Festina cycling team

Festina is a former professional cycling team that was active in the professional peloton from 1989 to 2001. The team was sponsored by the watch manufacturers Festina Lotus AV.

Beginnings

The team first appeared as Lotus-Zahor but the following year, 1990, the team became Lotus-Festina. In 1993 the team became Festina-Lotus which it was known by until 2000. The team was a Spanish team from 1989 to 1992. Then the team was based in Andorra in 1993 and 1994. In 1995 the team became French from which it would stay until the team retired from the peloton, with the sole exception of 1996.In 1991 the team signed the Portuguese cyclist Acacio Da Silva who would win the sprints classification in that year’s Vuelta a España.The team signed Sean Kelly in 1992 who won Milan – San Remo, the first Classic victory for the team. The team entered its first Tour de France in 1992. The team manager and directeur sportifs at this time included Miguel Moreno Cachinero and Carlos Machin Rodriguez but Bruno Roussel joined the team in 1993 and would lead the team during its most successful years. Richard Virenque joined the team in 1993. The following year the team challenged Miguel Indurain in the 1994 Tour de France whereby teammates Luc Leblanc and Richard Virenque finished the race 4th and 5th overall and Festina won the team classification. Over the following years, Festina would be present in the Tour de France with...
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