Liquigas

Cycling team infobox
teamname = Liquigas


code = LIQ
base = ITA
founded = 1999
disbanded =
manager = Roberto Amadio
teammanager =
techdirector =
ds1 = Mario Mariuzzo
ds2 = Mario Chiesa
ds3 = Stefano Zanatta
ds4 = Mario Scirea
discipline = Road
status = ProTour
season =
oldname =
kit
Team Liquigas ("UCI Team Code:" LIQ) is an Italian professional road bicycle racing team in the UCI ProTour. The current title sponsor is Liquigas, a provider of liquified gas products in Italy. In 2005 the team was co-title sponsored by Liquigas and Bianchi and was named Liquigas-Bianchi.

The team was founded under the name "Liquigas" in 1999, and was long in the second division team, slowly making a name of itself. From 2005 the team was combined with Team Bianchi for the Pro Tour.

In 2007 Cannondale replaced Bianchi as the bicycle sponsor. This marked Cannondale's return to the ProTour after discontinuing sponsorship of the Lampre-Caffita team at the end of the 2005 season.

On 11 July 2008 the news broke from the french sports-paper L'Equipe that Spanish rider Manuel Beltrán tested positive for EPO after the first stage of the tour. It was blood abnormalities before the tour start that led France's Anti-Doping Agency to target the rider. According to AP a spokesperson for Liquigas comfirmed the same day that Beltrán was thrown off the tour. It's also reported that the police picked Beltrán up from his hotel where he stayed with the rest of the Liquigas team, as well as searching the rest of the hotel for more doping. The B-Sample has not yet been tested. [cite web |url=http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j99v8lGDDLVr7JnBjqOPuu0iupiwD91RQJG01 |title=Doping agency: Beltran positive for EPO |accessdate=2008-11-07 |publisher=AP |work=google.com]

Status

2005 was a very exciting year for the team. Danilo Di Luca won Vuelta al País Vasco, and the one day classics Amstel Gold Race and La Flèche Wallonne. Also there has been stage wins in Giro d'Italia (2 x Danilo Di Luca), the Vuelta al País Vasco (Danilo Di Luca), the Volta a Catalunya (Enrico Gasparotto) and the Tour de Suisse (Michael Albasini). In 2006, the team won the Team Classification in the Eneco Tour of Benelux.

Major results

2007

* 1st, Stage 2, Paris-Nice : Franco Pellizotti
* 1st, Points classification, Paris-Nice : Franco Pellizotti
* 2nd, Stage 2, Paris-Nice : Roman Kreuziger
* 1st, General Classification, Liège-Bastogne-Liège : Danilo Di Luca
* 1st, Stage 1 Team time trial, Giro d'Italia : Liquigas
* 1st, Stage 4,12 and overall Giro d'Italia: Danilo Di Luca
* 1st Clásica de San Sebastian: Leonardo Bertagnolli
* 1st Stage 5 Tour de France: Filippo Pozzato

2008

* 1st, Stage 3, Paris-Nice : Kjell Carlström
* 1st, Stage 1a, Settimana internazionale di Coppi e Bartali : Francesco Chicchi
* 1st Overall, Tour de Suisse : Roman Kreuziger

Team roster

As of February 2, 2008. [cite web |url=http://www.uciprotour.com/Modules/SUCI/TEAMS/TeamDetails.asp?id=MTY&RefDate=02.02.2008&MenuId=MTY5Ng&BackLink=%2Ftemplates%2FUCI%2FUCI2%2Flayout%2Easp%3FMenuId%3DMTY5Ng |title=Liquigas (LIQ) - ITA Riders |accessdate=2008-02-02 |publisher=UCI |work=uciprotour.com]

ee also

*List of teams and cyclists in the 2008 Tour de France
*2008 Tour de France
*Tour de France

References

External links

*
* Profile on Daily Peloton [http://www.dailypeloton.com/displayarticle.asp?pk=10931]