Differences Between Italy and Home....... Team Set-up

One of the biggest differences between here and England, is how professional the teams are... Even the smallest teams here will, at least, all have; the same bikes, equipment and clothing, a team van and a team car, as well as a few people supporting the riders. In the UK only the biggest teams have this stuff, those with a Continental licence or just below, here there's loads of teams with it! Goes to show how much more money is put into cycling here...

When I first raced here with Bergamasca in 2009, I remember turning up at a race, seeing all the team vehicles and thinking how pro they must be... How good are these people?! You only see this in Premier Calender races in the UK! Then you realise that you've just been driven to the race in a team campervan... But it's one of the most visible differences at the start of the races.

With UC Bergamasca before a race near Milan, 2009.


Pretty much all the teams here have a "service course" a dedicated place where all the stuff for the team is kept. In the biggest teams, like Bergamasca, they'll have a good size warehouse with room for all the equipment, and a few vans. Here at Fagnano Nuova, we have a big storage room in the main sponsor's factory/warehouse, it's full of stuff from the stools to sit on before the race to team bikes from the past couple of years. Last year with Team Zappi's, we were able to use some space in a cellar beneath Zappi's cafe however this wasn't ideal, and our stuff had to share space with cups and old fridges...

At a race here, every rider will be wearing their team issue casual clothing.... Our clothing consists of a bright blue tracksuit that looks pretty old school, and a bomber jacket over the top. I reckon if a team showed up in the UK wearing it, they'd get looked at pretty funny! But here it seems normal so it's not so bad to wear it..

I'll post some more stuff up about the difference between Italy and England in the next few days.... Probs not just about cycling, but also about how strange this place is......

Cheers