LEGENDARY ITALIAN TEAM MANAGER SAVIO TO MAKE LTDL COMEBACK WITH TEAM ANDRONI

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 8 (Bernama) -- Gianni Savio, the legendary Italian cycling
manager will return to Malaysia with his team Androni after missing the Le Tour
de Langkawi (LTdL) in 2010.

Savio's Androni-Diquigiovanni did not compete in the LTdL 2010 due to a
clash in their race calendar but following a revamp of the Asia Tour calendar by
the International Cycling Union (UCI) and with LTdL 2011 staged in the last week
of January, it has made it possible for the racing giants to return.

"Malaysian fans have known us primarily under the name of Colombia-Selle
Italia and Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni, I hope they’ll quickly become familiar
with Androni as well," said the legendary team manager in a statement Tuesday.

Androni will line up new recruits for the 2011 season with Emanuele Sella as
the skipper in Malaysia while other riders include Antonio Santoro, Yonnatta
Monsalve, Crescenzo D’Amore, Alessandro De Marchi and Luca Barla.

"This is the continuity of the same team. However, we’ll bring riders who
are all new to LTdL 2011 but the identity of the team remains unchanged," he
said.


Santoro from Italy and Monsalve from Venezuela are ranked by experts as the
climbers of the future and D’Amore will be Androni’s sprinter.

Savio’s team has been a benchmark of the start-list of Le Tour de Langkawi;
as much as the grueling climb to Genting Highlands.

Their first appearance in the Malaysian event was in 2000 with a
Colombian-registered team called Aguardiente-Nectar and was later changed to
Colombia-Selle Italia, Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni and now
Androni-Diquigiovanni.

Le Tour de Langkawi chief executive officer Mohamed Salleh said he believed
that Team Androni would come here with a highly competitive squad.

"Above all we will be happy to welcome Gianni Savio back to Malaysia. Among
all cycling team managers, he’s probably the strongest supporter of our event,"
he said.

A total of 23 teams, including Pro-Tour teams, pro-continental teams,
continental teams and national teams are expected to take part next year.

The 2011 tour is scheduled to be held from Jan 23 to Feb 1, covering a total
distance of 1315.4km in 10 stages, starting in Langkawi and ending in Dataran
Merdeka.

-- BERNAMA