Tinkoff Credit Systems () was a professional continental

cycling team A cycling team is a group of cycle sport, cyclists who join a team or are acquired and train together to compete in bicycle racing, bicycle races whether amateur or professional – and the supporting personnel. Cycling teams are most important i ...

based in Italy that had

UCI Professional Continental The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI; ; en, International Cycling Union) is the world gove ...

status, raced in

UCI Continental Circuits The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI; ; en, International Cycling Union) is the world gove ...

races and when selected as a wildcard to

UCI ProTour The UCI ProTour was a series of road bicycle races in Europe, Australia and Canada organised by the UCI (International Cycling Union). Created by Hein Verbruggen, former president of the UCI, it comprises a number of 'ProTour' cycling teams, e ...

events. The team was financed by Russian businessman

Oleg Tinkov Oleg Yuryevich Tinkov (russian: Олег Юрьевич Тиньков; born 25 December 1967) is a Russian-born Cypriot entrepreneur and businessman. Tinkov is the founder of a network of shops of household appliances ''Technoshock'', frozen f ...

. Tinkoff Credit Systems emerged from the 2006 Continental team ''Tinkoff Restaurants'', which was based in Russia and headed by Alexander Kuznetsov (), employed Russian cyclists and was based upon the Saint Petersburg ''Lokomotiv'' team.Субботина, Анна (Subbotina, Anna) (22 January 2007)
Олег Тиньков раскручивает педали
(Oleg Tinkov spins the pedals). '' «Коммерсантъ»'' . Retrieved 1 October 2021. Of the eleven cyclists employed by the team, eight moved on to Tinkoff Credit Systems: Pavel Brutt, Ilya Chernetskiy, Mikhail Ignatiev, Serguei Klimov, Anton Mindlin, Ivan Rovny,

Alexander Serov Alexander Nikolayevich Serov (russian: Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Серо́в, Saint Petersburg, – Saint Petersburg, ) was a Russian composer and music critic. He is notable as one of the most important music critics i ...

and Nikolai Trusov. In January 2007, the Italian Ambassador to Russia Vittorio Surdo supported the formation of the Russian-Italian team Tinkoff Credit Systems explaining "for Italians, cycling is sacred, since the Prime Minister of Italy is an avid cyclist." Stefano Feltrin was the general manager of Tinkoff, while Omar Piscina was team manager, assisted by

Orlando Maini Orlando Maini (born 17 December 1958 in Bologna) is an Italian former professional cyclist, who rode in 11 Grand Tours. He currently works as a directeur sportif for UCI Continental team . Major results ;1984 :1st Stage 9 Vuelta a España T ...

Dmitri Konychev Dimitri Konyshev (Russian Дмитрий Борисович Конышев; born 18 February 1966 in Gorky) is a Russian former road bicycle racer. During the 1989 World Championship he can be seen in a rather famous photo of cycling history sh ...

and

Claudio Cozzi Claudio is an Italian and Spanish first name. In Portuguese it is accented Cláudio. In Catalan and Occitan it is Claudi, while in Romanian it is Claudiu. Origin and history Claudius was the name of an eminent Roman gens, the most important me ...

. Owner Oleg Tinkoff had worked hard to build links with the Italian cycling community, which garnered wildcard invites to the major RCS races, including the

2007 Giro d'Italia The 2007 Giro d'Italia was the 90th running of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took place from 12 May to 3 June 2007. The race began in Sardinia and finished in Milan, and featured five mountain top finishes, of which one wa ...

. The team was disbanded in 2008, with the new

Team Katusha A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to infor ...

formed as a

team in its place, and using Tinkoff Credit Systems structure. Tinkoff used

Colnago Colnago Ernesto & C. S.r.l. or Colnago is a manufacturer of high quality road-racing bicycles founded by Ernesto Colnago near Milano in Cambiago, Italy. It remained a family-controlled firm until May 4, 2020, when it was announced that the UAE- ...

bicycles with

Campagnolo Campagnolo is an Italian manufacturer of high-end bicycle components with headquarters in Vicenza, Italy. The components are organised as groupsets (gruppi), and are a near-complete collection of a bicycle's mechanical parts. Campagnolo's flag ...

components. After 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 stag ...

, Oleg Tinkov announced he was ending his sponsorship of in favour of reviving Tinkoff Credit Systems from January 2014, with a commitment for five years. However, in December 2013 Tinkov confirmed that he had bought Team Saxo-Tinkoff from

Bjarne Riis Bjarne Lykkegård Riis (; born 3 April 1964), nicknamed ''The Eagle from Herning'' ( da, Ørnen fra Herning), is a Danish former professional road bicycle racer who placed first in the 1996 Tour de France. For many years he was the owner and lat ...

and that the team would compete in 2014 under the name Tinkoff-Saxo with Riis remaining as the team's general manager.

Major wins

;2008 :Stage 19 Giro d'Italia,

Vasil Kiryienka Vasili Vasilyevich Kiryienka ( be, Васіль Васілевіч Кірыенка; Łacinka: Vasil Vasilevič Kiryjenka; born 28 June 1981) is a Belarusian former racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2006 and 2020 for the OTC Doors, ...

:Stage 5 Giro d'Italia, Pavel Brutt ;2007 :

Team classification The team classification is one of the different rankings for which competitors can compete in a multiple stage cycling race. It differs from the other usual rankings (general classification, points, king of the mountain and best young rider competi ...

Tirreno–Adriatico Tirreno–Adriatico, nicknamed the "Race of the Two Seas", is an elite road cycling stage race in Italy, run between the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic coasts. Traditionally held in the early part of the season, it is considered to be an important pre ...

Mountains classification The King of the Mountains (KoM) is an award given to the best climbing specialist in a men's cycling road race; in women's cycle racing, Queen of the Mountains (QoM) is used. While the title may be given to the rider who achieves the highest p ...

, Tirreno–Adriatico,

Salvatore Commesso Salvatore Commesso (born March 28, 1975) is an Italian professional road bicycle racer who most recently rode for UCI Professional Continental team Preti Mangimi. He was born in Torre del Greco, Campania, and turned professional in 1998. That ye ...

: Gran Premio di Chiasso, Pavel Brutt :

Trofeo Laigueglia The Trofeo Laigueglia is an early season road bicycle race held annually in Liguria, Italy. From 2005 to 2014, the race was organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. It is held about ten days after the opening to the Italian season, the ...

, Mikhail Ignatiev :

Young rider classification Young rider classification (french: classement général des jeunes) is a cycling jersey competition in multi-day stage race events, such as the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and many others, which awards the current leader by overall time for ride ...

Tour Méditerranéen Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed b ...

, Ivan Rovny :Stage 3 Tour Méditerranéen: Mikhail Ignatiev :Stage 9

Tour de Langkawi The Tour de Langkawi is a multiple stage bicycle race held in Malaysia. It is named after the archipelago Langkawi, where the first edition started and finished. The race has been held annually since 1996, primarily in February. It usually co ...

, Pavel Brutt :Stage 1

Tour de Georgia The Tour de Georgia was a U.S. professional road cycling stage race across the state of Georgia. The race began in 2003 and was contested six times until 2008. It was one of the three events in North America ranked as Hors Classe ( 2.HC) stage r ...

Daniele Contrini Daniele Contrini (born 15 August 1974, in Gardone Val Trompia) is an Italian racing cyclist. His major victory was the 2nd stage in the 2006 Tour de Suisse in Einsiedeln. Palmares * Tour of Georgia - 1 stage (2007) * Tour de Suisse - 1 stage ...

References

* * {{refend

External links

Official website
2007 establishments in Italy 2008 disestablishments in Italy Cycling teams based in Italy Defunct cycling teams based in Italy Cycling teams established in 2007 Cycling teams disestablished in 2008 Tinkoff (cycling team)