MERIDA ITALIA TEAM SEASON 2014 PRESENTATION
MERIDA ITALIA TEAM
Story and goals: Hard Rock Sport Association was born in 1988 from a group of friends that after a trip in the USA have begun a love for the MOUNTAINBIKE, beginning to practice off-road cycling tours on the trails of their Valleys. Initially a Pub in the center of Piacenza City (Italy) served as headquarters and there were at most ten members. Paying the dues they acquired the right to receive discounts at the only one mtb dedicated shop of the city. Some years later the group grown up in numbers and some members started doing some races. The consequent join to Italian Cycling Federation has determined the first realisation of a board of directors, then a president. For long time this organization allowed to consolidate the imagine of this sport association. From the 1997 the cyclist group became completely dedicated to competion and races, thus changing the name in HARD ROCK RACE TEAM. The Team was focused on the organization of MTB races and on their amateur racers who competed in National races with nice results, thus taking the 3rd place in the special team rank of the nation in 1998. Since this year was started a project focused on the aggregation of kids and young guys, that after some time became a real team for the youth till the Juniores category. The team took some satisfaction like the winning of the Italian National Champ with Giorgia Bronzini and Her nice performances with the National Team in International races. After those big results of year 2000 all the current staff people want continue the promotion of the MTB to the youth of our country, continuing to prepare competitive teams of MTB riders. The 2002 was the year of Hard Rock Marin , fantastic season signed by the win of the National Italian Juniores Title from our rider Marco Aurelio Fontana, that also partecipated at the World Championship with the National Team, and by the win of the Liquigas International Race in Lugagnano (Italy) from Pippo Lamastra. The story continue till not far from our days, especially in 2008 when Marco Aurelio Fontana, our best riders of all time, took the qualification for the Olympic Games in Beijing (China). His growth allowed the staff to increase their international experience receiveng also congratulations from all the off-road movement. During the last years all resources were focused on the reaserch of new talents, and now with the Merida Italia Team project we are ready to ride another time “the path� and grow up new competitive bikers.
MERIDA ITALIA TEAM
Merida Italia Team is an International Cross Country UCI Team born from the historical Italian crew “Hard Rock Race Team� focused on the growth of young bikers to professional World Cup riders. Staff Members: - Marco Boccellari (team manager) - Francesco Niccoli (co-team manager) - Domingo Copelli (directeur sportif) - MariaGiulia Boccellari (secretary) - Andrea Berlusconi (press office) - Mauro Rocca (mechanic) - GianLuigi Prevedini (mechanic) Riders Roster: - Martin Loo EST-1988/04/09 cat. EL - Lorenzo Samparisi ITA-1993/08/21 cat. UN23 - Stefano Valdrighi ITA-1994/08/01 cat. UN23 - Gioele Bertolini ITA-1995/04/26 cat. UN23 - Mattia Setti ITA-1994/12/31 cat. UN23 - Alessandro Naspi ITA-1996/06/21 cat. JU
Riders page - MARTIN LOO
Estonian National Champ XCO 2013 EL 30° EL World Cup XCO 2013 15°EL European Championship XCO 2013 19° EL World Championship XCO 2013 3° EL Final Rank Internazionali d’Italia XCO Series 2013
Riders page - LORENZO SAMPARISI Italian National Rider at World Cup XCO 2013 7° UN23 Final Rank Internazionali d’Italia XCO Series 2013
Riders page - STEFANO VALDRIGHI
Italian National Rider World Cup XCO 2013 5째 U23 National Championships XCO 2013
Riders page - GIOELE BERTOLINI
Italian National Rider World Cup XCO 2013 Italian National Champ XCO 2013 2째 JU European Championship XCO 2013 3째 Ju World Championship XCO 2013 1째 JU UCI Ranking XCO 2013
Riders page - MATTIA SETTI
Italian National Rider World Cup XCO 2013
Riders page - ALESSANDRO NASPI Italian National Rider World Cup XCO 2013
MERIDA ITALIA TEAM
Season 2014 plan: The agonistic activity of the Merida ItaliaTeam riders involves the partecipation in XCO International and National races in Italy and abroad, especially including the World Cup. The main goals are the climb of the UCI Ranking , win the series “Internazionali d’Italia” and the convening for the World and European Championships by the respective National Teams. The Team provides its updates via its press office, that sends frequently press releases. Thanks to specific agreements, those news are reported on the Italian main MTB websites and magazines. To remain updated on the most recent news of the crew is possible visit the Twitter profile, the Facebook page and the Instagram account or open the official website www.hardrockmtb.com.
TECHNICAL PARTNERS
BT.S. Sport Cosmetics srl (Reggio Emilia – Italy) is the official one and only MERIDA BIKES distributor for Italy. More info at http://www.meridabikes.it/
DRC high performance rims provides special race wheels to the Team.
SIS sport nutrition product is a British brand shared this year for the first time in Italy from our main technical sponsor BT.S. Sport Cosmetics srl. NorthWave is an Italian company well know all over the World for having put on its shoes to several champions, that sustain us since many years ago. All the bikes of our riders are equipped by SRAM groupsets, provided by the Italian distributor Beltrami TSA. The ESIgrips American knobs beautifies our Mtbikes, especially thanks by the national distributor AVS.
Thanks to the partnership with B.S.C. Bike Suspension Center we could use r.s.p. bicycle care products. B.S.C. is an historical partner of us and is become the Italian distributor for Rubena tires, mounted on the wheels of our riders from several years. The Italian company VI.FRA. produce the official technical team wear.
MERIDA ITALIA TEAM
WHAT WE CAN OFFER? - #1 (Cycling field standards)
Logos on jerseys
The Italian company VI.FRA. produce the official technical team wear.
Podium hats
MERIDA ITALIA TEAM
WHAT WE CAN OFFER? - #2 (Media Stuffs)
Photos & vids
The Italian company VI.FRA. produce the official technical team wear.
Press releases
Press meetings
MERIDA ITALIA TEAM
WHAT WE CAN OFFER? - #3 (Technicals)
exposure – paddock team life
technical reviews
feedbacks to R&D
MERIDA ITALIA TEAM How to get in touch? WHAT WE CAN OFFER? - #4 Hard Rock Race Team Via Taverna, 143 – 29121 – Piacenza (PC – Italy) info@hardrockmtb.com
Wanna find us on web?
https://www.hardrockmtb.com
https://twitter.com/HardRockMTB
https://www.facebook.com/HardRockMTB
http://instagram.com/hardrockmtb