Scott-Marcondes Cesar Sao Jose Dos Campos made history in Brazil when the International Cycling Union (UCI) granted it a license to become the nation's first Professional Continental team. Luciano Pagliarini is one of Brazil's most decorated sprinters and he hopes to bring his new team an opening victory at the Tour of San Luis.
"I would like to win a stage - maybe today maybe the next stage," Pagliarini told Cyclingnews in Argentina. "I have good fitness, I would like to win one or two stages but it will be very difficult."
Scott-Marcondes was one of 21 international teams to secure Professional Continental status for the 2010 season. The team started out seven years ago but until now has competed at the Continental level in South American events.
"This is the first time that a Brazilian team has had a Professional Continental license and this is a big, big part of our history," Pagliarini said. "I am so happy to be on this team. I think that this will be a great, great history for us. I was in Brazil and the manager called me with this big team project and asked me to be a part of it.
"The manager wanted to bring the team up a level year by year and step by step," he added. "This is the big step that the team wanted to invest in for the future. We have a lot of power to be stronger."
Pagliarini is dedicated to helping the team progress to the next level and hopes to see the team racing in the three Grand Tours one day.
"We hope to be in the biggest competitions in the world like the Giro, Vuelta and maybe the Tour," Pagliarini said. "We have very important sponsors so this investment now means that we can possibly get bigger."
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Pagliarini took a step up in his professional cycling career when he signed with Lampre in 2001 for a four-year term. Since that time, he has competed for teams Liquigas-Bianchi and Saunier-Duval. Last year, he signed a contract with TelTech-H2O however, the team folded before it received a UCI license.
"I was at H2O last year and we didn't race," Pagliarini said. "So, I went back to Brazil to be with my family. I had lived in Italy for eleven years and I just took a big container, packed up all my stuff and went back to Brazil six months ago."
Pagliarini returned to his roots on the track at the Brazilian Championships where he won three gold medals in the Scratch, Madison and Team Pursuit. When asked if he had the desire to compete at the ProTour level again, he said, "No, I don't want to. I want to be in Brazil, race with this team and help this team to get bigger."
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Kirsten Frattini is the Deputy Editor of Cyclingnews, overseeing the global racing content plan.
Kirsten has a background in Kinesiology and Health Science. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's biggest races, reporting on the WorldTour, Spring Classics, Tours de France, World Championships and Olympic Games.
She began her sports journalism career with Cyclingnews as a North American Correspondent in 2006. In 2018, Kirsten became Women's Editor – overseeing the content strategy, race coverage and growth of women's professional cycling – before becoming Deputy Editor in 2023.
