Former Italian champion could be headed to France after a miserable year with Katusha
After a miserable 2011 season with Katusha, Filippo Pozzato could be headed to Europcar from next year, according to French newspaper Ouest France. The former Italian champion, who turned 30 years old on Saturday, has spent much of this year on the sidelines, missing out on all three Grand Tours with relations with the Russian team apparently broken down.
Despite being heavily rumoured to be heading to Lampre-ISD, Pozzato has reportedly been in discussions with Europcar boss Jean-René Bernadeau. Ouest France reports that the Frenchman made a special trip to Canada, where Pozzato was riding – and failing to finish – both the GP Québec and the GP Montréal.
Europcar enjoyed its best ever Tour de France in July, with perennial stage winner Thomas Voeckler wearing yellow for ten days and finishing the race in fourth place; the best finish for a Frenchman since Richard Virenque’s second place in 1997. Climbing domestique Pierre Rolland was also the revelation of the race, riding in support of Voeckler, then taking one of the race’s most prestigious stage victories on Alpe d’Huez.
Despite the summer success though, Bernadeau is reportedly hunting for a rider to bolster the team’s Classics power. He has already tried, and failed, to sign World champion Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervélo) and French champion Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) and so has approached the Italian, who won Milano-Sanremo in 2006 and finished second in the 2009 edition of Paris-Roubaix.
Thanks to its history of French and local Vendée sponsors, the Europcar team has an almost entirely French roster, with the only exceptions being Japanese Yukiya Arashiro and Canadian David Veilleux. Since the hire car company has a far more international profile, the addition of some foreign riders would likely be a positive move. The presence of such a prominent Italian as Pozzato might also get the team invited to more international races.
Until 2009 Bernadeau’s team, then called Bbox Bouygues Telecom, held a first division ProTour license, which it lost as the more powerful RadioShack and Sky teams were formed. While Pozzato’s inclusion would not be of much use in an application for a 2012 license, since he has only 50 points from his fifth place in Milano-Sanremo. Should he be able to recapture the form of 2009 though, his first season with Katusha, he could potentially give the team a boost in a possible 2013 application.