First the long stop for the emergency phase of the pandemic, then the difficulties linked to it for the resumption of the competitions and finally the loss of the first name of the team after six years, could all be insurmountable obstacles to keep a sports group alive also in 2021: but instead it is right in these cases that we see the experience and skill of a long-running management. After the end of Astana chapter, in fact, the team chaired by Maurizio Fabretto immediately got to work and today is proud to officially announce the birth of A.R. Monex Women’s Pro Cycling Team, a team that will be in the bunch next season and that will be part of an ambitious and fascinating project, which starts on a three-year basis and which will also involve a road men’s Continental team with Under23 riders and an international Mountain Bike team.
This program was born from the collaboration between Maurizio Fabretto‘s long-standing experience in the cycling world and the enthusiasm of the Mexican group A.R. Program Cycling Team already well established especially in the world of MTB. The foundations are solid because the first agreements have already been made on a three-year basis and because the main sponsor Monex is a financial giant operating all over the world, dealing with monetary services and products, foreign currency, international transactions, payments, deposits and much more. The three teams will share name, colours, most of the technical sponsors and above all energies on the operational level: alongside the Latin soul, in fact, Fabretto will play a fundamental role, given that the sports centre of the project will be in the Veneto region, with homes and other services available to athletes and staff.
«I am really proud to be able to launch this new project – says Maurizio Fabretto – because it is just what we needed to get back on track immediately with new motivations. When I met the brothers Alejandro and Luis Rodríguez they impressed me for their work ethic, they are extremely professional and they know very well that it takes a European base and racing constantly on this side of the ocean to be able to develop in the best way these young riders and everything we are building together in these weeks. We share many ideals, and that is why I am working a lot personally to ensure that the foundations we are laying now are very solid: we want to do things well, without rushing the times, but working over three or four years to get there at the highest levels, to have the number 1 team not only in all of Latin America, but for what I am seeing nothing prevents us from dreaming of the World Tour or the Women’s World Tour within a few seasons».
Regarding the women’s team, registration has already been completed at the Italian Cycling Federation and the riders under contract will be 13 from 7 different countries. The leader and point of reference will once again be the Cuban Arlenis Sierra who has given the team so much satisfaction in the last four years, but also the Italian Katia Ragusa who in 2020 made a huge step forward in quality and the Mexican Yareli Salazar. «The team will be strong – adds Fabretto – and we are convinced that we have strengthened it a lot: we have kept the ones that have done best in the last season and we have added several important elements. And to explain our ambitions even better, we also managed to sign a very good athlete from a Women’s World Tour team». In the coming days, all the names of the cyclists who will be part of the new project will be announced.