Following recent talk of rifts within the team management, sponsor dissatisfaction and a push to replace Mauro Gianetti as team manager, Team GEOX will hold a training camp in just over a week’s time in order to solidify team morale.
Gianetti (pictured) confirmed yesterday that the team would get together in Tarragona in Spain between January 8th and 15th, with the big guns Carlos Sastre and Denis Menchov in attendance. Directeur sportif Joxean Matxin, who was rumoured by some as being a possible replacement for Gianetti as general manager, will also be there.
“We have learned that good atmosphere and attitude is imperative to a successful team,” said Gianetti. “The riders of the UCI Professional Team have already shown that they are committed to making this team work and that they work well together,” he added
The former Footon-Servetto squad fully expected to secure a ProTeam licence for 2011 but when the UCI calculated the points of the riders under the new hierachical system, the team ended up 17th. Those inside the top 15 were automatically deemed eligible for ProTeam status, provided they met the ethical and financial requirements, while those between 16th and 20th would be considered for just three places.
Team Geox found itself as one of the two teams passed over for ProTeam status, with Cofidis also losing out.
The team has since been given a Pro Continental licence, and states that the “contracts of the team sponsors are viable and enforceable,” as assessed by the UCI, and that the “the team’s budget is secure and fulfilled all the UCI regulations.”
Although its position outside the ProTeams means that it is not automatically guaranteed entries to the three Grand Tours, the team is determined to ride the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España. Menchov has won one Giro and two Vueltas, while Sastre took the 2008 Tour ahead of Cadel Evans.