"We simply cannot afford Pozzovivo" - Intermarché manager admits it was impossible to renew with Italian veteran who remains without contract

It is not the first time Domenico Pozzovivo finds himself in this situation, but the Italian veteran does not yet have a contract days away from the start of the 2023 season. Intermarché - Wanty - Gobert Matériaux manager Aike Visbeek explains the situation with the Italian.

The team signed his compatriot Niccolò Bonifazio recently, clearing the questions on whether the Belgian team could still add another name to it's 2023 roster. "A little extra budget has also been made available for this. Only that is just the minimum salary. I'm not proud of that. Niccolò is very happy, but you want to pay a normal market price for the good," Visbeek said in an interview with Wielerflits.

“But this is just it for us at the moment," he said, admitting the team did not have the budget to bring in further riders, none with a decent salary at least. With the re-signing of Biniam Girmay, and the efforts required to keep the team's block strong into the coming season after a brilliant year on the road, the team had to let go the likes of Alexander Kristoff and Jan Hirt who performed very strong this season.

It is also very annoying, because very good riders from B&B Hotels-KTM came on the market late in the season. They absolutely deserve their place among the pros. On paper we still have a place available for an extra rider, but at the moment our budget limits us," Visbeek continues.

With Pozzovivo, who finished within the Top100 of the UCI ranks, finishing third at the Giro dell'Emilia and eighth at the Giro d'Italia as highlights of the season. “This is also what we communicated to Pozzovivo. It's very simple: we could only offer him a contract for the minimum salary. We received a counter offer and then together we tried to put a little water in the wine. At the last meeting, supply and demand were too far apart," he explained.

“We simply cannot afford Pozzovivo and he did not want to do it for less. Completely logical, because he is also worth more. That is difficult for him to understand, but also for us internally. In the end, we're not talking about a lot of money. But about money that we don't have, annoying enough," Visbeek concluded.

By this time last season Pozzovivo was fresh in the market following the late collapse of the Qhubeka NextHash team, and only found his contract already in February with the season on a roll with Intermarché. At 40 years of age he keeps performing, however it continues to be hard to continue his career.