The Nippo-Vini Fantini squad have launched a last-ditch plea to Giro d'Italia organisers RCS Sport, asking for an exception to be made to allow them and Androni Giocattoli into the 100th edition of the corsa rosa this May.
The Italian Pro Continental outfit was not selected as a wildcard for the 2017 edition, and race director Mauro Vegni justified his decision to invite Bardiani-CSF, Wilier-Selle Italia and foreign teams CCC Sprandi Polkowice and Gazprom-RusVelo, saying he had to consider "political and commercial aspects, not only the sporting aspects".
In their latest push, the Nippo-Vini Fantini team cited a graph published in Gazzetta dello Sport that shows a precipitous drop in the number of Italian teams racing in the Giro d'Italia - from 13 in 2001 down to five upon the creation of the ProTour/WorldTour. The decline follows that in the number of Italian WorldTour teams, which this year is zero. There are four Pro Continental teams from Italy; two of them were chosen for the Giro.
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Nippo-Vini Fantini and Androni Giocattoli were excluded, and railed against the RCS Sport decision, saying non-selection for the Giro threatens their teams' very existence.
"This year Italy, for the first time in decades, will not have any WorldTour team, and just two Italian teams will be on the starting line," the Nippo press release stated. "A negative record, never seen before. For this reason, Nippo-Vini Fantini is sure the right thing to do is not to give up, and we are therefore launching a strong message: 'Believe in it and let's make it happen!'"
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