05/07/2004
Press Release
Banca Mediolanum at the 87th Giro d'Italia, second year as protagonist.
CEO Ennio Doris: “Cycling is like the market: what's essential is a correct distribution of forces“
For the second year, Banca Mediolanum is at the Giro d’Italia, entering into the spirit of the competition as a sponsor of the Green Jersey of the Gran Premio della Montagna. Mediolanum's role is not just that of sponsor, but it reinforces that role through events and shows in the cities affected by the Giro that spectators can enjoy from morning to late evening - a whole day of festivities and sport.
Three kings of cycling are representing Banca Mediolanum for the benefit of enthusiasts: Francesco Moser, back again after taking part the previous year, Maurizio Fondriest and Gianni Motta. With these champions it will be possible to follow the race from the flagship cars or watch their particular pedalling styles along some legs of the course.
At the end of the sporting day, the festivities continue in Italy's most beautiful piazzas where, sporting enthusiast or not, you can watch the Giromediolanum, a cabaret compered by Simona Tagli and Gianni De Berardinis with music by Gigi Vigliani. In the larger cities, the show will continue with a live concert featuring some of the best-loved voices in Italian pop: Luca Barbarossa, Fausto Leali and Stadio.
There’s another treat in store for the public at this great sporting event: the competition which will award a Moser bicycle and two Carnielli Citybikes to three lucky spectators who, each evening at the Giromediolanum, correctly answer some easy questions about the history of cycling. There's also the “Gran Premio della Montagna“ competition which has been going on since 31 August and will finally see the awarding of a Mazda RX8, a Mazda 3, and two Costa cruises.
So Banca Mediolanum is really entering into the spirit of the Giro, aiming to involve spectators beyond just the sporting competition.
This is not the first time that the Milan group has been involved in sport. In football it has been linked to Sacchi's great “Milan dei primati“, and from last year till 2006 it's cycling's turn.
It's not a random choice, as Banca Mediolanum CEO Ennio Doris - a cycling enthusiast - says:
“To win a difficult race like the Giro, a correct distribution of forces is essential, especially uphill. It's pointless looking to momentary glory, victory in an individual leg, if at the end of the day you don't win. The results are totted up at the end of the race, in the longer term. The same is true of investments. There's no point in calculating earnings and losses day by day. It's better to set your sights on the longer term. Just looking further ahead day by day you can see how important each stage of the mountain is, how the best strategy is to keep pedalling, even uphill, when the markets are dominated by bears and investing with the likelihood of a return seems an impossible undertaking. This is why we feel such affinity with an event like the Giro, and why we chose to sponsor the Green Jersey.“ Milan, May 7, 2004
Media Office, Banca Mediolanum at the Giro d'Italia
Rosamaria Salatino
Tel 02 90492027 – Fax 02 90492345 - Mobile 335 6314736
e-mail gmmedia@mediolanum.it
Media Relations
Mediolanum Group
Roberto Scippa
Tel 02 90492902 – Fax 02 90492345 – Mobile 335 8166556
