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| Team information | |
|---|---|
| UCI code | COA (2000-2003) TBI (2003) |
| Registered | Germany |
| Founded | 2000 (2000) |
| Disbanded | 2003 (2003) |
| Discipline | Road |
| Bicycles | Bianchi |
| Team name history | |
2000 2001 2002–2003 2003 | Team Coast Team Coast–Buffalo Team Coast Team Bianchi |
Team Bianchi was a makeshift team that was put together from the remnants of the Coast team in time for the2003 Tour de France.
Team Coast had been unable to pay the salaries of their riders[1] andBianchi took over the team and the role of title sponsor.[2] Coast had recently signedJan Ullrich following his departure fromTeam Telekom after his drunk driving andamphetamine use. During the 2003 tour while riding for Bianchi, Ullrich placed second toLance Armstrong by just 61 seconds, his closest ever margin in any of Armstrong's seven victorious years. In the process, Ullrich also managed to upstageAlexander Vinokourov, Telekom's highest-placed rider, who finished third.
Team Bianchi had planned to continue on as a professionalroad racing team. However, Ullrich's return to his former team Telekom (later T-Mobile and HTC–Highroad), as well as the departure ofÁngel Casero led to the demise of Team Bianchi as they now lacked the star power necessary to justify a top-tier team.
| Name | Date of birth | Nationality |
|---|---|---|
| Stefan Adamsson | 03.01.1978 | |
| Daniel Becke | 12.03.1978 | |
| Ángel Casero | 27.09.1972 | |
| Félix García Casas | 29.12.1968 | |
| Aitor Garmendia | 03.03.1968 | |
| Fabrizio Guidi | 13.04.1972 | |
| André Korff | 04.06.1973 | |
| Francisco José Lara Ruiz | 25.02.1977 | |
| Thomas Liese | 10.08.1968 | |
| David Plaza Romero | 03.07.1970 | |
| Steffen Radochla | 19.10.1979 | |
| Thorsten Rund | 25.02.1976 | |
| Raphael Schweda | 17.04.1976 | |
| Tobias Steinhauser | 27.01.1972 | |
| Jan Ullrich | 02.12.1973 | |
| Malte Urban | 14.12.1974 | |
| Christoph Von Kleinsorgen | 14.07.1980 | |
| Thorsten Wilhelms | 31.07.1969 |