Damiano Cunego

Damiano Cunego (born 19 September 1981) is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2018 for the, and  teams.

Cunego's biggest wins were the 2004 Giro d'Italia, the 2008 Amstel Gold Race, and the Giro di Lombardia in 2004, 2007 and 2008. He finished second in the UCI Road World Championships in 2008 and in the 2008 UCI ProTour. Primarily a climber, he improved his time-trialing and was characterized by great sprinting ability, unusual for a climber.

Saeco–Longoni Sport (2002–04)
Born in Cerro Veronese, Veneto, Cunego began cycling as a teenager after being a successful cross-country runner. He was discovered by Giuseppe Martinelli who also worked closely with Marco Pantani. Cunego turned professional in 2002 at the age of 20 with, winning the Giro d'Oro and the Giro Medio Brenta in his first season. In 2003 he won the seventh stage and the overall classification of the Tour of Qinghai Lake.

He came to prominence in May 2004, winning the Giro d'Italia at the age of 22 with. Cunego's strength came as a blow to his captain Gilberto Simoni; relations between the two during the race were strained when Cunego sprinted away from Simoni to win the 18th stage after Simoni's solo breakaway. La Gazzetta dello Sport reported that as Simoni passed by Cunego, who was surrounded by journalists, Simoni pointed his finger at Cunego and angrily said "You're a bastard...you are really stupid." During 2004 he won the Giro di Lombardia in October, his 13th victory of the season. He finished the season number one in the UCI Road World Cup, the youngest rider to achieve it, aged 23. He was also the last rider ranked first on the world ranking, because from 2005 the ranking was replaced by the UCI ProTour.

Lampre (2005–14)
In the 2005 Giro d'Italia, Simoni and Cunego were co-captains of, but Cunego posed no threat to Simoni, as he faltered during the first climb in the Dolomites, losing six minutes in the day and any prospect of winning. At the time his team attributed his loss to a "psychological crisis" and Cunego said "a great weight has been lifted from me by this defeat." After the race, he was found to have Epstein–Barr virus, and he did not enter the 2005 Tour de France.

In 2006, Cunego finished third in Liège–Bastogne–Liège losing to Alejandro Valverde and Paolo Bettini in a sprint finish. In the Tour de France Cunego was the winner of the young rider classification; he finished 2nd on stage 15 to Alpe d'Huez, after losing to Fränk Schleck, who broke away in the final 2 km. He also finished 3rd on stage 17, on the road to Morzine. In 2007 Cunego again won the Giro del Trentino and his second Giro di Lombardia. In 2008 he won the Klasika Primavera and the Amstel Gold Race, with two powerful sprints against Valverde and Schleck, with victory in the latter propelling him to the top of the UCI Pro Tour rankings, as he also went on to finish second in the UCI Road World Championships. He was widely tipped to be victorious in the Tour de France, but he struggled and eventually dropped out before the finish. By the end of the year Cunego conquered for the third time at the Giro di Lombardia and then he ended the season with victory in the Japan Cup, confirming himself as one of the best Classics specialists in the world. In 2009 he won the Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali with victories in two stages; later he won two mountain stages at Vuelta a España, which made him one of the favourites for the road race at the UCI Road World Championships. He ultimately finished that race in eighth position. In July 2013, he was one of 27 former riders and officials linked to the team indicted for doping in an Italian court, with a hearing set for 10 December 2013. In early 2014 however, details emerged that indicated that Cunego might have been one of few Lampre riders to refuse treatment by Spanish doctor José Ibarguren Taus, who was linked to doping practices.

Nippo–Vini Fantini (2015–18)
In October 2014, it was announced that Cunego was to leave to ride with  in 2015.

Post-career
In June 2020, Cunego was hospitalised due to ventriculitis, an infection of the cerebral ventricle.

In early 2020, Cunego was profiled in British magazine Cyclist. He was quoted as saying that believes that the increased media attention and sponsor obligations interfered with his training and mental focus, ultimately preventing him from achieving his full potential after his 2004 Giro victory and other initial successes. He also expressed concern about the state of 2020s Italian cycling, highlighting the lack of emerging talent compared to other nations.

Major results

 * 1998
 * 1st Overall Giro della Lunigiana


 * 1999
 * 1st Jersey rainbow.svg Road race, UCI Junior Road World Championships
 * 2nd Road race, National Junior Road Championships


 * 2000
 * 3rd Giro del Belvedere
 * 8th Gran Premio Palio del Recioto


 * 2001
 * 2nd Gran Premio Palio del Recioto


 * 2002
 * 1st Giro d'Oro
 * 1st Giro del Medio Brenta


 * 2003
 * 1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Tour of Qinghai Lake
 * 1st Stage 7
 * 4th Overall Brixia Tour
 * 4th Giro dell'Appennino
 * 6th Japan Cup


 * 2004 (13 pro wins)
 * 1st Jersey pink.svg Overall Giro d'Italia
 * 1st Stages 2, 7, 16 & 18
 * 1st Jersey red.svg Overall Giro del Trentino
 * 1st Stages 1 & 2
 * 1st Giro di Lombardia
 * 1st Giro dell'Appennino
 * 1st GP Industria & Artigianato di Larciano
 * 1st Gran Premio Nobili Rubinetterie
 * 1st Gran Premio Fred Mengoni
 * 1st Memorial Marco Pantani
 * 2nd Japan Cup
 * 4th Giro del Veneto
 * 6th Klasika Primavera
 * 9th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
 * 9th Giro di Toscana


 * 2005 (4)
 * 1st Gran Premio Nobili Rubinetterie
 * 1st Trofeo Melinda
 * 1st Japan Cup
 * 2nd Overall Tour de Romandie
 * 1st Stage 3
 * 2nd Klasika Primavera
 * 3rd Overall Vuelta a Murcia
 * 3rd Overall Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali
 * 3rd Tre Valli Varesine
 * 5th Overall Brixia Tour
 * 7th Giro del Veneto
 * 8th Gran Premio Città di Camaiore
 * 9th Overall Tour of the Basque Country
 * 9th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
 * 9th Giro dell'Emilia


 * 2006 (6)
 * 1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali
 * 1st Stage 3
 * 1st Jersey red.svg Overall Giro del Trentino
 * 1st Stage 2
 * 1st Giro d'Oro
 * 1st GP Industria & Artigianato di Larciano
 * 1st Jersey white.svg Young rider classification, Tour de France
 * 2nd Giro del Lazio
 * 2nd Klasika Primavera
 * 3rd Liège–Bastogne–Liège
 * 4th Overall Giro d'Italia
 * 8th Overall Vuelta a Murcia
 * 8th Clásica de Almería


 * 2007 (6)
 * 1st Jersey red.svg Overall Giro del Trentino
 * 1st Stages 1 & 2
 * 1st Giro di Lombardia
 * 1st Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli
 * 1st Stage 4 Deutschland Tour
 * 4th Overall Tour of the Basque Country
 * 5th Overall Giro d'Italia
 * 5th Overall Tour de Suisse
 * 5th Giro dell'Emilia
 * 7th Overall Critérium International
 * 7th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
 * 9th Overall Vuelta a Murcia


 * 2008 (5)
 * 1st Giro di Lombardia
 * 1st Amstel Gold Race
 * 1st Klasika Primavera
 * 1st Japan Cup
 * 2nd Silver medal uci.svg Road race, UCI Road World Championships
 * 2nd Memorial Marco Pantani
 * 3rd Overall Tour of the Basque Country
 * 1st Stage 5
 * 3rd La Flèche Wallonne
 * 3rd Tre Valli Varesine
 * 4th Overall Tour de Suisse
 * 6th Giro del Lazio
 * 10th Overall Critérium International


 * 2009 (5)
 * 1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali
 * 1st Stages 2 & 3
 * Vuelta a España
 * 1st Stages 8 & 14
 * 2nd Road race, National Road Championships
 * 3rd La Flèche Wallonne
 * 5th Overall Tour of the Basque Country
 * 5th Amstel Gold Race
 * 6th Overall Tour de Suisse
 * 6th Klasika Primavera
 * 7th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
 * 8th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
 * 9th Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli


 * 2010
 * 5th La Flèche Wallonne
 * 5th Tre Valli Varesine
 * 6th Amstel Gold Race
 * 10th Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec


 * 2011 (3)
 * 1st Giro dell'Appennino
 * 1st Stage 2 Tour de Romandie
 * 2nd Overall Tour de Suisse
 * 3rd Overall Giro di Sardegna
 * 1st Stage 2
 * 3rd Montepaschi Strade Bianche
 * 4th Japan Cup
 * 6th Overall Tour de France
 * 8th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico


 * 2012 (1)
 * 2nd Overall Giro del Trentino
 * 1st Stage 2
 * 2nd Gran Premio di Lugano
 * 4th Overall Tour of the Basque Country
 * 6th Overall Giro d'Italia
 * 6th Overall Volta a Catalunya


 * 2013 (1)
 * 1st Jersey green.svg Mountains classification, Tirreno–Adriatico
 * 2nd Overall Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali
 * 1st Jersey white.svg Points classification
 * 1st Stage 3
 * 3rd Japan Cup


 * 2014
 * 4th Gran Premio di Lugano
 * 4th Strade Bianche


 * 2015
 * 3rd Giro dell'Appennino
 * 4th Giro dell'Emilia
 * 5th Overall Giro del Trentino
 * 6th Milano–Torino
 * 8th Tre Valli Varesine
 * 9th Volta Limburg Classic
 * 10th Gran Premio di Lugano


 * 2016
 * 6th Gran Premio di Lugano
 * Giro d'Italia
 * Held after Stages 4–6 & 10–19


 * 2017 (1)
 * 7th Overall Tour of Qinghai Lake
 * 1st Stage 6