May 10, 2006 – At the start of the Giro d’Italia, Daniel Fertin, a regular contributor to Veloptimum, had a conversation with Mauro Gianetti, general manager of the Spanish Saunier Duval-Prodir team. Here are Gianetti’s comments on Canada’s Charles Dionne.

Where do things stand with Charles Dionne?

Gianetti: We have a lot of confidence in him, and more importantly we believe in him. It’s unfortunate that he’s having a problem with a leg, and it’s a real problem for him and for us. We’re going to do everything we can to find the reason for his problem, which reminds me of the difficulties that Fondriest and Zanini had. We’re going to try and find a surgeon who can find a solution for Charles.

Why did you choose a North American to be on your team?

Gianetti: He’s a strong rider, like all the North Americans, and he’s looking to discover European cycling. Currently, he’s not at 100% performance-wise but, I repeat, we have confidence in him, and we’re waiting for him to finally perform at his level.

And the Tour de France?

Gianetti : Nothing’s decided. If his health problems are resolved, why not select him ? The team still isn’t defined and if he can find the level that he’s normally at, he has his chances, why not? On top of it, now he’s come to understand the races in Europe.

On your team you seem to focus a lot on the importance of the individual”¦

Gianetti : It’s true that we focus more on the man than on the racer. Our team is, above all, a team of human beings, and we prove it at the start of every race, where each rider hands out a team t-shirt with one of the basic human rights printed on it. We have 28 racers on the team, as well as two managers, and coincidentally there are 30 basic human rights. In this sense, our philosophy is different than that of other teams: we recruit riders who are, above all, good people.

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