CCC Pro Team () was a

UCI WorldTeam A UCI WorldTeam (2015–present), previously UCI ProTeam (2005–2014), is the term used by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to name a cycling team of the highest category in professional road cycling, the UCI World Tour or UCI ProTour ...

co-owned and managed by American cyclist

Jim Ochowicz Jim Ochowicz (born December 23, 1951) is a former Olympic bicyclist and manager of UCI WorldTeam . He served as president of the USA Cycling Board of Directors from 2002 to 2006.http://www.usacycling.org/news/user/story.php?id=3512 Mark Abramson ...

, who founded the

7-Eleven Cycling Team The 7-Eleven Cycling Team, later the Motorola Cycling Team, was a professional cycling team founded in the U.S. in 1981 by Jim Ochowicz, a former U.S. Olympic cyclist. The team lasted 16 years, under the sponsorship of 7-Eleven through 1990 and t ...

. After its last title sponsor, CCC, a Polish shoe retailer, pulled out due to financial difficulties resulting from the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, Ochowicz was unable to find another major sponsor, so the team disbanded at the end of the 2020 season. In its place, Belgian

UCI ProTeam UCI most commonly refers to: * University of California, Irvine, a public university in Irvine, California, United States * Union Cycliste Internationale, the world governing body for the sport of cycling UCI may also refer to: * Uganda Cancer In ...

took over the team's license and was promoted to a

Ownership

The team was owned by Swiss businessman

Andy Rihs Andy Rihs (2 November 1942 in Stuttgart – 18 April 2018 in Zürich) was a Swiss businessperson primarily in Medtech and Sports. Biography Andy Rihs' father Ernst had acquired the Zurich-based ''AG für Elektroakustik'' (founded: 1947) in 1965. On ...

until his death. After his death the team passed to

and Gavin Chilcott.

History

The team was founded as BMC Racing Team in 2007, sponsored by the bicycle manufacturer

BMC Switzerland BMC Switzerland AG (abbreviation of "Bicycle Manufacturing Company") is a Swiss bicycle and cycling product manufacturer based in Grenchen. BMC designs, builds and distributes road bikes, mountain bikes, and commuter bikes primarily for sale ...

. The team signed a number of major international riders for the 2010 season, including 2009 World Champion, two-time

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

runner-up and 2011 winner

Cadel Evans Cadel Lee Evans (; born 14 February 1977) is an Australian former professional racing cyclist, who competed professionally in both mountain biking and road bicycle racing. A four-time Olympian, Evans is one of three non-Europeans – along wi ...

, 2009 U.S. Road Race Champion

George Hincapie George Anthony Hincapie (born June 29, 1973) is an American former racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 1994 and 2012. Hincapie was a key domestique of Lance Armstrong. Hincapie was also a domestique for Alberto Contador in 2007 a ...

, 2008 World Champion

Alessandro Ballan Alessandro Ballan (born 6 November 1979 in Castelfranco Veneto, Veneto) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer who most recently rode for UCI World Tour team . He is best known for winning the World Road Race Championships, in ...

and Spring Classics specialists

Karsten Kroon Karsten Kroon (born 29 January 1976) is a Dutch former professional road bicycle racer who most recently rode for , a UCI ProTeam. He retired at the end of the 2014 season. Career Born in Dalen, Kroon showed his talent as an amateur by winnin ...

and

Marcus Burghardt Marcus Burghardt (born 30 June 1983) is a former German professional road bicycle racer, who has retired from professional racing as a result of a severe wrist injury suffered at the Tour of Poland in 2021, where he crashed at a roundabout clos ...

. In 2010 the team participated in their first

Grand Tours In road bicycle racing, a Grand Tour is one of the three major European professional cycling stage races: Giro d'Italia, Tour de France, and Vuelta a España. Collectively they are termed the ''Grand Tours'', and all three races are similar in ...

, having been invited to compete in the

2010 Tour de France The 2010 Tour de France was the 97th edition of the Tour de France cycle race, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started on with an 8.9 km prologue time trial in Rotterdam, the first start in the Netherlands since 1996. The race visited th ...

and the

2010 Giro d'Italia The 2010 Giro d'Italia was the 93rd edition of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The race started off in Amsterdam on 8 May and stayed in the Netherlands for three stages, before leaving the country. The route included climb ...

. In 2011, the team attained

status, the most prestigious classification available, and BMC rider

won the

2011 Tour de France The 2011 Tour de France was the 98th edition of the race. It started on 2 July at the Passage du Gois and ended on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on 24 July. The cyclists competed in 21 stages over 23 days, covering a distance of . The route e ...

. For 2012 the team signed

Thor Hushovd Thor Hushovd (born 18 January 1978) is a Norwegian former professional road bicycle racer. He is known for sprinting and time trialing; Hushovd is a three-time Norwegian National Road Race Championships, Norwegian national road race champion ( ...

and Philippe Gilbert, the 2010 and 2012 world-champions respectively. In 2012, Evans was unable to defend his title at the Tour de France, finishing in seventh overall, two places behind teammate Tejay van Garderen. Cadel Evans placed third overall at the 2013 Giro d'Italia. At the

2013 Tour de France The 2013 Tour de France was the 100th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started on the island of Corsica on 30 June and finished on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on 21 July. The Tour consisted of twenty-one stages ...

, Cadel Evans finished 39th, Tejay van Garderen 45th, with Steve Morabito the highest placed overall at 35th. Shortly after the end of the Tour, it was announced that

John Lelangue John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

, who had been directeur sportif since the team was founded in 2007, was leaving the team "for personal reasons". In September 2013 Jim Ochowicz announced the appointment of Valerio Piva as Lelangue's replacement. For the 2015 season, BMC signed Alessandro De Marchi, Damiano Caruso and

Jempy Drucker Jean-Pierre "Jempy" Drucker (born 3 September 1986) is a retired Luxembourgish professional racing cyclist. Career Fidea (2004–2008) Born in Sandweiler, Drucker signed with in 2004, a team specializing in cyclo-cross, at age 18. He rode with ...

for the 2015 season The team also announced they had signed

Rohan Dennis Rohan Dennis (born 28 May 1990) is an Australian professional road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Dennis was born, raised, and resides in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. He won back to back UCI men's individual t ...

- his transfer however was effective immediately. Avermaet finished 8th in the World Tour individual classification. Meanwhile, the team won the Team Time Trial World Championship. For the 2016 season, the team signed

Richie Porte Richard Julian Porte (born 30 January 1985) is an Australian professional road bicycle racer who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . His successes include wins at 8 World Tour stage races: Paris–Nice in 2013 and 2015, the Volta a Cataluny ...

. He scored podiums at the Tour Down Under and Paris–Nice to finish 7th in the World Tour individual classification, whereas Van Avermaet finished 6th overall after winning the Tirreno–Adriatico and GP de Montréal. In the 2017 season, Van Avermaet won the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, E3 Harelbeke, Gent–Wevelgem and the Paris–Roubaix, therefore he claimed the first place at the World Tour individual classification. Porte finished 12th overall, having won the Tour Down Under and Tour de Romandie. BMC ranked third in the World Tour points classification. In the 2018 season, Porte won the Tour de Suisse. In July 2018 the team announced that CCC would become the new title sponsor of the Continuum Sports-owned team, a move that would expand CCC's presence in cycling, with CCC's Professional Continental team, CCC Sprandi Polkowice, stepping down to the Continental level for the 2019 season as CCC Development Team. Van Avermaet will continue as leader, whereas Porte is expected to leave the team. In September 2020 CCC Team agreed to sell their WorldTour licence to Belgian ProTeam Circus-Wanty Gobert.

Doping

In April 2010,

Thomas Frei Thomas Frei (born 19 January 1985) is a Swiss road bicycle racer. Frei was Swiss Junior champion in road cycling in 2002. Between 2004 and 2006 he cycled for the Bürgis Cycling Team and won the Mountain Championship for U23 cyclists. In the 200 ...

tested positive for erythropoietin (EPO), Frei was immediately withdrawn from racing by the team. Frei was later sacked by the team. In August 2017, the UCI confirmed that Samuel Sanchez had returned a positive out of competition drug test for GHRP-2 ( Pralmorelin). He was immediately suspended by the team pending analysis of his B-sample. In February 2019, ''

Kronen Zeitung The ''Kronen Zeitung'' (), commonly known as the ''Krone'', is Austria's largest newspaper. It is known for being Eurosceptic. History The first issue of the ''Kronen Zeitung'' appeared on 2 January 1900. Gustav Davis, a former army officer, ...

'' broke news that a number of professional cyclists had been implicated in the doping scandal uncovered at the

2019 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships The 41st FIS Nordic World Ski Championships were held from 20 February to 3 March 2019 in Seefeld in Tirol, Tyrol (state), Tyrol, Austria. It was the second time Seefeld in Tirol hosted the world championships, the event having been hosted there p ...

. Later, Stefan Denifl confessed to blood doping in a police interview. Denifl had been due to join CCC Team in 2019 but his contract was terminated at Denifl's request in December 2018. CCC Team general manager Jim Ochowicz confirmed that the team's medical assessment of Denifl's biological passport showed no warning signs of blood doping.

Final team roster

Major wins

National and world champions

;2011 :

Norway Road Race,

Alexander Kristoff Alexander Kristoff (born 5 July 1987) is a Norwegian professional road bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He won the Norwegian National Road Race Championships in 2007 and 2011. His biggest victories have been the 2014 Milan ...

Switzerland Time Trial,

Martin Kohler Martin Kohler (born 17 July 1985) is a Swiss former road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2018 and 2016 for the , and squads. He competed in the 2010 Giro d'Italia but had to withdraw in the second stage due to a crash. Kohler ...

;2012 :

Switzerland Road Race,

World Road Race, Philippe Gilbert ;2013 : Jersey italianflag

Italian Road Race, Ivan Santaromita : Jersey italianflag

Italian Time Trial,

Marco Pinotti Marco Pinotti (born 25 February 1976 in Osio Sotto, Lombardy) is an Italian former road racing cyclist, who competed as a professional between 1999 and 2013. An individual time trial specialist, Pinotti was a six-time Italian Time Trial Champ ...

Switzerland Road Race,

Michael Schär Michael Schär (born 29 September 1986) is a Swiss professional road bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Born in Geuensee, Schär has competed in thirteen Grand Tours during his career, and was the winner of the Swiss Nation ...

Norway Road Race,

;2014 :

USA Time Trial,

Taylor Phinney Taylor Carpenter-Phinney (born June 27, 1990) is an American retired professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2009 and 2019 for the , and teams. Phinney specialized in time trials on the road as well as the individual ...

Slovakia Time Trial, Peter Velits ;2015 : Jersey rainbow

World Track (Individual pursuit), Stefan Küng : MaillotSuiza

Switzerland Time Trial, Silvan Dillier : MaillotSuiza

Switzerland Road Race, Danilo Wyss : MaillotSuiza

Switzerland Track (Individual pursuit), Stefan Küng : MaillotSuiza

Switzerland Track (Points race), Stefan Küng ;2016 : MaillotAustralia

Australian Time Trial,

USA Time Trial,

Italian Time Trial,

Manuel Quinziato Manuel Quinziato (born 30 October 1979 in Bolzano) is an Italian former road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2017 for the , , and squads. Major results ;1997 : 3rd Team pursuit, UCI Junior Track Cycling World Cham ...

Belgium Road Race Championships, Philippe Gilbert ;2017 : MaillotAustralia

Australian Time Trial,

Australian Road Race,

Miles Scotson Miles Scotson (born 18 January 1994) is an Australian track and road cycling racer, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Scotson was a student at Trinity College Gawler, completing his studies in 2011. Scotson's first professional victory w ...

Luxembourg Time Trial,

Switzerland Time Trial, Stefan Küng : MaillotUSA

USA Time Trial, Joey Rosskopf : MaillotSuiza

Switzerland Road Race, Silvan Dillier ;2018 : MaillotAustralia

Australian Time Trial,

USA Time Trial, Joey Rosskopf : MaillotSuiza

Switzerland Time Trial, Stefan Küng : Jersey rainbow

World Time Trial,

;2019 :

New Zealand Time Trial,

Patrick Bevin Patrick Bevin (born 15 February 1991) is a New Zealand professional road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Personal life Bevin grew up in Taupō. He moved to Cambridge in 2014 when the Avantidrome opened to train with the ...

Poland Road Race, Michal Paluta ;2020 : MaillotRepúblicaCheca

Czech Republic Time Trial,

Josef Černý Josef Černý (born October 18, 1939 in Rožmitál pod Třemšínem, Bohemia and Moravia) is a retired ice hockey player who played in the Czechoslovak Extraliga. He won a three medals at four Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Gam ...

Poland Time Trial,

Kamil Gradek Kamil Gradek (born 17 September 1990) is a Polish racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He rode at the 2014 UCI Road World Championships. In May 2019, he was named in the startlist for the 2019 Giro d'Italia. Major results ;2 ...

References

External links

* {{Vuelta a España team classification winners Former UCI WorldTeams Cycling teams based in the United States Cycling teams based in Poland Cycling teams established in 2007 Cycling teams established in 2019 2007 establishments in the United States 2019 establishments in Poland Defunct cycling teams based in Poland Defunct cycling teams based in the United States

Ownership

History

Doping

Final team roster

Major wins

National and world champions

Sponsors

References

External links