Bais at the Giro d’Italia, the latest discovery of the Eolo-Kometa team by Ivan Basso – Corriere.it

«I haven’t hidden the truth from my riders: if we don’t find new sponsors by the beginning of the summer, the Eolo-Kometa project is at risk. Remaining at a high level in professional cycling is increasingly difficult and a project like ours, serious, Italian, centered on young talents, struggles to find anyone willing to support it. To make a breakthrough, first of all we absolutely need to win here at the Giro». The first response to Ivan Basso’s doubts and fears – confessed on the eve of his departure from Pescara – arrived at the foot of the Gran Sasso. Two years ago Basso, Eolo’s team manager, had gone to look for Davide Bais, the hero of the day, in the nursery of the most interesting Italian youth team: that Cycling Team Friuli where Jonathan Milan also grew up.

The two-time winner of the Giro d’Italia convinced the boy from Rovereto (and his brother Mattia) to give up a contract abroad (more money, guaranteed participation in major races) by exploiting his influence and that of his partner Alberto Contador: two exes who have won nine grand tours can be trusted. “I – explains Basso – told Davide that we would give him all the time necessary to grow as an athlete, he trusted me”.

The Eolo-Kometawhose third man in command is the manager Luca Spada, was born to build with a very small budget (four million a year against the 40 and over of Ineos or Jumbo and the 15 middleweights of the World Tour) a team that can grow with tranquility new talents and bring some of them to the level of excellence to involve new sponsors and be able to move up to the higher category.

There are 14 Italian, 5 Spanish and one Hungarian athletes in the team. The most prominent rider earns 300,000 euros, a figure that a follower takes in Ineos or Soudal. “In the so-called ‘market’ – adds Basso – we have very few chances, I’m not saying of getting strikers signed, but also of convincing a promising talent to believe in the project, attracted as he is by the squadrons of northern Europe”. Basso and Contador put their face to it, meticulous organization, two of the most serious Italian sports directors (Zanatta and Ellena) and continuous mental work with the boys in which they bring themselves and their past into play.

In 2021 five victories that promised well (among these that of Fortunato on the Zoncolan) and, after a truly gray 2022, a 2023 of many prestigious placements with finally a great victory and the blue jersey of best climber on the shoulders of Bais. The problem of sponsors remains. Unlike the French, Dutch and Belgians, the blue teams are unable to intercept institutional partners (banks, energy companies, insurance companies) or even investment funds. «I think that many Italian entrepreneurs have not yet understood the promotional power of this sport. I will never get tired of meeting them and showing them our project: the Giro d’Italia and cycling deserve a great Italian team». A project that requires a figure that is certainly not impossible: 10 million per season.