages 1 & 4 Tour de Pologne, Fabio Baldato