Team Bianchi was a makeshift team that was put together from the remnants of the Coast team in time for the 2003 Tour de France. Team Coast had been unable to pay the salaries of their riders and Bianchi took over the team and the role of title sponsor. Coast had recently signed

Jan Ullrich Jan Ullrich (; born 2 December 1973) is a German former professional road bicycle racer. Ullrich won gold and silver medals in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, Sydney. He won the 1999 Vuelta a España and the HEW Cyclassics in fro ...

following his departure from after his drunk driving and

amphetamine Amphetamine (contracted from Alpha and beta carbon, alpha-methylphenethylamine, methylphenethylamine) is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), narcolepsy, an ...

use. During the 2003 tour while riding for Bianchi, Ullrich placed second to Lance Armstrong by just 61 seconds, his closest ever margin in any of Armstrong's seven victorious years. In the process, Ullrich also managed to upstage Alexander Vinokourov, Telekom's highest-placed rider, who finished third. Team Bianchi had planned to continue on as a professional

road racing Road racing is a North American term to describe motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held on a race track, closed circuit—generally, a purpose-built racing facility—or on a street circuit that uses temporarily c ...

team. However, Ullrich's return to his former team Telekom (later T-Mobile and ), as well as the departure of Ángel Casero led to the demise of Team Bianchi as they now lacked the star power necessary to justify a top-tier team.

Major wins

2000

:Grand Prix Pino Cerami, Jan Bratkowski :Stage 12 Tour de Langkawi, Jan Bratkowski

2001

:Stage 4 Paris - Nice, Alex Zülle

2002

2003

:Profronde Stiphout,

:Rund um Köln,

:Stage 1b International Niedersachsen-Rundfahrt, Thorsten Wilhelms :Stage 1 Bayern-Rundfahrt, Thomas Liese :Stage 1 Tour of Austria, Steffen Radochla :Stage 12 Tour de France,

Notable riders

References

{{reflist Bianchi Cycling teams established in 2000 Cycling teams disestablished in 2003 Cycling teams based in Germany Bianchi (company)