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Chris Horner to join ex-Vini Fantini team, Neri Sottoli?Chris Horner leads 2013 Vuelta after Stage 3 (Vuelta 2013 Unipublic:Graham Watson)

Chris Horner to join ex-Vini Fantini team, Neri Sottoli?

Vuelta champion still looking for 2014 ride, Italian team finally secures new sponsor
by Simon_MacMichael
Fri, Dec 13, 2013 15:02
9

Vuelta winner Chris Horner has been linked with a move to Neri Sottoli, which last year rode as Vini Fantini-Selle Italia. The American, who in September became the oldest ever Grand Tour winner when he won the Spanish race, has yet to find a team for 2014.

According to an article in today’s print edition of Italian sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport, Horner’s agent, Michael Rutherford, has offered the 42-year-old’s services to Neri Sottoli's team manager, Angelo Citracca.

The newspaper adds however that Horner’s salary demands may be a stumbling block. Previous press reports have suggested that he is seeking around €1 million a year.

The salary Horner is seeking has also proved too much of an asking price for Trek Factory Racing, which is taking over the WorldTour licence of Horner’s former RadioShack-Leopard team.

Androni-Giocattoli team manager Gianni Savio has also said that while he would welcome having a rider such as Horner on board, the team cannot afford him.

Some will no doubt harbor suspicions that Horner’s difficulty in finding a team is less to do with money and more about questions raised regarding his performance at the Vuelta.

For Yellow Fluo’s part, the team says it is committed to proving it is clean following a Giro d’Italia campaign last May that saw Danilo di Luca – now banned for life – sacked as the race neared its conclusion after it was revealed he had tested positive for EPO.

Team-mate Mauro Santambrogio, winner of Stage 14, tested positive for the same substance but has not yet been sanctioned and there are doubts over his B sample.

Those episodes led to Vini Fantini pulling out as title sponsor, and the team looked set to race this season as Yellow Fluo, the monicker inspired by its unmistakeable kit, until Neri Sottoli was annonced as headline sponsor today.

Matteo Rabottini, winner of a Giro stage in 2012, becomes the team leader, and he will be joined by new signing Simone Ponzi, who arrives from Astana.

Menwhile, 2000 Giro d’Italia champion Stefano Garzelli, who rode his final season with Vini Fantini last year, stays on to become a directeur sportif alongside Luca Scinto.

Chris Horner
Vini Fantini
Neri Sottoli
Vuelta 2014
Simon MacMichael

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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9 comments

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jarredscycling | 10 years ago
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yeah I don't get why Horner didn't drop his salary demands some and go with a more reputable team. I mean making half a million Euro a years sounds a LOT better than asking for a million and getting none

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Ghedebrav | 10 years ago
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I've swung both ways (as it were) on Horner, but on reflection I think he did win clean. I'm not sure there actually were suspicious spikes in performance and he's been very open in publishing his bio passport.

That said, he's enormously overestimated his market value at a time when loads of really good riders are struggling to find a place on a team and he is older than several major world religions. He needs to drop his price, and his final packet (if he gets one) will probably not be too far from what Trek would've paid him to stay on. Silly man (and rubbish agent).

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pwake replied to Ghedebrav | 10 years ago
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Ghedebrav wrote:

I've swung both ways (as it were) on Horner, but on reflection I think he did win clean. I'm not sure there actually were suspicious spikes in performance and he's been very open in publishing his bio passport.

That said, he's enormously overestimated his market value at a time when loads of really good riders are struggling to find a place on a team and he is older than several major world religions. He needs to drop his price, and his final packet (if he gets one) will probably not be too far from what Trek would've paid him to stay on. Silly man (and rubbish agent).

I think Horner's always raced clean (no evidence to the contrary; that'll maybe get some rider 15 comments, I know) and unfortunately has, literally, paid the price for that. He now seems to be trying to 'make hay while the sun shines' but his age is definitely against him.

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Simmo72 | 10 years ago
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Doesn't help the rumours when you end up in a team like this.

I think Horner won clean, he would have been picked up earlier. But it is too much of a gamble to invest such a big salary with a high risk of a poor return. Personally I would have reduced my salary and gone with a team that doesn't attract dopers like flies to ****.

Ooh Stefano Garzelli staying on a DS - wonderful. Why not get just get Di Luca on board as head of 'preparation, skullduggery and blame management'

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WolfieSmith | 10 years ago
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Bloody Vuelta. Still the Wild West every year in terms of turning a blind eye. Still angry about Cobo. 14

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Some Fella | 10 years ago
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Seems the ideal team for him.

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Gkam84 | 10 years ago
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DAMN.....so they are not going to be called Yellow Fluo this season anymore 20 20 20

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Alb | 10 years ago
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^^^ Beat me to it

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monty dog | 10 years ago
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Aged-rider with suspicious spikes in performance seeks refuge in dodgy Italian team shocker? 39

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