Giuseppe Saronni has revealed how he managed to win a race against time to secure a WorldTour licence for the UAE Abu Dhabi team after expected sponsorship from China failed to materialise.
The 1982 world champion has been the long-time manager of the Lampre-Merida team but revealed plans for a Chinese WorldTour team in late August, with the TJ Sport business consortium announced as a major sponsor and investor in a project to help develop Chinese cycling. However Saronni claims that serious health problems struck the head of the project Li Zhiqiang, causing major delays and forcing him and sponsor consultant and former Saunier Duval team manager Mauro Gianetti to look for new backing.
The UCI released a list of 17 WorldTour teams on November 25 but Saronni and Gianetti were given extra time to save their team and 2017 WorldTour status. Saronni endured some sleepless nights but managed to secure sponsorship from the UAE and complete the laborious registration process in time for a December deadline. The UCI confirmed that the UAE Abu Dhabi team was the 18th and final team in the 2017/2018 WorldTour on December 20.
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“I never had time to think that we wouldn’t pull it off, we didn’t have the time to think,” Saronni admitted to Gazzetta dello Sport, revealing how he and Gianetti managed to save the team.
“At the end of August we announced our collaboration with TJ sport. Unfortunately the president Li Zhiqiang had some serious health problems. He was the centre of the project and so everything was suddenly blocked. The UCI rules don’t wait for anyone and there was not enough time to define our plans. It’s a pity because it was a good project and I’m sure something important will happen in China soon. The UCI listened to us during a hearing on November 18 and we started all over again from there.”
“We managed to secure support from Abu Dhabi thanks to our sponsor consultant Mauro Gianetti. He has a good relationship with Matar Suhail Al Yabhouni Al Dhaheri, the president of a company (Kopaonic) in the UAE that is in the construction and property industry. Matar is passionate about cycling and had been keen to create a team for some time. When the Chinese option disappeared, Gianetti presented a project to Matar at the time of the Abu Dhabi F1 Gran Prix.”
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