Team Polti Kometa’s 2024: season recap

From the 20th… to the 20th, from the Classica Comunitat Valenciana to the Veneto Classic, nine exact months from January to October, marking the fourth year in the Professional category and the first with the new main sponsor and team colors: 144 racedays (counting multi-race days as single days) covering over 28,000 kilometers across 16 countries; 20 riders (including 3 neo-professionals) with an additional 3 stagiaires joining in August, representing a total of 6 nationalities; 4 victories (3 stage wins and one overall title, along with captain Maestri’s gold medal for Italy in the European Mixed Team Relay in September) plus 25 more podiums, 4 KOM jerseys and one points classification.

This sums up Team Polti Kometa’s 2024, ranked within the UCI top-30. What these numbers don’t convey, though, is the group spirit with which the riders under Ivan Basso and the Contador brothers, led by Stefano Zanatta, Jesús Hernández, Giovanni Ellena and Biagio Conte, faced their commitments. And the breakaways, an emblematic mark of the Italian ProTeam. Quantifying them is tricky, except in the Giro d’Italia, where Andrea Pietrobon and Mirco Maestri topped the breakaway ranking finishing 1st and 2nd. Highlights include Pietrobon’s attack in Lucca, finishing 3rd in the fifth stage, and Maestri’s duo ride alongside Alaphilippe on the Marche’s walls, sparking a friendship that thrilled fans.

Focusing on the Giro, flagship event taking place in May, besides Pietrobon’s podium the sprinter Giovanni Lonardi placed 3rd in Francavilla al Mare (stage 11) while the talent from the Valtellina, Davide Piganzoli, a highlight of the squad who rose through the U23 ranks to join the “first team” last year, held his own on the Mortirolo and other tough climbs finishing 13th overall: the team’s best GC finish ever in the corsa rosa!

Before then, Polti Kometa had already secured its four victories. In February, Davide Piganzoli claimed his first pro win at the Tour of Antalya: “queen stage” on Mount Tahtali, winning both the GC and KOM classification, with Giovanni Lonardi topping the points ranking. In the following weeks, new recruit Jhonatan Restrepo achieved two explosive stage wins: one at the Tour Colombia (with Colombian national team) and one at the Tour du Rwanda. In March three Polti Kometa riders made the breakaway at Milan-San Remo, with Davide Bais caught just before the Poggio. At the end of April’s Tour of Turkey, Lonardi won stage 3 in Marmaris.

For the Valpolicella sprinter this was his first victory in a ProSeries event, marking what would be his best season to date: although no further wins followed, he was consistently in the mix with top competitors, even achieving a streak of 7 consecutive “top 10” finishes between the final stage of the Giro in Rome, the ZLM Tour in the Netherlands and the first two days of the Tour of Slovenia. In Slovenia itself, and earlier in the aforementioned Turkey, English climber Paul Double stood out as one of the team’s top performers: 2nd in the Slovenian “queen stage” and 3rd in Turkish GC, just days after Mattia Bais took 3rd in the revived one-day Giro della Romagna.

Erik Fetter narrowly missed out on the Hungarian national title in June, and in July a training camp in Bormio, Valtellina, allowed Fernando Tercero to regain form after missing most of the season due to cytomegalovirus. Tercero later claimed 4th at the Tour de Langkawi, where sprinter Manuel Peñalver accumulated multiple top-10s even losing a stage by photofinish.

In August, team stalwart Diego Sevilla took the KOM jersey at the Vuelta a Burgos, while David Martín did the same at the Tour Poitou Charentes, following in teammate Alex’s footsteps at the Boucles de la Mayenne. At the Poitou Charentes, Maestri also finished 2nd in the ITT and the previous week he missed out on the Tour du Limousin‘s KOM jersey by a single point.

The autumn Italian classics confirmed Piganzoli’s form, culminating in a prestigious podium at the Giro dell’Emilia just behind Pogacar and Pidcock: a magical moment for everyone. The concluding events included Fran Muñoz’s relentless escapes at the Gran Piemonte and Cro Race, Matteo Fabbro’s strong effort in Il Lombardia and Mattia Bais’s 6th place at the rainy Giro del Veneto.

Other athletes made significant contributions to achieving these results: rookies Germán Gómez (growing well alongside his fellow countryman Restrepo) and Davide De Cassan both adapted well, with De Cassan nearly winning a stage in Taiwan in March. Still young Javier Serrano consistently led the sprinters, while Andrea Garosio brought his experience to assist the leaders on climbs.

In the last two months, stagiaires Gabriele Raccagni, Luca Bagnara (both coming from the U23 roster) and Maltese national champion Aidan Buttigieg joined the team, reinforcing the partnership with Visit Malta. In 2025 Raccagni will officially join the “main squad” alongside Pablo Garchu Garcia, also promoted from the U23 ranks.

Regarding partnerships, Visit Malta’s co-title sponsorship was announced and new partners such as Svitol and Fineco joined. The technical staff boosted the nutrition team with Emen4Sport and AURUM bikes sported Lechler’s special paintwork at the Giro and Il Lombardia, set to continue with “colorful stories” for another two years.

As for rider transfers, Paul Double will join the World Tour (following last year’s promotions of Albanese and Fortunato) and further updates on team roster changes, including contract renewals and new signings, will be revealed in the coming weeks. The path forward continues, thanks in part to the reorganization of the Fundación Contador, which will optimize resources to further the growth of both the Juniors and ProTeam.