The Eolo-Kometa ProTeam, founded by Alberto Contador and Ivan Basso, hopes to earn a wildcard invitation to the 2021 Giro d'Italia.

The arrival of new title sponsor Eolo brings an investment of 10 million euros over three years, allowing Contador and Basso to step up from the continental level and expand their roster to 20 riders.

The team includes veteran Italians Manuel Belletti, Luca Wackerman, and Francesco Gabazzi, young talent Alessandro Fanciello, and England's John Archibald and Mark Christian. Sean Yates is the head of performance, while the experienced Stefano Zanatta and Jesus Hernandez are the Sportif coaches.

Eolo is a growing ultra-broadband wireless Internet company, while Kometa produces meat and other products in the Valtellina mountains north of Milan. The team will use Aurum bikes, a new high-end brand launched by Contador.

Eolo-Kometa will make his race debut at the Clasica Comunitat Valenciana on January 24, followed by the Vuelta a la Comunitat Valenciana (February 3-7).

RCS Sport will award wildcards for the Giro d'Italia, Strade Bianche, Tirreno Adriatico, and Milan-San Remo before the Corsa Rosa route is announced in early February.

Eolo will sponsor several races in 2020, and CEO Luca Sparda hopes the team will secure a spot in the Giro d'Italia. However, the emergence of Eolo-Kometa as the fourth Italian professional team has intensified the competition for a wildcard spot in the 2021 Giro. All 19 WorldTour teams were automatically invited, and Alpecin Phoenix also topped the 2020 ProTournament standings, guaranteeing them a spot.

With 22 eight-rider teams eligible for the Grand Tour, Eolo Cometa will be competing for the last two positions with Androni-Giocattoli-Sidmec, Bardiani-CSF-Feizane, and Vini-Zabu-Brado-KTM. Spada appealed to RCS Sport to expand the Giro's quota to 24 teams, but the UCI is unlikely to accept such a request.

Basso is confident that Eolo Cometa will not only make up the numbers in the Giro.

"It doesn't make sense to just go into the break every day in the Giro and show ourselves on TV. We believe we can do well in the Giro d'Italia.

Spada insisted that Eolo's involvement in pro cycling is long-term.

"COVID-19 did a lot of damage to sponsors, but companies are still ready to invest if there are good projects with long-term goals. Our goal is to eventually reach the World Tour level and stay there. Entrepreneurs must show courage and inspire people that there is light at the end of the tunnel."

Basso played a key role in securing sponsorship from Eolo, and Contador and his brother and manager Fran joined him from Spain to present the virtual team from Eolo's campus west of Milan.

"We have been working on this project for three years, and now it is time for another form, another dimension, another speed, another hope," Basso said.

Contador continues to ride and train hard despite his retirement in 2017. He will join the riders next week at their second training camp in Oliva, near Calpe, where he hopes to share his ambitions with the team.

"You have to aim to win races. We have big rivals but we have good riders. Without that mentality, we won't achieve anything," Contador said during his presentation.