Ariostea (cycling team)

Ariostea

The team at the 1993 Paris–Nice
Team information
UCI code	ARI
Registered	Italy
Founded	1984 (1984)
Disbanded	1993
Discipline(s)	Road
Team name history
1984 1985 1986–1988 1989–1993	Ariostea Ariostea–Oece Ariostea–Gres Ariostea

Ariostea (UCI team code: ARI) was an Italian professional cycling team from 1984 to 1993.^[1] Its first team manager was Giorgio Vannucci; he was replaced in 1986 by Giancarlo Ferretti, who remained manager until the team was disbanded in 1993.

The first major victories were the two stage wins at the 1986 Giro d'Italia by Sergio Santimaria (1st stage, maglia rosa for one day) and Norwegian rider Dag Erik Pedersen (15th stage). The highest placed Ariostea rider in the general classification was Alfio Vandi, who finished 11th, 12 minutes and 40 seconds behind the winner.^[2]

In the late 1980s the team became a more prominent presence in the peloton. One of its successful riders was Rolf Sørensen who won Paris–Tours in 1990 and the Tirreno–Adriatico of 1992. Moreno Argentin won the team its first "monument", the 1990 Tour of Flanders, followed by a victory at the La Flèche Wallonne. 1990 also saw the team's first Tour de France stage win (Argentin) and two more Girostages (Adriano Baffi).

In 1991, Argentin scored another double in Belgium, with wins in La Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège. Davide Cassani won three major classics in Italy (Milano–Torino, Giro dell'Emilia and Coppa Agostoni), while Massimiliano Lelli won two Giro stages - finishing third overall. More success followed at the Tour de France as stage wins for Bruno Cenghialta, Argentin and Marco Lietti registered a Tour triple triumph on consecutive days. That followed a team time trial win on Stage 2 into Chassieu that put Rolf Sørensen in the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification for four days.

Ariostea dominated the 1992 Tirreno–Adriatico with five stage wins and the general classification (Sørensen). Giorgio Furlan won the Tour de Suisse, Rolf Gölz the Tour Méditerranéen. There was another stage win in the Giro, this time for Marco Saligari. Roberto Conti finished 9th in the general classification.

In 1993, its final year, Ariostea was victorious in the Amstel Gold Race (Rolf Järmann). Bjarne Riis won a Giro stage and placed 5th in the general classification in the Tour de France. Saligari also won a stage in the Giro, and was the winner that year's Tour de Suisse. By far the most successful rider of the team this year was Pascal Richard of Switzerland. He won the Giro del Lazio, Giro di Lombardia, the Tour de Romandie and a handful of stages and one day races throughout the year. In the team's final race, the 1993 Giro di Lombardia, Ariostea riders Pascal Richard and Giorgio Furlan finished first and second, breaking away for the final 6 miles of the race.^[1]

Team manager Ferretti and a number of riders went to GB–MG Maglificio the next year.^[1]

Media related to Ariostea at Wikimedia Commons