Italian team managers Gianni Savio (Androni Giocattoli), Angelo Citracca (Wilier-Southeast) and Bruno Reverberi (Bardiani-CSF) were each cleared of any wrong doing at the end of the ‘pagi e corri' – 'pay and ride' investigation but formal statements gathered during the investigation have revealed how riders are often put under pressure to find sponsors to cover their salaries and secure places in the teams.
The team managers were accused of "influencing the possibility of riders to turn professional based not on sporting merit but on the ability to find a sponsor that guaranteed a profit for the team.”
When they were cleared they immediately celebrated the verdict, knowing it legitimised their way of running their Professional Continental teams.
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However their celebrations may be short lived. Cyclingnews understands that evidence from the investigation may be studied by the UCI as it considers awarding the teams' Professional Continental licences for the 2017. Cyclingnews understands that after a request from Nicolas Valticos - the head of legal at the UCI, the Italian investigators have sent an English translation of the 20 pages of statements and defence from those involved in the case. The UCI are due to decide on team licence for 2017 in the next few weeks.
The UCI has yet to reply to Cyclingnews’ questions about the consequences of the investigation.
Pay and ride
The ‘pay and ride’ investigation was sparked by a detailed investigation by renowned journalist Marco Bonarrigo which was published in the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. He claimed that numerous Italian riders were forced to find personal sponsors to obtain places with teams, with some even forced to give back part of their official salary via secret bank accounts, while illegal option contracts that were never registered with the UCI were used to extort money from riders if they were offered a place with a bigger team.
The Coledan option case
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