Amore & Vita
Amore & Vita was a UCI Continental cycling team founded in 1989 and disbanded in 2021
Team history
The team's origins date to 1948 when Lorenzo Fanini founded an amateur cycling team. The team website states it is "the oldest professional cycling team in the world."In 1984, the team turned professional and was renamed Fanini–Wührer.
In 1989, during an audience at the Vatican with Pope John Paul II, the manager, Ivano Fanini, had his riders appearing in jerseys with the slogan "No to Abortion".
Subsequently, the team was renamed Amore e Vita, "Love and Life" or "Love for Life".
Chad Gerlach rode with the team in 2009 after years of homelessness and addiction preceded by promising career.
In 2004, the team bikes featured a crucifix on the handlebars.
Doping violations
During the Tour de Suisse in 1999, Fanini fired Timothy Jones and Massimo Gimondi after they failed hematocrit tests.Fanini offered David Millar and Jesús Manzano team spots in 2004 after they confessed to doping.
After Riccardo Riccò was fired by Vacansoleil for doping violations in 2011, Fanini offered him a spot on the team if he accepted "penitential confinement". The conditions included removing his earrings, piercings and the diamond embedded in his tooth. Both sides could not agree on the deal and Ricco joined Meridiana–Kamen.
On 6 June 2014, Luca Benedetti gave an adverse analytical finding for Darbepoetin, was suspended from competing and later banned for life.
Major wins
;1989;1990
;1992
;1993
;1994
;1996
;1997
;1998
;1999
;2000
;2001
;2002
;2003
;2004
;2005
;2006
;2007
;2008
;2009
;2010
;2011
;2012
;2013
;2014
;2015
;2016
;2017
;2019
;2020
National championships
;1997;1998
;2002
;2004
;2005
;2006
;2008
;2009
;2010
;2011
;2014
;2015
;2020