I agree with Ryo, I just don't see how anyone could think Geox 'pulled out' today... seems like there must be a bigger back story (sorry guy who tried to insult everyone who thought something was going on by pointing out their post counts, does 700 in 2.5 years suggest I have enough of a life to speculate?)... Obviously something was up when they didn't fill out the paperwork 3 weeks ago. I could imagine the most likely scenario, knowing what I know of Gianetti, UCI politics, etc that they said they were going to pull out, he tried to assure them he'd sign Cobo etc so they'd get enough points to be guaranteed WT, told the team it wouldn't be a problem, dragged everyone crossing their fingers to the last minute and then in the end they didn't have enough evidence to guarantee WT so Geox said 'sorry, no way'. In other words, Gianetti plays both sides of the fence, no one in Geox trusts him, no one in UCI trusts him, so the cards are stacked against the team.
Either way, it's a shame as the team was interested in really exciting talent, and was one of my favourites to follow, Gianetti aside. And it's a shame that this whole debacle does nothing to counter the stereotype of Italian business dealings in cycling (and more generally) as shady and full of backstabbing intrigue.
Anyone think Noe G is gonna get a ride with a team higher than Conti level next year?