By Karen Lambrecht

Saturday the 18th of January, the Fassa Bortolo team was presented in Treviso, Italy. The presentation was overshadowed by the death of one of the athletes, Denis Zanette (32 years), who died from a heart attack last week. Paolo Fassa (owner of Fassa Bortolo) talked about him with a lot of emotion, thinking about the athlete and the person of Denis Zanette.

Fabrizzio Frizzi of the RAI led the presentation. The new jersey was showed. The bikes were presented (Pinarello Dogma, Prince SL, Marvel and Montello).

Giancarlo Ferretti, Fabrizio Frizzi, Paolo Fassa
After the presentation of the bikes and the shirt, Team Manager Giancarlo Ferretti talked about the results in 2002 and the objectives of the team in 2003.

After this introduction, the athletes came in: Basso, Frigo, Petacchi and Tosatto on their bike, followed by the other riders. Fabrizio Frizzi had the support of Davide Cassani to describe the characteristics of each rider and the objectives for the new season.

Michele Bartoli, who is at home at the moment after his fall in Spain, talked on the phone to the public. His words: "I am at home. I pass my days with reading or lying down. Monday, I have a new appointment with the orthopaedist and I hope to understand better when I can start training again."

Then the sport directors and the public relations come on stage. They presented the new internet website for the team. After that, the journalists have the opportunity to ask something to the riders and staff.

Ivan Basso, Dario Frigo, Alessandro Petacchi

Some words from the riders and the team manager:

Ivan Basso:
"I hope to do great things this year: do it well in the final ranking of the Tour de France, but also win one of the Classics."

Alessandro Petacchi:
"I hope to win a classic race. Milaan-San Remo, Tour of Flanders and Paris-Tours are something for me. Milan-San Remo is my favourite one. Now I have won in the Vuelta, I want to win also in the Giro."

Dario Frigo:
"I want to ride a Giro d'Italia at 100%, but I will be there also in the beginning of the season."

Giancarlo Ferretti:
"The Giro d'Italia is important for our team. Frigo and Gonzalez (if he is in the team, it isn't decided yet) are 2 points for the final ranking. With Petacchi for the sprint, we hope to do it well."

The team:
Team Manager: Giancarlo Ferretti
Sport Directors: Roberto Damiani - Alberto Volpi
Assistenti: Oscar Pirazzini - Stefano Zanatta

Riders:
Michele Bartoli (Ita)
Ivan Basso (Ita)
Marzio Bruseghin (Ita)
Fabian Cancellara (Swi)
Francesco Chicchi (Ita)
Dario Davi Cioni (Ita)
Juan José De Los Angeles (Spa)
Mauro Facci (Ita)
Dario Frigo (Ita)
Volodymyr Gustov (Ucr)
Serguei Ivanov (Rus)
Kim Kirchen (Lux)
Nicola Loda (Ita)
Sven Montgomery (Swi)
Alessandro Petacchi (Ita)
Roberto Petito (Ita)
Filippo Pozzato (Ita)
Gorazd Stangelj (Slo)
Matteo Tosatto (Ita)
Guido Trenti (Usa)
Tadej Valjavec (Slo)
Marco Velo (Ita)
Marco Zanotti (Ita)

Not yet registered: Aitor Gonzalez Jimenez

Information and photos courtesy of http://www.fassabortolo.it