Molteni

Molteni was an Italian professional road bicycle racing team from 1958 until the end of 1976. It won 663 races, many of them earned by its most famous rider, Eddy Merckx. Other riders included Gianni Motta and Marino Basso, who contributed 48 and 34 wins respectively.[1] The Molteni family continues in cycling with sponsorship of Salmilano.

Molteni
The Molteni team of 1970
Team information
RegisteredItaly
Founded1958
Disbanded1976
Discipline(s)Road
Team name history
1958–1974
1975
1976
Molteni
Molteni–RYC
Molteni–Campagnolo
This article is about the Italian road bicycle racing team. For the surname, see Molteni (surname).

The sponsors Molteni were Italian salami manufacturers based in Arcore, near Milan.[2]

History
Eddy Merckx after he won the 1975 Amstel Gold Race, one of the many victories he achieved with Molteni
Gianni Motta at the 1966 Giro d'Italia

The Molteni team began in 1958 with Renato Molteni as team manager.[3] It was started by Pietro Molteni. The team was also managed by his son, Ambrogio Molteni, a former professional rider.[4] The former Italian road champion, Giorgio Albani, finished his career with Molteni in 1959 and came back two years later as directeur sportif.[5] The team had success with Gianni Motta in the 1966 Giro d'Italia and Michele Dancelli in the classics. Merckx joined at the end of 1970, having twice won the Tour de France and two editions of the Giro d'Italia. Molteni became predominantly Belgian and took many of Merckx's teammates from Faemino, including his directeur sportif, Guillaume Driessens.[6] Albani replaced Driessens and directed the team with Robert Lelangue from 1972 to 1976. Other directeurs sportifs included Marino Fontana. After 1976 Molteni retired from the peloton.

Major wins
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Notable riders

References
  1. "Molteni passes away". BiciRace.com. Archived from the original on 2007-09-05. Retrieved 2007-09-16.
  2. John Foot (10 May 2012). Pedalare! Pedalare! : a history of Italian cycling. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 225. ISBN 978-1-4088-2219-7.
  3. "Molteni 1958". de wielersite.nl. Archived from the original on 2011-07-23. Retrieved 2007-09-16.
  4. "Molteni team director passes away". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 2007-09-16.
  5. "Molteni 1961". de wielersite.nl. Archived from the original on 2008-05-05. Retrieved 2007-09-16.
  6. "Molteni 1971". cyclebase.nl. Retrieved 2007-09-16.

Further reading

Media related to Molteni at Wikimedia Commons

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.