Gianni Savio's 26-year run with the Italian team Androni Giocattoli nearly came to an end after this year's title sponsor Drone Hopper - a drone transport start-up - fell behind on their obligations.
The team was missing from the UCI's list of ProTeam applicants and now, if the team continues, it will be as a Continental development squad with an eye on moving back up in the future.
In an interview with OASport.it, Savio said, "The economic situation of the team is currently good, in the sense that there are no problems in ending this season," Savio said. "This is because Marco Bellini (Team CFO) and I have found alternative solutions to make up for the payments that have not been made by the Drone Hopper, which is three times behind."
The riders and staff were given permission to seek employment elsewhere months ago.
"We said right away that in case the riders and staff have received another opportunity to sign on the fly, in case we have to make the team we will talk about it again. No one will ever be able to say that they have lost a job opportunity because of us. We were corrected and three months ago we reported the situation to everyone."
The team had a four-year contract with Drone Hopper the company were unable to meet their obligations. Savio said "they are good people" who talked about supporting the team in a bid to join the WorldTour.
"We always consider the Drone Hopper contract valid. We are waiting for them to get back on track to get their project off the ground and then we can continue together. Clearly, next year he will not be able to be our main sponsor, but we are giving him the opportunity to continue supporting our project," Savio said.
In the end, Androni Giocattoli patron Pino Buda agreed to save the team for this year. The team now face a frantic search for sponsors and contracts to meet the UCI's November 10 deadline for their application.
"It is a situation that caught us unprepared, we will see how we manage to get out of it," Savio said. "Finding sponsors has never been easy, today it is even more difficult. The economy is not booming, the pandemic, the war, the rise in electricity prices, are all elements that keep companies away from sponsorships.
"The various negotiations that we have started all over the world to date have not brought me a concrete result. There are still two alternatives that our interlocutors are considering, because at this point our idea is more aimed at a Continental."
Savio sold the contracts of Italian stand-out Andrea Piccoli and Ecuadorian Jefferson Cepeda to the EF Education-EasyPost to cover salaries after Drone Hopper missed three months of payments.
"It was a matter of making a choice. Either sell Piccolo or don't pay the salaries at the end of the month to all members of the team and so we opted for the first choice," Savio said.
It was a painful choice, since Piccolo is one of many riders who Savio handpicked from the disbanded Gazprom-RusVelo team and who went on to score two podiums for his new team in the fall.
