A happy Androni Giocattoli manager Gianni Savio with stage 1a winner Fabio Felline(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Jakub Mareczko celebrates his win with his teammates(Image credit: Jean-François Quénet)
The Bardiani CSF looked happy to be racing in Utah.(Image credit: Jonathan Devich/epicimages.us)
Damiano Cunego (Nippo-Vini Fantini)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The Italian Professional Continental teams are in a fight for wildcard invitations to the 2016 Giro d'Italia after race director Mauro Vegni revealed that he is unlikely to award the four wildcards to the four Italian teams.
The Southeast team is certain to have a place after winning the season-long Coppa Italia race series in 2015 but Androni-Sidermec, Nippo-Vini Fantini, and Bardiani-CSF are fighting for other places, with Vegni set to give at least one of the remaining three wildcard invitations to teams outside of Italy.
Under UCI rules, the WorldTour teams are given automatic invitations. With Dimension Data expected to secure the 18th WorldTour slot for 2016, there will only be four wildcard places up for grabs in the 22-team peloton.
Vegni has always said he will support Italian teams and Italian cycling just as ASO helps French teams at the Tour de France. However, at least one team is set to miss out in 2016.
"It's not realistic to think I'll give the thee other places to Italian teams and it wouldn't be right," Vegni told Tuttobiciweb. "Italian teams can't sell themselves on the back of an automatic invitation to the Giro just because they're Italian. Teams get to ride the Giro if they are a good team and have good riders."
Poor results in 2015
The Italian teams struggled in 2015, with only Bardiani-CSF winning a stage at the Giro d'Italia. Androni was hit by two doping positives and was suspended from racing in August.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
"I think its fair to say we didn't see any great results (from the Italian teams). That said, I'm morally obliged to give a hand to our teams. But a hand, not two hands. At the moment, only Southeast, who own the Coppa Italia competition in 2015, can say it's sure of a place," Vegni said, confirming that business interests such as international television rights and future start locations can all play a factor.
"As a company we've got to think about our races and about international growth. For example the Bora team could open up the German market for us. That's what me and my staff have to consider," he said.
"It's still early to say who will be invited because we've had requests from lots of teams around the world. We'll carefully study their dossiers, considering every aspect: the quality of the team and its riders, the importance of their nationality and how well they communicate. If there aren't any delays with the UCI (regarding licences), we expect to name the four teams in early January."
