RIP Dr Giorgio Squinzi

andyp
andyp Posts: 10,069
edited October 2019 in Pro race
Ciro Scognamiglio is reporting that Dr Giorgio Squinzi, the founder and owner of Mapei, has died at the age of 76.

The cycling world owes him a great debt for his long-term sponsorship of the eponymous team, but also for his commitment to anti-doping at a time when the sport was gripped with an epidemic of blood doping.

This was probably the team's finest moment.

Paris-Roubaix-1996-Johan-Museeuw-Bortolami-Tafi.jpg?ssl=1

Comments

  • webboo
    webboo Posts: 6,087
    He may have been anti doping but the riders were not.
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,137
    We should have a couple of pictures of the man himself:

    j5c46nKdn5hWee8BFSA6tX-650-80.jpg

    09044-bus2-squinzibikingcxd.jpg
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,069
    Webboo wrote:
    He may have been anti doping but the riders were not.

    This is true. But Squinzi set up the Mapei training centre with Dr Aldo Sassi, and tried to show the riders that another way was possible.
  • sherer
    sherer Posts: 2,460
    my Dad was asking me at the worlds what exactly Mapei does. I know them from the cycling team \ training centre, but no idea what they actually do. A quick google tells me they make paint, adhesives and similar products.
  • yellowv2
    yellowv2 Posts: 282
    They are manufacturers of adhesives, cements and associated products for the building industry. Reportedly the largest in the world.
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,137
    MAPEI is an acronym which stands for Materiali Ausiliari Per l'Edilizia e l'Industria (Auxillary Materials for Building and Industry)
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • ridgerider
    ridgerider Posts: 2,851
    We have just built some bathrooms using Mapei grout...still gives me a tingle when I see their name.
    Half man, Half bike
  • photonic69
    photonic69 Posts: 2,410
    What is it with cycling teams being sponsored by building/home-fittings brands?

    Soudal (silicone sealants) /Mapei (tiling grout)/Bora (kitchen appliances)/Hansgrohe (bathroom fittings) /Quickstep (laminate flooring) etc to name but a few. Anyone think of some others?

    Just seems like an odd marriage to me.


    Sometimes. Maybe. Possibly.

  • ridgerider
    ridgerider Posts: 2,851
    Fassa Bortola cement/mortar silos spotted on building sites in Italy.
    Half man, Half bike
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    PhotoNic69 wrote:
    What is it with cycling teams being sponsored by building/home-fittings brands?

    Soudal (silicone sealants) /Mapei (tiling grout)/Bora (kitchen appliances)/Hansgrohe (bathroom fittings) /Quickstep (laminate flooring) etc to name but a few. Anyone think of some others?

    Just seems like an odd marriage to me.

    What seems like a good marriage?

    I remember reading an interview with the guy responsible for sponsorship at Liquigas and when he explained why they sponsored a team and what they got out of it, it made complete sense.
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • Matthewfalle
    Matthewfalle Posts: 17,380
    iainf72 wrote:
    PhotoNic69 wrote:
    What is it with cycling teams being sponsored by building/home-fittings brands?

    Soudal (silicone sealants) /Mapei (tiling grout)/Bora (kitchen appliances)/Hansgrohe (bathroom fittings) /Quickstep (laminate flooring) etc to name but a few. Anyone think of some others?

    Just seems like an odd marriage to me.

    What seems like a good marriage?

    I remember reading an interview with the guy responsible for sponsorship at Liquigas and when he explained why they sponsored a team and what they got out of it, it made complete sense.

    which was?
    Postby team47b » Sun Jun 28, 2015 11:53 am

    De Sisti wrote:
    This is one of the silliest threads I've come across. :lol:

    Recognition at last Matthew, well done!, a justified honour :D
    smithy21 wrote:

    He's right you know.
  • Longshot
    Longshot Posts: 940
    iainf72 wrote:
    What seems like a good marriage?

    Tampax?
    You can fool some of the people all of the time. Concentrate on those people.
  • inseine
    inseine Posts: 5,786
    Wasn't Nivea the first non cycling related sponsor? Riders used it to soften their chamois so there was a logic.
  • Brakeless
    Brakeless Posts: 865
    iainf72 wrote:
    PhotoNic69 wrote:
    What is it with cycling teams being sponsored by building/home-fittings brands?

    Soudal (silicone sealants) /Mapei (tiling grout)/Bora (kitchen appliances)/Hansgrohe (bathroom fittings) /Quickstep (laminate flooring) etc to name but a few. Anyone think of some others?

    Just seems like an odd marriage to me.

    What seems like a good marriage?

    I remember reading an interview with the guy responsible for sponsorship at Liquigas and when he explained why they sponsored a team and what they got out of it, it made complete sense.

    which was?

    Brand awareness. Same as alot of advertising.

    Quickstep reported a 60% growth in customer awareness of them in questionaires taken a year after they started cycling sponsorship.
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    iainf72 wrote:
    PhotoNic69 wrote:
    What is it with cycling teams being sponsored by building/home-fittings brands?

    Soudal (silicone sealants) /Mapei (tiling grout)/Bora (kitchen appliances)/Hansgrohe (bathroom fittings) /Quickstep (laminate flooring) etc to name but a few. Anyone think of some others?

    Just seems like an odd marriage to me.

    What seems like a good marriage?

    I remember reading an interview with the guy responsible for sponsorship at Liquigas and when he explained why they sponsored a team and what they got out of it, it made complete sense.

    which was?

    It was press officer actually - But it was over 9 years ago

    https://www.pezcyclingnews.com/racing/g ... -barbieri/
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,196
    PhotoNic69 wrote:
    What is it with cycling teams being sponsored by building/home-fittings brands?

    Soudal (silicone sealants) /Mapei (tiling grout)/Bora (kitchen appliances)/Hansgrohe (bathroom fittings) /Quickstep (laminate flooring) etc to name but a few. Anyone think of some others?

    Just seems like an odd marriage to me.
    Industries where a guy from working class roots (who happens to love cycling) can make a buck then indulge his passion?

    Pure guess.
  • m.r.m.
    m.r.m. Posts: 3,312
    PhotoNic69 wrote:
    What is it with cycling teams being sponsored by building/home-fittings brands?

    Soudal (silicone sealants) /Mapei (tiling grout)/Bora (kitchen appliances)/Hansgrohe (bathroom fittings) /Quickstep (laminate flooring) etc to name but a few. Anyone think of some others?

    Just seems like an odd marriage to me.
    Wanty Groupe Gobert as well. Taken from Inrng:

    Wanty – Groupe Gobert: Wanty is a mini-conglomerate with activities ranging from quarrying to civil engineering and roadsurfacing, all united by large public works and the raw materials needed for these. Groupe Gobert supplies building materials like insulation or paving stones.
    PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 2023
  • Crampeur
    Crampeur Posts: 1,065
    Boels-Dolmans, Boels is a plant hire company, logos pretty much on every building site around Belgium/Netherlands.

    Belgian teams seem to love a good recuitment company sponsorship too (Addecco, Accent Jobs, Vlaanderen T Interim etc)
  • sherer
    sherer Posts: 2,460
    think this is a big issue for the sport. The sponsor are still regional \ national sponsor at best. very few of them have any desire to race in Japan \ USA etc and some of the other places the WT goes to.

    Should the sport go global before the big sponsors are there, or wait until the sponsors are in then expand globally
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,243
    sherer wrote:
    think this is a big issue for the sport. The sponsor are still regional \ national sponsor at best. very few of them have any desire to race in Japan \ USA etc and some of the other places the WT goes to.

    Should the sport go global before the big sponsors are there, or wait until the sponsors are in then expand globally

    Who wants that?
  • sherer
    sherer Posts: 2,460
    sherer wrote:
    think this is a big issue for the sport. The sponsor are still regional \ national sponsor at best. very few of them have any desire to race in Japan \ USA etc and some of the other places the WT goes to.

    Should the sport go global before the big sponsors are there, or wait until the sponsors are in then expand globally

    Who wants that?

    the current model isnt working that well, as too many teams are struggling to keep going. There needs to be more money coming into the sport, and also more of it needs to filter down to the teams.
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,137
    sherer wrote:
    think this is a big issue for the sport. The sponsor are still regional \ national sponsor at best. very few of them have any desire to race in Japan \ USA etc and some of the other places the WT goes to.

    Should the sport go global before the big sponsors are there, or wait until the sponsors are in then expand globally

    Who wants that?
    People who make a living from the sport.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,243
    RichN95 wrote:
    sherer wrote:
    think this is a big issue for the sport. The sponsor are still regional \ national sponsor at best. very few of them have any desire to race in Japan \ USA etc and some of the other places the WT goes to.

    Should the sport go global before the big sponsors are there, or wait until the sponsors are in then expand globally

    Who wants that?
    People who make a living from the sport.

    Sure, but that we ain’t.

    The (rightful) opprobrium we gave to the joke races in Beijing, Doha, California etc shows plainly cycling is never going to work outside of Europe because the big races work in Europe and they don’t outside.

    In 30 years time we’re still gonna be talking about the Tour of Flanders, France, Italy, Spain, Lombardy and not the Tour of the states or Qinghai.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,243
    sherer wrote:
    sherer wrote:
    think this is a big issue for the sport. The sponsor are still regional \ national sponsor at best. very few of them have any desire to race in Japan \ USA etc and some of the other places the WT goes to.

    Should the sport go global before the big sponsors are there, or wait until the sponsors are in then expand globally

    Who wants that?

    the current model isnt working that well, as too many teams are struggling to keep going. There needs to be more money coming into the sport, and also more of it needs to filter down to the teams.

    There’s more money in the sport than there has ever been.