Saeco was the name of an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 road bicycle racing

Road bicycle racing

Road bicycle racing is a bicycle racing sport held on roads, using racing bicycles. The term "road racing" is usually applied to events where competing riders start simultaneously with the winner being the first to the line at the end of the course .Historically, the most...

 team, sponsored by the company with the same name

Saeco

Saeco is an Italian manufacturer of espresso machines and other electrical goods, head quartered near Bologna.-History:The company was founded by Sergio Zappella and Arthur Schmed in 1981....

.

The company didn't prolong the sponsorship for 2005, and the team was merged with the Lampre team, forming Lampre-Caffita, sponsored by Caffita

Caffitaly

The Caffitaly System is a capsule system for making espresso and other coffee drinks in home espresso machines...

.

In the 1990s the team was famous for Mario Cipollini

Mario Cipollini

Mario Cipollini , often abbreviated to "Cipo", is a retired Italian professional road cyclist most noted for his sprinting ability, the longevity of his dominance and his colourful personality. His nicknames include Il Re Leone and Super Mario...

's sprint train and his antics. One of their most memorable moments was Cipollini's 4 consecutive stage wins in the 1999

1999 Tour de France

The 1999 Tour de France was the 86th Tour de France, taking place from July 3 to July 25, 1999. It was won by Lance Armstrong, his first of 7 consecutive wins, the most in Tour history. There were no French stage winners for the first time since the 1926 Tour de France.The 1999 edition of Tour de...

 Tour de France

Tour de France

The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...

. The image of Mario Cipollini approaching the TV camera right after a win to say, "Cannondale makes the best bikes!" propelled Cannondale's popularity among road racers.

The Saeco team won the Giro d'Italia in 1997 with Ivan Gotti

Ivan Gotti

Ivan Gotti is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist.Gotti was born at San Pellegrino Terme, Lombardy. He first came to prominence by finishing 5th overall in the 1995 Tour de France...

, in 2003 with Gilberto Simoni

Gilberto Simoni

Gilberto Simoni is an Italian ex-professional road bicycle racer, most recently for . Simoni is twice winner of the Giro d'Italia cycling race...

, and in 2004 with Damiano Cunego

Damiano Cunego

Damiano Cunego is an Italian professional road racing cyclist who rides for the Italian UCI ProTeam . His biggest wins are the 2004 Giro d'Italia, the 2008 Amstel Gold Race, and the Giro di Lombardia in 2004, 2007, 2008. He finished second in the UCI Road World Championships in 2008 and in the...

. Saeco also won the Volta a Portugal

Volta a Portugal

The Volta a Portugal em bicicleta is a long distance road bicycle race for professionals held in Portugal. The competition takes place annually during a two-week span.- History :...

 in 1996 with Massimiliano Lelli

Massimiliano Lelli

Massimiliano Lelli was an Italian professional cyclist. He most known for winning the Young rider Classification in the 1991 Giro d'Italia. His highest finishing in the Giro d'Italia was the year he won the Young rider classification, he placed third that year...

. Saeco's Stefano Zanini

Stefano Zanini

Stefano Zanini is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist, the leadout man for Liquigas-Bianchi in 2006, after riding for Mapei, , and Quick-Step....

 won the US Pro Championship in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

 USA in 2003.

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Saeco team through the years

• Saeco-AS Juvenes San Marino, 1996
• Saeco, 1997
• Saeco Macchine per Caffé, 1998
• Saeco Macchine per Caffé-Cannondale, 1999
• Saeco Macchine per Caffé-Valli & Valli, 2000
• Saeco Macchine per Caffé, 2001
• Saeco Macchine per Caffé-Longoni Sport, 2002
• Saeco Macchine per Caffé, 2003
• Saeco Macchine per Caffé, 2004

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The Saeco team is known for their pranks and antics. Cipollini's antics are legendary, including showing up to the stage start at the Tour de France dressed in a Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar

Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....

-inspired toga complete with an olive wreath, riding on a carriage pulled by his teammates on bicycles. More recently, the entire Saeco team raced a stage of the 2003 Tour de France wearing a Legalize my Cannondale chaingang cycling kit to protest the UCI's lower bound on bike weight which means that their six13 prototype team bikes were underweight and required the installation of additional weight.

The team was sponsored by Cannondale.