Drone Hopper - Androni Giocattoli have endured some difficult seasons when it comes to finances in the last few years, but 2022 has been a specially hard year, as the team could be facing it's end. Gianni Savio, manager of the team, has revealed the team has been saved however, and will be riding Continental level in 2023.
"The economic situation of the team is currently good, in the sense that there are no problems in ending this season," Savio revealed in an interview with OASport.it. "This is because (Team CFO) Marco Bellini and I have found alternative solutions to make up for the payments that have not been made by the Drone Hopper, which is three times behind."
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The Italian team has struck a three-year teal with Drone Hopper, which has become the main title sponsor of the team - and was, ideally, set to go all the way into 2025. However the company has found struggles to fulfil it's payment responsibilities, putting the team in a very hard position regarding it's current and traditional spot as a ProTeam level.
"We always consider the Drone Hopper contract valid. We are waiting for them to get back on track to get their project off the ground and then we can continue together. Clearly, next year he will not be able to be our main sponsor, but we are giving him the opportunity to continue supporting our project," Savio explained.
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Earlier this summer the team had to let go two of it's star riders - Andrea Piccolo and Jefferson Alexander Cepeda. "It was a matter of making a choice. Either sell Piccolo or don't pay the salaries at the end of the month to all members of the team and so we opted for the first choice," he said, with the newly-signed Italian and Cepeda moving to EF Education-EasyPost who looked to save their position in the World Tour.
"We said right away that in case the riders and staff have received another opportunity to sign on the fly, in case we have to make the team we will talk about it again. No one will ever be able to say that they have lost a job opportunity because of us. We were corrected and three months ago we reported the situation to everyone," the manager of the team founded in 1996 said.
"It is a situation that caught us unprepared, we will see how we manage to get out of it. Finding sponsors has never been easy, today it is even more difficult. The economy is not booming, the pandemic, the war, the rise in electricity prices, are all elements that keep companies away from sponsorships."
The team has however managed to secure it's continuation, and the future of many of it's riders at professional level. With this new - and reduced budget demand - plan, Savio is hoping to be able to negotiate some last-minute deals to be able to further finance the team, hoping to soon get back to the second division in cycling.
"The various negotiations that we have started all over the world to date have not brought me a concrete result. There are still two alternatives that our interlocutors are considering, because at this point our idea is more aimed at a Continental," he concluded.
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A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
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- there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
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- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling forRafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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Report - stage 2. È ancora @JhonatanRVal a cogliere un bel podio nella prima tappa in linea del Tour du Rwanda con il 3° posto nello sprint della Kigali-Rwamagana. #dronehopperandronigiocattoli #TourDuRwanda
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