UCI code KAT Components SRAM Bicycle Canyon Bicycles Founded 2009 | Discipline Road Website Team home page General manager José Azevedo | |
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Registered Russia (2009–2016)
Switzerland (2017–) Status UCI ProTeam (2009–2012)
UCI Professional Continental (Jan 2013–Feb 2013)
UCI WorldTeam (2013–) Profiles | ||
Omloop het nieuwsblad katusha alpecin ep 1
Katusha–Alpecin (Russian: Катюша, UCI team code: KAT) is a Swiss road bicycle racing team which competes using Canyon bikes. The team was created in 2008 by Igor Makarov within the framework of the previously established Russian Global Cycling Project, which was intended to help cycling in Russia to move to a qualitatively new level. In 2017 the team took an international direction, still supported by Igor Makarov’s company ARETI International Group, clothing company Katusha Sports and German shampoo manufacturer Alpecin. The team competed as a UCI ProTeam/WorldTour team since 2009. Joaquim Rodríguez, Alexander Kristoff, Daniel Moreno, Simon Špilak, Filippo Pozzato, Luca Paolini, Inur Zakarin and Tony Martin were responsible for its biggest successes.
Contents
History
The cycling project was launched in the very end of 2008, when on December 22 a Team Katusha was launched in Moscow. The team was practically organised by the Russian Global Cycling Project foundation, which itself is funded by Russian businesses such as Gazprom, Itera and Rostechnologii.
The team was launched with a large budget of over 15 million €. In its first official season it signed leading cyclists such as Robbie McEwen, Vladimir Karpets, Filippo Pozzato, and Gert Steegmans. The team first raced at the 2009 Tour Down Under.
During the 2009 season, the team earned 23 wins. Some of the notable wins were Sergei Ivanov’s Amstel Gold victory, Filippo Pozzato's Italian road title and triumph at Giro del Veneto.
After the 2012 season, Katusha lost their UCI World Tour license, despite having in their ranks the champion of the 2012 season (Joaquim Rodríguez) and finishing the 2012 UCI World Tour team rankings in second position. The team appealed that decision before the Court of Arbitration for Sport and it was announced on 15 February 2013 that the decision of the UCI was overturned and that Katusha would be part of the 2013 UCI World Tour.
Most successful season so far was 2015 when the team took victories in Tour of Flanders, Gent-Wevelgem, Scheldeprijs, GP Ouest France - Plouay, as well as overall wins in Tour of the Basque Country, Tour de Suisse, Tour de Romandie and stage wins in Tour de France, Tour of Italy and Tour of Spain.
Doping
In March 2009 Christian Pfannberger tested positive for EPO and was banned for life. In April the same year Antonio Colom tested positive for EPO.
In 2011 a number of police searches led by the Padova authorities were conducted in Italy during April. The searches were linked to a broader doping investigation linked to Michele Ferrari. Katusha riders; Vladimir Gusev, Mikhail Ignatiev, Vladimir Karpets and Alexandr Kolobnev were searched. Later in July, Kolobnev tested positive for Hydrochlorothiazide (HCT) on stage 5 of the 2011 Tour de France. Two weeks later Kolobnevs B-sample returned a positive for HCT.
In April 2012 Denis Galimzyanov tested positive for EPO in an out of competition test. Galimzyanov later admitted to taking the banned substance. In June 2012 Filippo Pozzato admitted to using the services of Dr Ferrari from 2004 to 2009.
In July 2015, Luca Paolini tested positive for cocaine (Benzoylecgonine metabolite) in a sample given on July 7 during the 2015 Tour de France. As a result, the team withdrew Paolini from the Tour de France. A month later, in August, Giampaolo Caruso returned an EPO positive from a sample taken in March 2012, which had been subsequently retested due to advances in detecting technology. He was suspended by the team awaiting testing of his B-sample.
In February 2016, Eduard Vorganov tested positive for the newly WADA-banned compound, Meldonium. Due to the frequency of doping positives, the teams faces a potential 15- to 45-day ban.
Major results
Since the creation of Team Katusha in 2009, its riders have won many races. As of January 2017 these included 28 stages in Grand Tours and four cycling monuments, the 2012 and 2013 Il Lombardia, the 2014 Milan–San Remo and the 2015 Tour of Flanders.