Team corratec - Vini Fantini

Corratec-Vini Fantini (formerly Corratec-Selle Italia) are an Italian team that were only founded in 2022, but stepped up to ProConti level after just their first season of racing. 

Originally sponsored by German bike manufacturer Corratec, Italian saddle maker Selle Italia came on board in May 2023, providing additional support to what was already a financially well-backed team. However, Selle Italia's title sponsorship only lasted for a matter of months and the team returned to the Corratec name ahead of 2024, with Vini Fantini in tow at the end of January.   

After an impressive debut season with 10 wins, the team scored four victories in 2023, with three at 2.Pro level, alongside making their Grand Tour debut at the Giro d'Italia.

The team have kept their distinctly Italian line-up this season but added some WorldTour talent to their roster. Corratec-Vini Fantini have signed sprinters Niccolò Bonifazio and Jakub Mareczko along with Vuelta a España stage winner Kristian Sbaragli and climber Mark Padun, in a bid to add experience and depth to their squad.

Jakub Mareczko

Niccolo Bonifazio

Kristian Sbaragli

Valerio Conti

Davide Baldaccini

Mark Stewart

Marco Murgano

Attilio Viviani

Lorenzo Quartucci

Antoine Debons

Alessandro Monaco

Andrii Ponomar

Valentin Darbellay

Etienne van Empel

Samuele Zambelli

Roberto Gonzalez

Kyrylo Tsarenko

Jan Stöckli

Mark Padun

Alessandro Iacchi

Giulio Masotto

Matteo Amella

Simone Olivero

Racing

News

Race News

UAE Tour: Tudor receive wildcard, Adam Yates and Luke Plapp headline startlist

 is expected to attract some of the world’s best cyclists for the third and final Middle Eastern stage race before the European season gets into full swing.

Although a full start list is yet to be revealed, race organisers RCS announced on Tuesday the 20-strong list of teams who will contest the seven-day stage race later this month.

, both of whom earned automatic invitations to all WorldTour events by way of their performances as UCI ProTeams last season. RCS has also offered wildcard invitations to Italian side 

The two WorldTour teams skipping the Emirati race are Groupama-FDJ and Arkéa-B&B Hotels, but all the remaining top-tier squads will be attending. 

Tudor Pro Cycling were recently announced as part of the Giro d’Italia line-up and Corratec-Vini Fantini have been offered a place at Tirreno-Adriatico, both of which are also organised by RCS.

Polti Kometa, Tudor Pro Cycling and Bardiani receive Giro d'Italia wildcards

Signing a host of former WorldTour riders ahead of the 2024 campaign, Tudor Pro Cycling have made their lofty ambitions clear and are being rewarded with invitations to some of the year’s biggest races, now including the UAE Tour.

It has been a positive start to the week for the Swiss side, with hotly-tipped talent Arvid de Kleijn extending his contract through 2026 on Tuesday morning, joining the likes of Matteo Trentin, Michael Storer and Alberto Dainese on the ambitious team’s books for the next few seasons.

UAE Tour routes revealed: Jebel Hafeet headlines men's and women's races

Elsewhere, the start list for the race is starting to take shape and looks set to feature a whole host of big-name talent, which is unsurprising given the UAE Tour’s honour roll is made up entirely of some of the world’s best climbers: Primož Roglič (2019), Adam Yates (2020), Tadej Pogačar (2021, 2022) and Remco Evenepoel (2023).

Adam Yates, Luke Plapp and Mark Cavendish expected to start UAE Tour

Behind Soudal Quick-Step’s Evenepoel on last year’s UAE Tour podium were Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) and Ineos Grenadiers’ Luke Plapp, now of Jayco AlUla. Whilst Evenepoel will not be back to defend his title this time around, both Yates and Plapp are in line to start stage 1 from Al Dhafra Walk Madinat Zayed on 19 February.

 at the recent Santos Tour Down Under, whilst Yates has started the last four editions of the race and picked up two stage wins along the way. The British climber won the overall title on debut in 2020 and in the absence of Pogačar, Yates will be expected to lead the home team’s general classification ambitions once again.

He will not be alone, though, with Brandon McNulty also in line to join his teammate. The American is clearly a man in form having recently won stage 4 and the overall title at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana. 

After a disastrous Tour Down Under that saw him crash out, it is uncertain whether or not Plapp will be able to challenge the UAE Team Emirates pair, but the Australian national champion will surely look to test his legs on the stage 2 individual time trial.

All-American victory at Volta a la Comunitat Valencia as Brandon McNulty takes overall

Away from these three, the big names expected to race the UAE Tour include Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates), Romain Bardet (dsm-firmenich PostNL) and Simon Carr (EF Education-EasyPost), all of whom will be riders to watch on the two summit finishes, whilst Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step), Fabio Jakobsen (dsm-firmenich PostNL) and Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) will go head to head in the sprints.

Before the men’s race gets underway this week, the relatively new women’s UAE Tour kicks off on Thursday, with Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) primed to mount a title defence, whilst Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) is the big favourite for the sprints with Charlotte Kool (dsm-firmenich PostNL) out through illness.

For more about the 2024 men's UAE Tour, including the latest news, key information and race history, visit our dedicated 

After not being offered a wildcard for the 

 squad have received a highly sought-after wildcard invitation to this year's 

. They will be joined by Alberto Contador's 

, who will return to the race for a fourth successive season.

 have accepted their automatic invitation to ride the Giro, given their performance as a UCI ProTeam in 2023, but fellow ProTeam high-flyer 

 have declined the opportunity to ride in Italy. Much like last season, the Belgian team will instead prioritise gathering UCI points in smaller stage races. 

Lotto Dstny's absence has allowed the Giro's organisers, RCS Sport, to hand out three wildcard slots to this year's race. Joining Team Polti Kometa and Tudor Pro Cycling on the startlist will be the long-standing Italian outfit, 

These four sides will join the 18 UCI WorldTeams at the 

 in Turin on 4 May. Among the star-studded lineup that is expected to take to the Giro will be race debutants 

), both of whom have made their ambitions clear. 

Pogačar fulfils a childhood dream in riding the Giro d'Italia

Giro d'Italia debut awaits for Julian Alaphilippe

Both VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè and Team Polti Kometa are no strangers to the Giro d'Italia, with the former's history with the race dating back to their time as Termolan in 1982. Since their founding year, the Italian side have won many stages of the Giro through the likes of Patrizio Gamirasio (1988), Stefano Allochio (1990), Julio Alberto Pérez (2001, 2002), Brett Lancaster (2005) and most recently, 

Polti Kometa, meanwhile, won a famous stage atop Monte Zoncolan in 2021 through the young 

, in what was a Grand Tour debut for Contador's side. The name Polti, of course, is synonymous with the team that won the points and Intergiro classifications through Djamolidine Abdoujaparov in 1994. 

"Teams like ours have been talking about wild cards since the pre-season training camps," said Polti Kometa team manager and former Giro d'Italia winner, Ivan Basso. "To receive the invitation to the Giro and other prestigious events is a source of great pride, a reward for our continuity and our way of tackling the races beyond the results. 

"The Giro will be the centrepiece of the entire Polti Kometa calendar and we will ride it with the right mentality: attacking but in an organised way, to take advantage of every opportunity and reward the organisers, the fans, the sponsors… and ourselves for the trust placed in us".

It will be in Polti Kometa that Tudor Pro Cycling seeks inspiration in their first Grand Tour. The Swiss ProTeam have high ambitions and recently signed the likes of 

Matteo Trentin hopeful of Giro d’Italia wildcard for Tudor Pro Cycling 

Tuesday's announcement does, however, rule out a Giro d'Italia start for the much-beloved GW Shimano-Sidermec team of Gianni Savio. 

Startlists announced for Strade Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico and Milan-San Remo

 and Tuesday's Giro d'Italia startlist announcement, RCS Sport has also revealed the teams for its other high-profile WorldTour races in Italy, namely Strade Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico and Milan-San Remo. 

All three races will be made up of 25 teams of seven riders each, giving plenty of free slots for teams outside of the 18 UCI WorldTeams.

For Tirreno-Adriatico, this means Israel-Premier Tech, Team Polti Kometa, VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè and Tudor Pro Cycling will grace the startline, all of whom will be testing their level ahead of the Giro. Additionally, the race organisers have offered wildcard invites to 

Uno-X Mobility are riding high after being offered a wildcard spot in the Tour de France earlier this week, whilst their performances last season have also offered them an automatic spot at Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo, owing to their ranking position. 

Uno-X Mobility and TotalEnergies return to 2024 Tour de France as wildcards

Automatic qualification will also see Israel-Premier Tech line up at all RCS races and offer Lotto Dstny a berth at Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo. 

Alongside Israel-Premier Tech, both Team Polti Kometa and Tudor Pro Cycling will line up at all four major races, whilst VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè will miss Strade Bianche. In their place, Q36.5 Pro Cycling and Corratec-Vini Fantini will take to the white roads of Tuscany, with the former also to be expected at Milan-San Remo. 

For all the important information about the 2024 Giro d'Italia, be sure to check out our 

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Name	Age	UCI Career Wins	UCI Points
Jakub Mareczko	30	64	293
Niccolo Bonifazio	30	22	248
Kristian Sbaragli	34	4	228
Valerio Conti	31	4	203
Davide Baldaccini	25	1	193

Team corratec - Vini Fantini

Team corratec - Vini Fantini

The Team

Top Team corratec - Vini Fantini Stories

UAE Tour: Tudor receive wildcard, Adam Yates and Luke Plapp headline startlist

Polti Kometa, Tudor Pro Cycling and Bardiani receive Giro d'Italia wildcards

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