Luca Paolini case to be heard in January

In just over two weeks, we will know more about Luca Paolini’s doping case. As reported by La Gazzetta dello Sport , the Italian will be heard by the UCI Anti-Doping Tribunal before the end of January.

After testing positive for cocaine at the last Tour de France, the former Katusha  rider has refused the request of a two-year suspension and now the process led by German judge Ulrich Haas, will start.

Italian team for the Olympics takes shape

The reconnaissance of the Olympic circuit in Rio de Janeiro has helped Italian national coach Davide Cassani to get a clear idea about his team for the event. . He believes in the possibility of getting a medal and laves nothing to chance in the process.

This week Vincenzo Nibali, Fabio Aru, Valerio Agnoli and Adriano Malori tested the course and they are among the candidates for the five spots. As reported by La Gazzetta dello Sport, Cassani is also considering Alessandro De Marchi, Diego Ulissi, Giovanni Visconti, Diego Rosa and David Formolo who are all strong climbers.

Excellent line-up for GP Industria & Artigianato

There is obvious satisfaction within the organizational staff of the GP Industria & Artigianato Larciano. With each passing day, they seem to be able to attract star riders for the event which has been moved to the day after Strade Bianche.

The organizers had already confirmed the presence of Orica GreenEDGE with defending champion Adam Yates and the Astana team led by Italian champion Vincenzo Nibali who won the race as a young rider.

Now they have also been able to attract IAM Cycling, Bora -Argon 18 and Nippo-Vini Fantini.

IAM Cycling is the third WorldTour tram. The organizers are very confident of being able to add more teams from the highest category. Bora-Argon 18 which is aiming for the WorldTour in 2017, will include Italian Cesare Benedetti while Nippo-Vini Fantini will line up with their captain Damiano Cunego.

Cunego won the race in 2004 – one week before he started his triumphant ride at the Giro. With the red jersey of Saeco, Damiano Cunego prevailed in the sprint of a small group, beating world champion Igor Astarloa . He later added the 2006 edition to his palmares.  After 10 years, Larciano offers Cunego a chance to match the record of victories, held by Gianni Faresin.

400,000 euros deficit after Utrecht Grand Depart

The start of the Tour de France in Utrecht led to a deficit of 400 000 Euros for the municipality.  Based on research from the municipality and the University of Utrecht, RTV Utrecht reports that visitors spent 25 million euros in the city and the Utrecht region.

The reason for the deficit is the disappointing parking revenue and the unexpected warm weather. Therefore, additional measures had to be taken and that cost money. The number of sponsors was disappointing.  

The report from the University of Utrecht is critical when it comes to the efforts of 1300 volunteers. There was only a limited number of professionals available. According to the researchers, the organizers were vulnerable at some points. 

Utrecht University also highlights the great success of the Grand Depart. The event received much media attention. The researchers compare that with the advertising costs of over 33 million euros. The municipality hopes that the attention will attract more tourists in the future.

New team for Wackermann

Luca Wackermann can finally smile again. The former Southeast rider has signed a contract with the Al Nasr continental team from Dubai.

"They contacted me at the end of year, on December 29 or 30, and the agreement has developed slowly. Sports director Victor Carvalho called me,” he tells tuttobiciweb. “I signed a one-year contract with the team of Mohammed Ali Alawar. Now I'm about to leave on Friday, January 22 when I will fly to Dubai. I get to know my teammates and then there will be a presentation and the debut at the Dubai Tour.”

"I'll be the only Italian in the team and for me it will be a nice challenge to be up against Santaromita, Palini and sports director Volpi who are with Skydive, another team from Dubai.

"We will do many races in Asia but also several events on the European calendar. I'm really very happy because Al Nasr is a very interesting project, with an expected growth in the next five years. They are very motivated and I am so too. They want to become the best and I cannot miss this opportunity. "

Al Nasr is a football club which is led by Fabio Cannavaro and is also involved in eight other sports.

Luca Wackermann was born on March 13, 1992 and turned pro with Lampre Merida in 2013 and rode for Southeast in 2015.

Nippo-Vini Fantini for San Luis and Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race

The first training camo has yet to be completed, but at home NIPPO - Vini Fantini is focusing on the races. The Italian-Japanese team will be at the start of the Tour de San Luis next week, one of the most important events of January while they will race Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race on January 31.

For the Argentine race, the team will be led by sprinters Grega Bole and Eduard Grosu, counting on the support of Pierpaolo De Negri, Richard Stacchiotti, Genki Yamamoto and Antonio Nibali. In Australia it's up to Damiano Cunego and Daniele Colli to get results, flanked by youngsters Nicolas Marini and Giacomo Berlato and Japaneses Kazushige Kuboki and Yuma Koishi.

Price tag on Rabobank teams

After this tear, Rabobank will end their support of the eponymous women's team and the U23 team of the National Federation. Both teams are desperately looking for a new backer and now have a price: 2-2.5 million Euros.

Both teams are among the best in the world in their sport but they  will not necesaarily be linked in the future, team manager Eric van den Boom told AlgemeenDagblad. "If you are just talking about the women's band, then you are talking about an annual budget of one and a half million. For the development team, it is two to two and a half million." Team manager Richard Groenendaal expects to be forced to cut the number of riders from 20 to 12-14.” We cannot expect to have the Rabobank luxury anymore.”