One of the riders - Matteo Mammini, above - told how he was asked to pay €50,000 to the pro team offering him a place while others spoke of the need to pay to leave teams and to also bring in sponsors before they would get a place.
It is the dream of many a young cyclist throughout the world, but riding as a professional cyclist is not always what is hyped to be and in many cases riders are not paid.
Some even have to pay their own salaries or bring sponsors to a team before that outfit will take them on.
An inquiry into the illegal practice of riders being charged for their places on Italian pro teams has cleared individual team managers for lack of evidence.
But the probe took statements from some pro riders which reveal how they claim teams force cyclists to cough up funds and sponsorship before being signed.
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Gianni Savio (Androni Giocattoli), Angelo Citracca (Wilier-Southeast) and Bruno Reverberi (Bardiani-CSF) have all been cleared, but the UCI is studying the outcome of the Italian inquiry.
That now concluded investigation was prompted when reports appeared in the Italian media last November alleging riders were paying as much as €50,000 to teams for a place in their line-ups for a year.
Sometimes their parents paid the fee and others brought sponsors with them into teams as a way of securing their places.
The delivery of sponsors by riders was a practice admitted by some of the team managers, though that has been deemed now not to be illegal by the inquiry.
It means while the managers have been cleared, the practice of offering a sponsorship deal to a team at the same time as being signed by that team has effectively been given the seal of approval.
It is a practice the UCI is expected to consider when granting licences to some of the teams.
Marco Canola winning stage 14 of the 2014 Giro for Bardiani-CSF, one of the teams at the centre of the inquiry.
One rider, Omar Bertazzo of Androni Giocattoli said the team ran a system of riders bringing in sponsors.
“In cycling slang it’s called ‘bring in your sponsor’,” he claimed.
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”The team has five to eight good riders; then to complete an 18-rider roster, it hires weak riders who guarantee a sponsor.”
In another case, Marco Coledan wanted to leave Bardiani-CSF for Liquigas in 2014 so he could become a lead-out man for Elia Viviani he had completed a two-year contract but had agreed a third year by way of private contract.
It was alleged at a public hearing the team wanted €15,000 from both riders so Coledan could leave the team. That fee was agreed but then increased to €60,000 and so the deal never happened.
Coledan was forced to remain at Bardiani for 2014 but barely raced.
Background to the Italian inquiry
Exactly 12 months ago an investigative report in an Italian newspaper alleged riders were paying their way onto pro teams, with one whistleblower claiming some paid as much as €50,000 just to race.
Team managers with some of the country’s most established teams all denied such a practice took place, and the inquiry has now cleared them.
But at the time last year several agents working on behalf of riders have told the Corriere dello Sport newspaper that their clients were being manipulated so as to call themselves professionals.
“Most of my riders pay, between €25,000 and €50,000,” an unnamed agent told Corriere della Sera at the time.
“Teams registered in Italy ask for more because they have to pay higher pension contributions, those in the Ukraine or Croatia much less.
He explained sometimes the riders’ parents or relatives paid because they wanted a professional rider in their family.
“Sometimes a ‘friendly’ company pays and if the sum is high enough can even secure a place on the team jersey,” the same agent added.
One of the country’s best talents in recent years, Matteo Mammini , told how he was asked to pay €50,000 to turn pro.
He explained when he was asked to dinner by a pro team manager and told his contract was prepared and ready to be signed he thought all his hard work had finally paid off.
“There was just one problem, I’d have to find the €50,000 to cover my wages,” he told the newspaper.
“I was shocked but the manager told me of eight or nine of his riders who paid their wages.
"I asked my bank for loan but invested it in opening a bar in Porlezza overlooking Lake Lugano. That’s my job now. My cycling dream ended terribly.”
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