Mercatone Uno Cycling Team

Throughout the 1990s it was one of the strongest Italian cycling teams in the peloton. When Carrera Jeans manufacturers stopped sponsoring the famous Italian cycling team Carrera Jeans–Tassoni at the end of 1996, it was reported that manager Davide Boifava would be building a team around Marco Pantani with Mercatone Uno as the main sponsor.  The team was sponsored by a chain of supermarkets in Italy.