Cycling: the profile of Tiberi, from blue hope to an uncertain future

Among the “will be famous” of Italy on the bike in the first post-Nibali season, he was in the front row. Antonio Tiberi, Roman from Gavignano, 2000 inhabitants in the province of Rome, was born in Frosinone on June 24, 2001. “I feel more Ciociarian than Roman”, he likes to say. Three years younger than Pogacar, two years younger than Evenepoel, just to make a comparison with two world phenomena. All-rounder, strong in the time trial and very competitive even uphill, he is Italy’s best hope for stage races, with a physique that is reminiscent of Vincenzo Nibali, his training partner. Yes, because the Shark’s wife, Rachele, is from Acuto, a town in the province of Frosinone, and every time Vincenzo went down to Lazio with his in-laws, Tiberi was always by his side. After all, Nibali has always been his idol. “Nice physique. Listen, see, learn. It can blossom into something great. But don’t rush, it must be protected”, said Nibali after the junior time trial world title won by Tiberi in Great Britain in 2019.

Curriculum Vitae

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1.82 tall by 62 kg, an only child, Tiberi starts at a very young age with Anagni Cicli Nereggi. He graduated from the Galilei technical institute in Rome, aeronautical branch, and won on the bike. As a junior he raced in the Franco Ballerini team, directed by Luca Scinto and Angelo Citracca, wanted to remember the great professional coach who died in 2010 in a rally. In 2018, he finished second in the Italian championship and third in the European time trial; in 2019, in addition to the junior time trial World Championship, he achieved another nine victories, including the Bologna-San Luca, with the finish in front of the Sanctuary. “When I’m racing, I can’t wait for the climb to arrive, it’s the part of cycling that I like the most, like dessert. Here I express myself at my best”, he said. In 2020 Tiberi goes racing with Colpack-Ballan, the Continental team from which the Olympians Ganna and Consonni also came out: he stands out in the Giro d’Italia baby (3rd in Urbino), but by now his future is among the professionals. Trek-Segafredo, the WorldTour team directed by Luca Guercilena, the Milanese manager who makes the growth of young people his point of reference, goes to the American: an armored contract until 2024, precisely to let him mature calmly, but knowing full well the value of runner. And in the team he finds Nibali again. Tiberi grows slowly, 54 days/race in 2021, 68 days last year with the first (and so far only) victory in the professionals: a stage in the Tour of Hungary. He also makes his debut in a grand tour: the Vuelta, which he finishes in 92nd place. And at the end of November the “Memorial Nencini” recognition arrives as a revelation of the 2022 season by Saverio Carmagnini’s “Giglio d’Oro”, the most important Italian prize for cycling.

Future

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Tiberi knew he was expected to make the leap in quality in 2023, and in fact the first month of the race was very promising: best Italian in the rankings of the two World Tour stage races held. In January, he is eighth overall in the Tour Down Under in Australia, second best junior after the American Sheffield; in the Uae Tour in Abu Dhabi he takes another step forward, seventh in the standings and third in the young riders behind Evenepoel and Plapp, that is the first two in the general standings. At 21. He had to race the Laigueglia and then the Tirreno-Adriatico, which would become an important testing ground for his growth. But his future, now, is all to be invented.