The Castle of Desanzano was the venue of the team launch for Gazprom-RusVelo professional cycling team this weekend. The team is the brainchild of Russian cycling federation president Igor Makarov who has been giving it all the necessary support over a period of four years. The arrival of the new title sponsor in 2016 was announced at the beginning of the ceremony, giving the team the new official name of Gazprom-RusVelo.
The project will not be limited to just an all-Russian 21-rider professional road squad. It consisted of several branches before, and now it brings together under the same name, apart from the above-mentioned squad, three divisions specializing in track, MTB and BMX racing.
The team continues its close partnership with the famous Italian bicycle brand Colnago, riding the new-generation bikes equipped with the wheels and transmission by Campagnolo.
UEC president David Lappartient, FCI president Renato di Rocco, RCF president Igor Makarov, Ernesto Colnago, Valentino Campagnolo, cycling legends Viatcheslav Ekimov and Dmitri Konychev were among a lot of prominent names in the world of cycling who attended the presentation as the guests of honor.
Summing up the event, Gazprom-RusVelo general manager Renat Khamidulin said:
“It was a very special day for every member of the team, irrespective of his or her position, and we really wanted to make this day memorable for the audience too, so we were pleased to hear the voices which marked the presentation high. This event opens up a new chapter in the history of the project; we realize that the expectations with the arrival of a powerful title sponsor are running high and we are getting ready to face the challenge. The riders have just finished a three-week training camp with a focus on conditioning and basic training in general; in just a week's time a new training camp begins, focused on quality workouts on the road. It's like a furnace where the flame must always stay on, and we see it as the only way to success for us now”.
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