Announced this morning by Gazzetta dello Sport, the NIPPO Vini Fantini Europa Ovini team received a prestigious Wild Card: the Tour de Suisse. The important tour, part of the World Tour calendar, will be the last WT race of Damiano Cunego’s career. A very important competition for him, where he reached a final second overall in 2011 and the final top10 for 4 times.
The last big tour and World Tour race of Damiano Cunego’s career is now official. The Little Prince will be at the start of the Tour de Suisse. The news has been announced this morning by the Gazzetta dello Sport and the organizers today published the news of all the wild cards for the race that every year involves the big names of the cycling world.
A race that have a big story with the Damiano Cunego’s career. He reached the second place overall in 2011, loosing the leadership only on the last time trial stage. In that period his sport director was Valerio Tebaldi and in 2018 they will find again the race in their calendar with the #OrangeBlue jersey. Not only a second place, Damiano Cunego was a main protagonist of the general ranking of the tour many times. 4th place in 2008, 5th place in 2007, 6th place in 2009.
THE DECLARATION OF CUNEGO.
Damiano Cunego is strongly motivated looking forward to a race with whom he has a long story: “The Tour de Suisse for me is always something important. Some seasons I did good things after the Giro d’Italia coming with a strong condition, but my best results is the one of 2011 when I started to prepare the Tour de France and in that year I reached the 6th place in Tour de France and the 2nd place in Tour de Suisse. In 2018 I will be strongly motivated because is my last big World Tour race of the career and with the team we will study all the climbs to race in the best way as possibile. For sure we will look for some possibile stage victories.”
TOUR DE SUISSE.
Tour de Suisse is a very important race of the World Tour calendar. Every year all the most important teams and riders worldwide gives a big show and battle. The 2018 race is divided in 9 stages that starting from Frauenfeld, cross the Switzerland in the month of June, closing in Bellinzona.
Damiano Cunego, second in the general ranking in the season 2011 and 4 times in the top10 from 2008 to 2011, is strictly linked to this competition and for this reason together with his NIPPO Vini Fantini Europa Ovini team, together with the Wild Card of the Organizers chose this Tour as final World Tour race of his career.
THE WORLD TOUR RACES OF THE #ORANGEBLUE SPRING.
A big race of the European Cycling and of the World Tour calendar as the Tour de Suisse completes a big calendar of the team. In the upcoming months the team will race many World Tour races, such as Strade Bianche, Milano Sanremo, Tirreno Adriatico, Amstel Gold Race and the Tour de Suisse.