Valerio Piva will join the sportive direction of Circus-Wanty Gobert in 2021. The 62 year old Italian is currently sports director with Team CCC. After a 10 year career as a pro rider, Valerio Piva discovered the role of sports director in 2002 with Mapei, before joining Vlaanderen-T-Interim and T-Mobile which became HTC-Columbia. After two years with Team Katusha until 2014, the Lombard began in the structure of Jim Ochowicz to lead the teams BMC and CCC. The resident of Riemst in Belgium will bring his World Tour experience in the sportive direction of Circus-Wanty Gobert, which is already composed of Hilaire Van der Schueren, Steven De Neef, Jean-Marc Rossignon and Bart Wellens.
Valerio Piva:
« During those seven years, I experienced a lot of sportive emotions together with Jim Ochowicz. Unfortunately, the CCC project couldn’t continue, but I’m very happy about the association with Circus-Wanty Gobert. I felt honored when Jean-François invited me to join the team. I’m convinced that we can achieve great performances together! We will reach new milestones, and we’ve got the same philosophy. We’ve got a lot of work to do, together, with the riders and the staff, to let our jersey shine and to achieve nice results in the World Tour. The passion radiated by the team motivates me a lot! »
Jean-François Bourlart (general manager):
« We care about the continuity of the CCC project and the Continuum Sports structure, so it seemed logical for us to rely on their experience. We can count on experimented people, who know the World Tour. After the recruitment of Aike Visbeek at the head of our Performance section, Valerio is an excellent reinforcement for our sportive direction. His years in the cars of the prestigious World Tour teams is complementary to the experience of Aike Visbeek or Hilaire Van der Schueren. We can approach the step up to a higher level with serenity. »
