Team Liquigas' New Motto: "Never Settle" ("Mai Abbastanza")

Team Liquigas Cannondale has a motto for 2011: "Never settle", in Italian "Mai abbastanza". After winning, last year, the Giro with Ivan Basso and the Vuelta with Vincenzo Nibali the team has new ambitions and goals. Included among these is the Tour de France for Ivan Basso and the Giro for Nibali.

Nibali will be the team captain for the Giro d'Italia as he attempts his first Giro victory. Basso will be focused on preparations for winning the Tour de France.

In addition to the new motto the team has a newly designed jersey, Nibal and Basso (l-r):

The team's "Never Settle" video:

In full size here.

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Team Liquigas Sardinia Training Location

My thanks to Federica for writing in with information about the location that Team Liquigas chooses in Sardinia for training:

Team Liquigas is already confirmed this month for a second retreat at the Geovillage Sport and Wellness Resort, located near Olbia on the northeast coast of Sardinia, Italy, with the luxurious Costa Smeralda nearby.

Set on 14 hectares (35 acres)of lush Mediterranean gardens the Geovillage features centers of excellence in swimming, tennis, soccer, fitness and wellness. "It is this combination of factors that allowed us to focus on physical and mental preparation, leading to achieve optimal results", said team captain Ivan Basso.

Team Liquigas training will begin with a ride of 80 km, increasing to 150 km per by the end of their stay. The daily program begins at 9.30 am with a gathering in the square, then the riders climb aboard their Cannondale bikes for 4 hours to discover new roads. The roads are not always chosen in advance, mostly the routes develop based on the instincts of the riders. Among the routes explored are the slopes of San Pantaleo, and the scenic coast to Porto Cervo, Arzachena and Palau. "These routes do not require specific physical work which is usually part of training because, from the technical point of view, they fulfill the requirements of the preparatory work", according to Paolo Slongo, sports director and trainer of the Liquigas team. "The Geovillage allows a perfect start to the season where, in addition to cycling, gym, swimming and wellness facilities are available."

Team Liquigas, including Ivan Basso, will join twenty other teams in participating in the Tour San Luis in Argentina from January 17th to the 23rd.

Share your story. Write a story about your cycling trip, or an aspect of your trip, in Italy. Or, it can be about a granfondo experience, a special encounter, your favorite ride, etc. The period for story submissions for prizes will be January 1-February 15, 2011. Prizes will be awarded on a random basis, stories will not be judged on which is the "best" one. Nevertheless, it should be a good story for the enjoyment of all readers. Photos accompanying the story are most welcome. If you have any questions email me at veronaman@gmail.com. See photos of prizes here. Prize donated by:
CycleItalia, specializing in cycling tours in Italy
BicycleGifts.com, the premiere site for gifts and merchandise for cyclists
Enzo’s ButtonHole Chamois Cream,chamois cream for the ultimate protection
FreeBirdVelo, Italian themed T-shirts
Strada Hand Built Wheels, custom wheel building
Velo-Retro, all things retro for cycling
La Gazzetta della Bici, massage oils for cyclists

Liquigas-Doimo Ready for Tour de France 2010

A line-up with a strong team spirit: that is the soul of Liquigas-Doimo for the 97th Tour de France, from July 3rd to 25th according to the team announcement:

"Ivan Basso and Roman Kreuziger are the hopes for a good placement in final classification: the Italian returns to France with high moral after the victory in Giro d’Italia while the Czech wants to search for a new quality leap after the great performances of 2008 and 2009. Together with them Liquigas-Doimo will be present with two climbers, Sylwester Szmyd and Francesco Bellotti, and five long distance riders: Kristjan Koren, Aliaksandr Kuchynski, Daniel Oss, Manuel Quinziato and Brian Bach Vandborg.

"We can play our chances for a good results in this Tour de France – affirms DS Zanatta -. Basso and Kreuziger allow us to aim high in general classification, thanks also to the reliability showed by their teammates. Koren and Oss, two young riders at their first experience in a long stages race, will have the opportunity to confirm the potential showed during the first part of the season".

For Ivan Basso the return in France will be first of all, "a great emotion. I’ll be at the departure with a very good condition, knowing the difficulties of the Tour but sure to be competitive. During these weeks I worked to maintain the resistance and to refine the legs. I face this new challenge with a strong wish to fight till Paris: I don’t preclude any results, the road will return the verdict".

"I’m ready in physique and quiet in mind – adds Kreuziger – because I prepared for this event without problems. This Tour is harder than 2008 and 2009: the Alps will be the first step to understand the chances of pretenders, while on Pyrenees the classification will be decided. I’ll exploit this last week to refine the legs to be at the top for Rotterdam prologue: I feel myself stronger in respect to other years and together with Ivan can give hard time to everyone".

Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are very welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 1,400 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog and there is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page.

Team Liquigas Doimo Helmets on Ebay

On the rain soaked, 262 km, 11th stage of the Giro d’Italia from Lucera to l’Aquila, the entire Liquigas team wore special helmets. The helmets, MET Sine Thesis models with special graphics, are being auctioned now on (Italian) Ebay as a fundraiser for the “Collectivo 99”. Each helmet is autographed, and included are the helmets of Basso and Nibali.

The Collettivo 99 is a project to help young locals participate in an active role in the process of rebuilding a new l’Aquila which was devastated in the 2009 Earthquake.

As I write this there are slightly less than four days remaining in the auction. The item number for Basso's helmet is 140412494013; click on "Vedi gli altri oggettidi questo venditore" to see the other helmets.

Photos: Nibali crossing the finish line on Stage 11 (photo by Bettini); the MET Sine Thesis with special graphics.

Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are very welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 1,400 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog and there is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page.

Team Liquigas at Tour Down Under

The first stop on the world cycling calendar, the Tour Down Under kicks off the UCI ProTour calendar on Tuesday. The only Italian team participating is Team Liquigas.

Director Sportif Dario Mariuzzo is leading the team of seven riders that includes promising young riders Jacopo Guarnieri (winner of a stage at Tour of Poland last year in his second year as a pro) and Fabio Sabatini. Riding at their side will be five new riders: Tiziano Dall’Antonia, Mauro Finetto and neoprofessionals Kristjan Koren, Maciej Paterski and Peter Sagan.

The teams participating in the Tour Down Under:

•Ag2r La Mondiale (FRA)

•Astana (LUX)

•BMC Racing Team (USA)

•Caisse dEpargne (ESP)

•Euskaltel Euskadi (ESP)

•Footon-Servetto (ESP)

•Francaise des Jeux (FRA)

•Garmin-Transitions (USA)

•Liquigas-Doimo (ITA)

•Omega Pharma-Lotto (BEL)

•Quick Step (BEL)

•Rabobank (NED)

•Sky Professional Cycling Team (GBR)

•Team HTC - Columbia (USA)

•Team Katusha (RUS)

•Team Milram (GER)

•Team Radioshack (USA)

•Team Saxo Bank (DEN)

•UniSA Australia (AUS)>>> (national team)

Photo: Guarnieri winning stage 3 of the Tour of Poland 2009, 2010 team photo

Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal welcome; contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 1,100 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog and there is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page.

Liquigas Chooses Basso as Leader for Giro and Tour

From the team meeting in Passo San Pellegrino comes news that Liquigas has chosen Ivan Basso and Franco Pellizotti as co-leaders of the team for the 2010 Giro d'Italia.

For the Tour de France, Basso will be the sole leader. Basso podiumed at the Tour in 2004 and 2005 but will be appearing for the first time since 2005 after leaving on the eve of the 2006 race start due to Operación Puerto.

Vincenzo Nibali has been chosen as team leader for the Tour of California and as co-leader along with Roman Kreuziger for the Vuelta a Espana.

The President of Liquigas Sport, Paolo Dal Lago, commented during the meetings, "This next season will determine whether we will remain in cycling. How we win is more important than winning."

Photo: Basso makes good use of his Cannondale mountain bike during snowy conditions at San Pelligrino, team meeting

Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal welcome; contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 1,100 stories in this blog; the search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog.

Oh! To Be Pampered

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Ivan Basso: "Maniacal" Preparations for the Giro

The Gazzetta dello Sport has described Ivan Basso's preparations for the Giro d'Italia as "maniacal". He has explored virtually every stage, most recently riding the time trial course with Liquigas teammates on the Lido in Venice. They rode the course three times of which Basso said, "My impression is a very positive one. The circuit appeals a lot to me, and in this setting it will be uniquely spectacular. It will be a very high velocity test."

For for details, and aerial photos, of the opening time trial stage in Venice on May 9th see: http://italiancyclingjournal.blogspot.com/2009/01/100-days-to-start-of-giro-ditalia-in.html. By the way, the time trial will begin at approximately 3:00pm local, and the last squad is expected to finish at approximately 5:10pm local.

Photo: Ivan Basso and Liquigas teammates on the Lido, Venice

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