Alessio–Bianchi was an Italian professional cycling team which existed from 1998 to 2004. It was created in 1998 as Ballan. In 1999 Italian wheels manufacturer Alessio came in as co-sponsor, and in 2000 as main sponsor. The team was dissolved by the end of the 2004 season.
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History
The team began in 1998 as Ballan. Flavio Miozzo, the team director said he selected the riders for the team very carefully filling a roster of only fourteen riders and hoping to race in some of the largest races in the world.
2004
The final year of the team started with a team presentation in Italy with Bianchi coming across from the now defunct Team Coast to sponsor the team. In early February news surfaced of the team being unable to pay some of their Scandinavian riders. On 13 February 2004 Memory Corp came in as a new sponsor to cover the wages of the riders who missed theirs. The team's first win came in Stage 3 of Giro della Provincia di Lucca by Alessandro Bertolini which led to Bertolini taking the leaders jersey by 1:51. Bertolini was one of eighteen who finished inside the time limit of the stage after the peloton allowed the break to get an advantage of over thirty minutes. Bertolini held onto the jersey to take the overall finishing 9 seconds down on the stage 4 winner Florent Brard. One of the Team's goals was the 2004 Tour de France with Pietro Caucchioli being their man in contention for the overall. The team had two riders finish in the top 10 of Stage 3.
Final Roster (2004)
As of 1 January 2004
Major wins
Sources: