New team for Bettini and Rebellin?

Another new European team may be in the works with the main title sponsors TelTeck and the International H₂O Society, a humanitarian association based in Montreal, Canada. The team will be announced next week during the cycling world championships in Varese, Italy. The main objective of the program is a project for humanity, and the highlight of the story is the pending signing of reigning world champion Paolo Bettini, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport.

TelTeck CEO Michel Vezina is also the founder of the International H₂O Society, whose primary objective is to bring drinkable water to the countries that have been hit by catastrophe or famine.

The program is under the direction of ex-professional cyclist Francesco Frattini, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport. The team has been in discussion for several months, but the project's official beginning is about to set sail next week. The TelTech sponsor is ready to enter into the cycling world with a large budget of more than six-million euro. Although the sponsors are from North America, the team will be licensed under the UCI as a France based team from Cote d'Azur. TelTeck H₂O will commit to the program for three years with an option of an additional three years.

They are said to be in the advanced stages of signing contracts with Italians Paolo Bettini and the Beijing Olympic silver medallist Davide Rebellin. The team's roster will be approximately 25 riders in total of different nationalities. The team's objective is to race the most important events world-wide beginning with the Tour of California in February and continuing on to the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France. Although the team is focused on road racing there will be a portion of the budget that will fund a full time mountain bike program.