Caisse d'Epargne (cycling team)

Caisse d'Epargne
logo
Team information
UCI code GCE
Based  Spain
Founded 1980
Status UCI ProTour Team
Bicycles Pinarello
Key personnel
General manager Eusebio Unzue
Team name history
1980–1989
1990–2000
2001–2003
2004–2005
2005
2006
2007–2010		 Reynolds
Banesto
iBanesto.com
Illes Balears-Banesto
Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne
Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
Caisse d'Epargne
Current season

Caisse d'Epargne (UCI Team Code: GCE) is professional road bicycle racing team which participates in the UCI ProTour and has achieved twelve General Classification (GC) victories in Grand Tours. The title sponsor, Caisse d'Epargne, is a French semi-cooperative banking group. The team traces its history back to the Banesto team that included 5-time Tour de France winner Miguel Indurain, 2-time winner of Vuelta a España Alex Zülle and legendary climber José María Jiménez. The team offices are based in Egüés a municipality of Navarre, Spain, in the metropolitan area of Pamplona.[1]

The team uses Pinarello bikes with Campagnolo parts. Since 2008 Eusebio Unzue has been the manager of the team after the long running manager, José Miguel Echavarri, retired from the sport. Directeurs sportifs of the team include Neil Stephens, Alfonso Galilea and José Luis Jaimerena.

Contents

History

Reynolds team

The team began in 1980 as the Reynolds team which José Miguel Echavarri as the directeur sportif.[2] In 1982 signed a young Pedro Delgado who acted as a domestique for team leader Ángel Arroyo during the 1982 Vuelta a España.[3] Arroyo won the Vuelta after his team controlled the race after he took the lead. But 48 hours after his Vuelta win, the results of a positive test were made known for Methylphenidate (Ritalin). Arroyo and the Reynolds team denied that Arroyo doped and asked for a B-analysis which confirmed the positive A-sample. Arroyo became the first winner of the Vuelta a España to be disqualified.[4] Delgado changed teams in 1985 but returned to Reynolds in 1988 where he won the 1988 Tour de France and then the 1989 Vuelta a España with the team. In 1984, Miguel Indurain made his professional debut with the team.

Major victories

1981
1982
Mountains Classification - José Luis Laguia Martinez Jersey green.svg
1983
Mountains Classification - José Luis Laguia Martinez Jersey green.svg
1984
1985
1986
1988
Tour de France GC - Pedro Delgado Jersey yellow.svg
Stage 13 - Pedro Delgado
1989

Banesto

In 1990 Spanish bank Banesto took over as the main sponsor of the team from Reynolds. Delgado was the team leader for the Tour de France while Miguel Indurain and Julián Gorospe were the leaders for the week long stage races. When Gorospe took the lead in that year's Vuelta, the team went behind him in a bid to win the race. However Gorospe lost the leader's jersey and Delgado took over the leadership but could not regain the time that Italian Marco Giovannetti had gained and ended the race second overall behind Giovannetti. Over the following years, Indurain rose to become a dominator of stage races winning five editions of the Tour de France and two editions of the Giro d'Italia. Delgado was the team leader for the Vuelta. The team also achieved success with Jean-François Bernard who won the 1992 edition of Paris–Nice with the team. The team won the Vuelta again in 1998 with Abraham Olano. During this time Alex Zülle joined the team and finished the 1999 Tour de France second overall while legendary climber José María Jiménez performed in the Vuelta a España. The team became known as iBanesto.com in the final years of the sponsorship of the Banesto bank.

Major victories

1990
1991
Tour de France GC - Miguel Indurain Jersey yellow.svg
Team Classification Jersey yellow number.svg
Stage 8 - Miguel Indurain
Stage 21 - Miguel Indurain
1992
Tour de France GC - Miguel Indurain Jersey yellow.svg
Prologue - Miguel Indurain
Stage 9 - Miguel Indurain
Stage 19 - Miguel Indurain
1993
Tour de France GC - Miguel Indurain Jersey yellow.svg
Prologue - Miguel Indurain
Stage 9 - Miguel Indurain
1994
Tour de France GC - Miguel Indurain Jersey yellow.svg
Stage 9 - Miguel Indurain
1995
Tour de France GC - Miguel Indurain Jersey yellow.svg
Stage 8 - Miguel Indurain
Stage 19 - Miguel Indurain
1996
1997
1998
Vuelta a España GC - Abraham Olano Jersey gold.svg
Mountains Classification - José María Jiménez Jersey green.svg
Team Classification Jersey yellow number.svg
1999
Mountains Classification - José María Jiménez Jersey green.svg
Team Classification Jersey yellow number.svg
2000
Young Rider Classification - Francisco Mancebo Jersey white.svg
Stage 18 - José Vicente García
2001
Mountains Classification - José María Jiménez Jersey green.svg
Points Classification - José María Jiménez Jersey blue.svg
Team Classification Jersey yellow number.svg
2002
2003
Young Rider Classification - Denis Menchov Jersey white.svg
Stage 18 - Pablo Lastras

Illes Balears

In 2004 Illes Balears, the Balearic Island's Tourism Board, became the team's principal sponsor, the team's name was Illes Balears-Banesto until 2005. Caisse d'Epargne took over from Banesto as the second sponsor in the 2005 season, the team was then known as Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne. Caisse d'Epargne then became the main sponsor in 2006 reversing the title sponsor ordering with the name, Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears. The team fielded a number of strong contenders in the 2005 Tour de France including Francisco Mancebo (former National Champion of Spain), Alejandro Valverde, Vladimir Karpets and sprinter Isaac Gálvez. Mancebo produced the best results finishing fourth overall in the General Classification.

Major victories

2004
2005

Caisse d'Epargne

Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears finished fifth overall (56 minutes, 53 seconds behind Team T-Mobile) in the Team Classification at the 2006 Tour de France. Individually, the team's top rider, Óscar Pereiro, finished in second place. The Tour victory of Phonak rider Floyd Landis was almost immediately called into question, after a urine sample taken after his Stage 17 win twice tested positive for banned synthetic testosterone as well as a ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone nearly three times the limit allowed by World Anti-Doping Agency rules.[5]

After hearing of the positive "A" test, Pereiro stated that it was only an initial, unconfirmed result and he would not yet consider Landis guilty or himself the Tour winner. "I have too much respect for Landis to do otherwise", he said.[6] After hearing that the Landis "B" test also came back positive, Pereiro stated that he now considers himself Tour champion and the Landis scandal should not diminish his own achievement. "Right now I feel like the winner of the Tour de France", Pereiro said. "It's a victory for the whole team."[7] After nearly two years of appeals, Pereiro was officially upgraded to Tour champion for 2006.[8]

Major victories

2006

2006 Flèche Wallonne & Liège–Bastogne–Liège Alejandro Valverde

2007
Team Classification Jersey yellow number.svg
Stage 6 - Luis León Sánchez
Tour de Suisse Team Classification Jersey yellow number.svg
Volta a Catalunya GC - Vladimir Karpets
Stage 1 - T.T.T.
2008
Vuelta a Murcia GC - Alejandro Valverde
Stage 4 - Alejandro Valverde
Dauphiné Libéré GC - Alejandro Valverde
Stages 1 & 3 - Alejandro Valverde
Stage 1 - Alejandro Valverde
Stage 7 - Luis León Sánchez
Stage 2 - Alejandro Valverde
Stage 18 - Imanol Erviti
Stage 19 - David Arroyo
ProTour GC - Alejandro Valverde Jersey white.svg
Team Classification Jersey yellow number.svg
2009
Tour Méditerranéen GC - Luis León Sánchez
Stage 2 Tour Méditerranéen - T.T.T.
Paris–Nice GC - Luis León Sánchez
Stage 7 - Luis León Sánchez
Volta a Catalunya GC - Alejandro Valverde
Stage 3 - Alejandro Valverde

Team roster

As of January 1, 2010.

Rider Date of birth
 Andrey Amador (CRC) August 29, 1986 (1986-08-29) (age 24)
 David Arroyo (ESP) January 7, 1980 (1980-01-07) (age 31)
 Marzio Bruseghin (ITA) June 15, 1974 (1974-06-15) (age 36)
 Juan José Cobo (ESP) February 11, 1981 (1981-02-11) (age 30)
 Rui Costa (POR) May 10, 1986 (1986-05-10) (age 24)
 Arnaud Coyot (FRA) October 6, 1980 (1980-10-06) (age 30)
 Mathieu Drujon (FRA) February 1, 1983 (1983-02-01) (age 28)
 Imanol Erviti (ESP) November 15, 1983 (1983-11-15) (age 27)
 José Vicente García (ESP) August 4, 1972 (1972-08-04) (age 38)
 Iván Gutiérrez (ESP) November 27, 1978 (1978-11-27) (age 32)
 Arnold Jeannesson (FRA) January 16, 1986 (1986-01-16) (age 25)
 Vasil Kiryienka (BLR) June 28, 1981 (1981-06-28) (age 29)
 Pablo Lastras (ESP) January 20, 1976 (1976-01-20) (age 35)
Rider Date of birth
 David Lopez (ESP) May 13, 1981 (1981-05-13) (age 29)
 Alberto Losada (ESP) February 28, 1982 (1982-02-28) (age 28)
 Angel Madrazo (ESP) July 30, 1988 (1988-07-30) (age 22)
 Christophe Moreau (FRA) April 12, 1971 (1971-04-12) (age 39)
 Luis Pasamontes (ESP) October 2, 1979 (1979-10-02) (age 31)
 Francisco Pérez (ESP) July 22, 1978 (1978-07-22) (age 32)
 Mathieu Perget (FRA) September 18, 1984 (1984-09-18) (age 26)
 Rubén Plaza (ESP) February 29, 1980 (1980-02-29) (age 30)
 José Joaquín Rojas Gil (ESP) June 8, 1985 (1985-06-08) (age 25)
 Luis León Sánchez (ESP) December 24, 1983 (1983-12-24) (age 27)
 Mauricio Soler (COL) January 14, 1983 (1983-01-14) (age 28)
 Rigoberto Urán (COL) January 26, 1987 (1987-01-26) (age 24)
 Alejandro Valverde (ESP) April 25, 1980 (1980-04-25) (age 30)
 Xabier Zandio (ESP) March 17, 1977 (1977-03-17) (age 33)

See also

References

Florent Brard signs in at the 2006 Tour de France in the colours of the National Champion of France
  1. ↑ "2009 Riders and teams Database - Cyclingnews.com". http://www.cyclingnews.com/teams/2009/caisse-depargne. Retrieved 2009-08-14. 
  2. ↑ "Reynolds 1980". de wielersite.nl. http://www.cyclingwebsite.net/ploegfiche.php?id=5706. Retrieved 2008-01-21. 
  3. ↑ "Biography of Pedro Delgado". Pedro Delgado.com. http://www.pedrodelgado.com/eng/biography/82e.html. Retrieved 2008-01-21. 
  4. ↑ "1982 General Information". La Vuelta.com. http://www.lavuelta.com/05/ingles/historia/82infor.asp?a=1982&s=infor&t=infor&e=1. Retrieved 2008-01-18. 
  5. ↑ Macur, Juliet (2006-08-05). "Backup Sample on Landis Is Positive". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/05/sports/05cnd-landis.ready.html. Retrieved 2010-04-28. 
  6. ↑ "Pereiro cautious about Landis case". SportsIllustrated.com. 2006-07-27. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/more/specials/tour_de_france/2006/07/27/bc.cyc.tourdefrance.per.ap/index.html. 
  7. ↑ "I am the Tour champion - Pereiro". BBC Sport. 2006-08-05. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/cycling/5249116.stm. 
  8. ↑ http://www.bicycling.com/tourdefrance/article/0,6802,s1-7-123-17423-1,00.html

External links

UCI ProTour teams

Ag2r-La Mondiale • Astana • Caisse d'Epargne • Euskaltel-Euskadi • Footon-Servetto-Fuji • FDJ • Garmin-Transitions • Lampre-Farnese • Liquigas-Doimo • Omega Pharma-Lotto • Quick Step • Rabobank • Team HTC-Columbia • Team Katusha • Team Milram • Team RadioShack • Team Saxo Bank • Team Sky
See also

UCI ProTour • 2010 UCI ProTour • 2010 UCI World Ranking • 2009–2010 UCI Africa Tour • 2009–2010 UCI America Tour • 2009–2010 UCI Asia Tour • 2009–2010 UCI Europe Tour • 2009–2010 UCI Oceania Tour