Team Polti was an Italian professional

cycling team A cycling team is a group of cycle sport, cyclists who join a team or are acquired and train together to compete in bicycle racing, bicycle races whether amateur or professional – and the supporting personnel. Cycling teams are most important i ...

. It became an independent team in 1994, after the separation of Lampre-Polti, and was active until 2000. Team Polti began in 1994 with Gianluigi Stanga as directeur sportif and Vittorio Algeri and Claudio Corti as managers. The team used

Fausto Coppi Angelo Fausto Coppi (; 15 September 1919 – 2 January 1960) was an Italian cyclist, the dominant international cyclist of the years after the World War II, Second World War. His successes earned him the title ''Il Campionissimo'' ("Champio ...

bikes. Other directeur sportifs included Giosuè Zenoni, Antonio Bevilacqua and Giovanni Fidanza. Team Polti gave

Richard Virenque Richard VirenqueRichard Virenque's name is pronounced Ree-shah Vee-rahnk. Virenque considers himself a man of the South but pronounces his name in standard French. Confusion is caused by the southern habit of pronouncing "en" as "ang" or "eng", ...

a chance after he was ejected from the

1998 Tour de France The 1998 Tour de France was the 85th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours. The race was composed of 21 stages and a prologue. It started on 11 July in Ireland before taking an anti-clockwise route t ...

and while maintaining his innocence, his former teammates at

Festina image:Festina F16184 4.jpg, Festina F16184 Festina is a Spanish watch conglomerate. In 1985, businessman Miguel Rodríguez acquired Festina, a brand founded in Switzerland in 1902, thus forming the ''Festina-Lotus Group.'' History Festina w ...

admitted taking EPO. Virenque joined Team Polti for the 1999 and 2000 seasons where he won the Mountains classification at the

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

and 2000 Tour de France. In July 2007, Former Team Polti rider Jörg Jaksche admitted use of performance-enhancing products and alleged that this began when he was competing with Team Polti in 1997. Jaksche alleged that directeur sportif Gianluigi Stanga introduced him to EPO during the

Tour de Suisse The Tour de Suisse () is an annual road cycling stage race. Raced over eight days, the event covers two weekends in June, and along with the Critérium du Dauphiné, it is considered a proving ground for the Tour de France, which is on the calend ...

in 1997. Stanga immediately denied the accusations. Throughout its seven-year history, the team rode Fausto Coppi branded bikes and Santini provided the team with their striking cycling kit.

Major wins

*Stage 1, 20 and Points classification 1994 Tour de France Abdoujaparov *Stage 9 1995 Tour de France Outschakov * Stage 16 2000 Tour de France

*Stage 10, Points and sprint classification 1994 Giro d'Italia Abdoujaparov * Stage 13 1999 Giro d'Italia

* Stage 12

2000 Giro d'Italia The 2000 Giro d'Italia was the 83rd edition of the Giro. It began with a prologue that navigated through the Italian capital Rome. The race came to a close on June 4 with a mass-start stage that ended in the Italian city of Milan. Twenty te ...

Enrico Cassani * 1994 road race champion Dirk Baldinger * 1996 Time trial champion Georg Totschnig * 1997 Military road race champion Jörg Jaksche * 1997 Military Time trial champion Romāns Vainšteins * 1994

Tour of Flanders The Tour of Flanders () may refer to the following cycle races: * Tour of Flanders (men's race) The Tour of Flanders (), also known as ''De Ronde'' (''"The Tour"''), is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race held in Belgium every spri ...

Gianni Bugno Gianni Bugno (; born 14 February 1964) is a retired Italy, Italian professional road racing cyclist. Biography Bugno was a versatile rider, able to do well in different types of races. He won numerous stages in the Tour de France, and the Mi ...

* 1995 Scheldeprijs Rossano Brasi * 1995 Amstel Gold Race Mauro Gianetti * 1995

Liège–Bastogne–Liège Liège–Bastogne–Liège , also known as ''La Doyenne'' ("The Old Lady"), is a one-day classic cycling race in Belgium.Cycling Weekly, UK, 13 March 1993 First run in 1892, it is the oldest of the five ''Cycling monument, Monuments'' of the Eur ...

Mauro Gianetti *

HEW Cyclassics The Hamburg Cyclassics (currently known as the Bemer Cyclassics for sponsorship purposes) is an annual one-day professional and amateur road bicycle race, cycling race in and around Hamburg, Germany. Although the route varies, its distance is alw ...

1996 and 1999

Rossano Brasi Rossano Brasi (born 3 June 1972) is an Italian former professional racing cyclist. He competed in the Cycling at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Men's team pursuit, team pursuit at the 1992 Summer Olympics. He was professional from 1995 to 2002 wit ...

and

Mirko Celestino Mirko Celestino (born 19 March 1974 in Albenga) is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist, specializing in the classic cycle races. His biggest career achievements to date include winning the ''monumental classic''—Giro di Lombard ...

* 1999

Giro di Lombardia The Giro di Lombardia (), officially ''Il Lombardia'', is a cycling race in Lombardy, Italy. It is traditionally the last of the five 'Cycling monument, Monuments' of the season, considered to be one of the most prestigious one-day events in cycli ...

Mirko Celestino

References

External links

Defunct cycling teams based in Italy Cycling teams based in Italy Cycling teams established in 1994 Cycling teams disestablished in 2000 {{Italy-cycling-team-stub