"It would have been a good season for Androni.Sidermec, if there had been positive tests from two irresponsible riders whose criminal behavior has influenced the work of everybody.” Androni manager Gianni Savio does not mince his words when he is asked to draw the balance for his team after a 2015 season during which the team was suspended in August after Fabio Taborre and Davide Appollonio both tested positive.

“It was a good season because we got eleven wins on the roads in Europe and America, because we got a win in Italy with Francesco Chicchi at Coppi e Bartali and because we did a good Giro d’Italia,” he told Tuttobiciweb. “In the Giro we went to the attack in almost all stages and with this attitude Marco Bandiera was on the final podium twice, winning the ranking of the intermediate sprints and as most aggressive rider. For a professional team like ours, it is nevertheless significant results.”

However, the two doping cases change the balance.

"They are irresponsible actions that caused serious damage to the whole team,” Savio said. “It is not so much a damage to the image as some might think: the sensible people have figured out how things are and love the fact that we are the first team in the history of cycling to have taken legal action against the riders and we did so with all the team members, management, staff and riders. Even our most important sponsors  - and I refer to Androni, Sidermec, Tre Colli, Regolo, Lauretana and Kuota - have expressed total solidarity and continued their journey with us. The first damage to which I refer is the abrupt end of important negotiations that we were ongoing back then and that were stopped entirely. In addition, there was a sports sanction because we were given a one-month suspension that we sat out independently in accordance with the regulation of the Movement for a Credible Cycling which we have joined. For our riders, the fact that there was no racing for six weeks was really a tough obstacle to overcome. But when we started again, we were able to show the grit and determination that have now become our trademark. Anyway, in drawing up the balance, we cannot forget the times of great misfortune like the fracture of the femur for Emanuele Sella at the start of the season and for Andrea Zordan later in the year.

Savio is now looking to 2015.

“We will continue much on the same path,” he said. “I emphasize how we managed to make a small miracle by continuing our activities without having received the money of our second sponsor for 2014. I am referring to Venezuela. We are aiming to have a good start with some riders that can give us some wins and we have riders looking for redemption. Chicchi and Bandiera will return and will beo ur main riders alongside our captain Pellizotti and new signings Viganò, Ratto, Selvaggi and Torres. And I confess to having found the enthusiasm of the past by revealing a young Colombian talent Egan Bernal, a boy who will turn 19 in January and who has exception climbing qualities. With him I have given new life to the relationship between me and Colombia after having had riders like Fredy Gonzalez, Ivan Parra, José Serpa and Cacaito Rodriguez.”