Continuing our series of behind-the-scenes interviews with the men who influence who signs where, when and for how much, we talk to the man who represents many of the peloton’s top talents, Italian Alex Carera.
Alex and his brother, Johnny, started their rider management business in 1997 with a promising young rider named Damiano Cunego. He went on win the junior Worlds in Verona in 1999, and has developed into one of Italy’s top Classics riders. The Carera’s then signed Latvian Romain Vainsteins, who would then secure the elite rainbow in 2000 when it was held in Plouay in 2000.
The brothers continued to grow their business and expanded beyond top cycling talent to include skiers and motorsport stars. Carera took the time to share some insight into the professional peloton, and discussed some of the current issues within the sport.
VeloNation: How many riders do you have on the roster, Alex?
Alex Carera: More than 40 – including [Vincenzo] Nibali, [Damiano] Cunego, [Thor] Hushovd, [Bernhard] Eisel, [Alessandro] Petacchi, [Mark] Renshaw, [Rein] Taaramäe, [Juan Antonio] Flecha, [Kim] Kirchen...
VN: Is this the most volatile rider transfer market you’ve seen?
AC: For sure, it’s an unusual situation. You have a new big team being formed in Luxembourg and four teams we thought were going to finish are continuing – Geox (ex Footon-Servetto-Fuji) Saxo Bank, Movistar (ex Caisse d’Epargne) and Liquigas-Doimo.
These teams finding new sponsors or persuading their sponsors to continue was very important for the sport.
The only really bad news is the Cervélo story.
VN: Is this a good time to be an ‘average’ pro?
AC: I think that there are plenty of opportunities, yes. The renewal of the teams we mentioned is very good news for riders and managers.
I think it’s a good time for cycling when big sponsors like that are staying with the sport or coming in for the first time.
VN: What’s the latest on the UCI regulating agents – as happens in football?
AC: The UCI say that they will introduce this within two years; I hope they inform us and ask us for our opinions. We have a lot of very good experience and are in the position to give good advice.
VN: Cunego has stayed with Lampre, might not a change have been better for him?
AC: He had a lot of opportunities; Geox, Liquigas and Vacansoleil were all interested, but he prefers to stay with Giuseppe Saronni, and working closely with the Mapei Sport Research Centre was something that he found very appealing.
In 2011 he wants results. He wants to go back to riding the way he did in 2004 when he won the Giro and in 2008 when he won at Lombardy and in the Amstel. He thinks that the new collaborations at Lampre can make this possible.
VN: Does the merger with ISD have much impact?
AC: No, Lampre is a good team, a serious team with good riders, and Damiano looks forward to leading it into the Ardennes Classics in 2011.
The addition of ISD as a sponsor is more of a business than sporting arrangement.
VN: Riccardo Riccò was your rider...
AC: Riccò was my rider until the Italian championships this year.
I found him the contract with Ceramica Flaminia for 2010 and 2011, but he preferred to change.
It’s difficult for me and I’d prefer not to speak of him, he’s been my rider for many years. He’s a good rider, but let us just say that my ideas differ from his.
VN: How do you view the Cervélo situation?
AC: It’s a good position for the top seven or eight of their riders. They will go to the Garmin ProTour team with their contracts from Cervélo.
Sastre has gone to Geox, so for the big riders there’s no problem, but the situation is not so good for the young riders.
But that’s the risk you run being a professional cyclist. In football, teams have been going for 100 years, but in cycling the average life expectancy of a team is only three or four years.
VN: You represent Franco Pellizotti, what’s his position?
AC: It’s not clear, we’re waiting for a decision from the tribunal of the Italian Federation. I recently met with Franco and his lawyer, and the situation is not a straightforward one, but Liquigas continue to back him.
VN: And Alessandro Petacchi has similar problems?
AC: No because the situation is different.
Alessandro continues to ride and we are waiting to see how the situation develops - but he has provided all the answers to questions he was set by CONI investigators.
VN: Do you still study the U23 results for future clients?
AC: The young riders are the future.
We watch carefully at the Baby Giro and Valle d’Aosta – this year we have signed Jonathan Monsalve from Venezuela, who won stages in Aosta and the Baby Giro, Italian rider Antonio Santoro who was third on GC in the Baby Giro, and Marko Kump of Slovenia, who won the U23 Tour of Flanders and has already signed with Geox for 2011 (as reported in VeloNation on August 22).
VN: Who will be the young stars of 2011?
These three will be among them but in your first year as a professional it’s more important that you find a team with a good director and with older riders who will give advice.
In year one the money and results are not so important; they come later.
VN: And do you think it’s an honourable world to work within?
AC: Normally, if you are dealing with serious teams, there is no problem with that aspect.