Hey there, long time lurker here. Firstly I would just like to say thank you for all the interesting discussion you guys have on here, it's very interesting.
As people who are big fans of cycling and who have watched for many years, I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts on the nature of Mapei (cycling team, sports centre, "cleanness," etc.) I understand that they have a reputation for being clean, and have been home to some of the most vocal anti-dopers in cycling, namely A.Sassi and Squinzi.
I know a bit about their successful teams of the 90s, and Sassi's involvement with Moser, and most of his career up to the point of his death, including the fiasco involving Ricco (is there more to this story?) I'm also familiar with the ARD story which implied systematic doping on behalf of Mapei (is this accepted as fact?)
Now, it has been floating around the internet over the past year or so that Leicester City have been working with Mapei. Although everyone is linking to an Italian article called "Mapei: the secret of Ranieri's success" (or something like that,"
..Which makes me wonder, given all the reporting on the topic of how Leicester had achieved so greatly, including stories ranging in plausibility from cryotherapy, skilled backroom staff, all the way to pizza and buddhist monks, why has the involvement of the Mapei sports centre received absolutely no mention at all? Even if you forget possible doping, it seems a reasonable line of enquiry.... Are the media just too busy waiting for a story about a gluten intolerance to do any real research?
Anyway, Squinzi also tells us about other football teams who they have been affiliated with. Circa 2012 they began working with Juventus and Monaco, along with their affiliation with Sassuolo (owned by Squinzi.) Juventus have obviously been hugely sucessful, with landmarks such as an unbeaten season, record Serie A points tally, and multiple consecutive titles. Monaco, co-incidentally under Ranieri, won the second division in France and then finished 2nd in their first season in the top division. It should be said that they did also have a lot of money supporting them. Sassuolo have risen multiple divisions in a very short space of time and will compete in European competition for the first time this season.
Prior to this, Mapei were working with Chelsea. Again the source of this information was from Squinzi, although he offered no information as to what the relationship actually was. http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/6...ers-Aldo-Sassi-clean-cycling-and-winning.aspx
Roberto Sassi, who is Aldo Sassi's brother. While Aldo remained in cycling, Roberto moved into football with Fiorentina in 1993 until 1997. Ranieri was manager there during this time. R.Sassi then went to Valencia (97-99,) Atletico (99-00,) Chelsea (00-04) and then Valencia (04-05.) Ranieri was the manager at all of these clubs as well, obviously enjoying a good working relationship with R.Sassi. When Ranieri leaves Valencia and becomes unemployed for a number of years, R.Sassi then joins Juventus in 2011 just as their affiliation with Mapei begins. He has been there ever since.
Andrea Azzalin who is the current head of fitness at Leicester. He began his career at the Mapei Sports Centre as a researcher. He then joined Monaco (12-14), Greece ('14) and then Leicester since 2015. Obviously all of these clubs were managed by Ranieri as well.
So back to my original question - as cycling fans, do you think that this is something to be concerned about? My gut feeling overall is one of nervousness. The cynical side of me thinks that any situation involving both Juventus and Cycling is almost certain to be dirty. On the other hand, if Mapei have been doping then they have been doing an incredible job of hiding it, and I wouldn't want to kill A.Sassi for a third time(!)
Genuinely interested in any thoughts or information about this, thanks a lot.
As people who are big fans of cycling and who have watched for many years, I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts on the nature of Mapei (cycling team, sports centre, "cleanness," etc.) I understand that they have a reputation for being clean, and have been home to some of the most vocal anti-dopers in cycling, namely A.Sassi and Squinzi.
I know a bit about their successful teams of the 90s, and Sassi's involvement with Moser, and most of his career up to the point of his death, including the fiasco involving Ricco (is there more to this story?) I'm also familiar with the ARD story which implied systematic doping on behalf of Mapei (is this accepted as fact?)
Now, it has been floating around the internet over the past year or so that Leicester City have been working with Mapei. Although everyone is linking to an Italian article called "Mapei: the secret of Ranieri's success" (or something like that,"
..Which makes me wonder, given all the reporting on the topic of how Leicester had achieved so greatly, including stories ranging in plausibility from cryotherapy, skilled backroom staff, all the way to pizza and buddhist monks, why has the involvement of the Mapei sports centre received absolutely no mention at all? Even if you forget possible doping, it seems a reasonable line of enquiry.... Are the media just too busy waiting for a story about a gluten intolerance to do any real research?
Anyway, Squinzi also tells us about other football teams who they have been affiliated with. Circa 2012 they began working with Juventus and Monaco, along with their affiliation with Sassuolo (owned by Squinzi.) Juventus have obviously been hugely sucessful, with landmarks such as an unbeaten season, record Serie A points tally, and multiple consecutive titles. Monaco, co-incidentally under Ranieri, won the second division in France and then finished 2nd in their first season in the top division. It should be said that they did also have a lot of money supporting them. Sassuolo have risen multiple divisions in a very short space of time and will compete in European competition for the first time this season.
Prior to this, Mapei were working with Chelsea. Again the source of this information was from Squinzi, although he offered no information as to what the relationship actually was. http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/6...ers-Aldo-Sassi-clean-cycling-and-winning.aspx
Roberto Sassi, who is Aldo Sassi's brother. While Aldo remained in cycling, Roberto moved into football with Fiorentina in 1993 until 1997. Ranieri was manager there during this time. R.Sassi then went to Valencia (97-99,) Atletico (99-00,) Chelsea (00-04) and then Valencia (04-05.) Ranieri was the manager at all of these clubs as well, obviously enjoying a good working relationship with R.Sassi. When Ranieri leaves Valencia and becomes unemployed for a number of years, R.Sassi then joins Juventus in 2011 just as their affiliation with Mapei begins. He has been there ever since.
Andrea Azzalin who is the current head of fitness at Leicester. He began his career at the Mapei Sports Centre as a researcher. He then joined Monaco (12-14), Greece ('14) and then Leicester since 2015. Obviously all of these clubs were managed by Ranieri as well.
So back to my original question - as cycling fans, do you think that this is something to be concerned about? My gut feeling overall is one of nervousness. The cynical side of me thinks that any situation involving both Juventus and Cycling is almost certain to be dirty. On the other hand, if Mapei have been doping then they have been doing an incredible job of hiding it, and I wouldn't want to kill A.Sassi for a third time(!)
Genuinely interested in any thoughts or information about this, thanks a lot.