Aurum Hotels 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 ...

founded in 1996 and disbanded in 2007. Over the years the team included several stars such as

Danilo Di Luca Danilo Di Luca (born 2 January 1976) is a former Italian professional road racing cyclist, best known for winning the 2007 Giro d'Italia, but also for several positive doping tests, the last of which resulting in a lifetime ban from the sport. D ...

and

Mario Cipollini Mario Cipollini (; born 22 March 1967), often abbreviated to Cipo, is a retired Italian professional road cyclist most noted for his sprinting ability, the longevity of his dominance (his first pro win came in 1988, his last in 2005; 170 pro ...

. Two of their sponsors later sponsored other teams:

Acqua & Sapone Acqua & Sapone () was a professional continental cycling team based in Italy and participated in UCI Europe Tour and when selected as a wildcard to UCI ProTour events. They were managed by Palmiro Masciarelli, assisted by directeur sportifs L ...

ran from 2004 until 2012, while Domina Vacanze left the team in 2004 to sponsor the former

De Nardi De Nardi was a professional cycling team based in Italy. Founded under a Slovak license, they helped nurture talented young riders. In 2003, the merged with Team Colpack-Astro, and took on Colpack as a co-sponsor. In 2005, Italian hotel group ...

for the 2005 season. The team became Aurum Hotels in 2007.

History

In 2004 they rode Specialized bikes.

left the team in 2004 taking many teammates with him forcing the team to start-anew in 2005. In 2005 at the

Subida al Naranco Subida al Naranco is a professional cycle road race held in Spain in early June each year. The event was first run in 1941 but was not held consistently until 1981. Between 2005 and 2010, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Eur ...

Alessio Galletti Alessio Galletti (26 March 1968 – 15 June 2005) was an Italian racing cyclist. He died from heart failure while he was racing in the Subida al Naranco, 15 km from the finish line. He participated in all three of the Grand Tours of cycling ...

had a heart-attack which led to cardiac arrest and he died. Naturino_Sapore_di_Mare

References

1996 establishments in Switzerland 2007 disestablishments in Italy Cycling teams based in Italy Cycling teams based in Switzerland Cycling teams disestablished in 2007 Cycling teams established in 1996 Defunct cycling teams based in Italy Defunct cycling teams based in Switzerland {{Italy-cycling-team-stub