After months of uncertainty and fears that the team might be dropped from the UCI ProTour, the Lampre-Farnese Vini team of Damiano Cunego and Alessandro Petacchi has been officially registered as a top-level squad for 2010.
The UCI issued a short communiqué this morning which confirmed the news.
“On January 25th, the UCI announced that the Lampre-Farnese Vini team had been provisionally registered until 31st March 2010,” it stated. “Following an examination of the team’s file on this date, the Lampre-Farnese Vini team’s situation is judged to be in compliance with the regulations, and the Licenses Commission has deemed the matter closed.”
Last autumn the team’s holding company Lampre/Bici Club Azzurro SRL was granted a renewal of its UCI ProTour licence for the period 2010 to 2013. However on November 25th it was told that the team’s registration for 2010 had been declined.
At the time, general manager Giuseppe Saronni said that he was stunned by the news. “The decision of the CUPT (UCI ProTour Council) is surprising,” he told tuttobiciweb.it. “Now we are waiting to know which aspects of our dossier the UCI is asking for clarification. Certainly, at this moment I’d prefer to be thinking about [preparing for] the sporting aspect of 2010, while I am forced [instead] to deal more in administrative and bureaucratic areas.”
The UCI did not indicate where Lampre fell down, saying simply that the matter has been referred to the Licence Commission ‘which will make a decision on whether or not to withdraw the UCI ProTour licence held by that team.’
On January 25th the Licence Commission then announced that it had accepted a proposal from the UCI to grant the team provision registration until March 31st. “This proposal was drawn up in the best interests of cycling and to assist the riders and personnel of the Italian team in particular,” it said.
“If at this date the team's situation is considered not to comply with the regulations, a renewed request for the withdrawal of the Lampre-Farnese Vini team’s licence will be submitted to the Licence Commission.”
ProTour teams are assessed on a number of criteria, including the sporting level at which it operates. Essentially, teams have to be of a sufficiently high competitive level to justify the licence. This is extremely unlikely to have been the problematic issue, given that it finished thirteenth in the UCI’s World Ranking last season. Cunego was twelfth in the individual standings.
Other considerations are ethical requirements and financial stability. Not much is known about the former – although Danilo Di Luca’s recent declaration that he was confident of joining the team didn’t help much – while the latter requirement was undoubtedly aided recently with the announcement of a new co-sponsor.
Italian footwear company Geox has committed to backing the team and reportedly could be in line to increase its financial commitment in 2011.
Today’s news takes the pressure off the team, allowing it to concentrate fully on racking up the best possible results in the weeks and months ahead.