GIRO - RIDE OF THEIR LIVES

On the eve of the 2023 edition of Italy's Grand Tour (6-28 May), we hear from three cyclists united by an enduring love and fascination for the legendary national race

- John Whitney & Herbie Sykes

GIULIO CICCONE

28, Italian professional cyclist. He has won three stages of the Giro d'Italia (2016, 2019, 2022) as well as the mountains jersey in 2019. Since 2019, he's ridden for Trek-Segafredo

My earliest memories of the Giro d'Italia are tied to Marco Pantani, Il Pirata, the late, great climber and winner of the Giro and Tour de France in 1998. I was only a little child, but these were boom years of professional cycling in Italy and everybody was talking about it. I remember seeing the pink caravan of the Giro for the first time, together with my father, from the side of the road. What an emotion. For a little child, it was the spectacle of colours and sounds that were so alluring. Later, when I started riding and racing, the Giro became a time to get excited, to impersonate the champions I saw on my television. From age 10 onwards, I didn't miss a single stage when the Giro came to my home region of Abruzzo.

In 2016, I won a stage of the Giro, on debut. It's an indelible memory. My first victory as a pro rider, in my first year as a pro rider, at the Giro d'Italia. The perfect picture. It was a hectic stage. We were in a breakaway, me, Damiano Cunego and my teammate in Bardiani-CSF, Stefano Pirazzi. On the descent leading to the last ramp to Sestola, Cunego and Pirazzi touched wheels, so I took advantage and decided to go all in. It was instinctive. From the team car they were saying I was gaining time, which only galvanised me. Arriving alone at the finish was a dream, a thrill I had never experienced. It had a tremendous personal impact, as if the cycling world had suddenly discovered me. From there on it was a crescendo, of expectations and responsibilities, as well as visibility. In Italy there is always a hunger for new talent, the next champion.