Damiano Cunego

Damiano Cunego
Cunego at the 2006 Giro d'Italia
Personal information
Full nameDamiano Cunego
NicknameIl Piccolo Principe (The Little Prince), L'Astore del Montello (The Goshawk of the Montello)
Born (1981-09-19) 19 September 1981 (age 43)
Cerro Veronese, Italy
Height1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight58 kg (128 lb; 9.1 st)
Team information
Current teamRetired
DisciplineRoad
RoleRider
Rider type
  • Climber
  • Puncheur
Amateur teams
1997–1999Gaiga–Gore Tex
2000–2001Zalf–Euromobil–Fior
Professional teams
2002–2004Saeco–Longoni Sport
2005–2014Lampre–Caffita
2015–2018Nippo–Vini Fantini[1]
Major wins
Grand Tours
Giro d'Italia
General classification (2004)
4 individual stages (2004)
Tour de France
Young rider classification (2006)
Vuelta a España
2 individual stages (2009)

Stage races

Tour of Qinghai Lake (2003)
Giro del Trentino (2004, 2006, 2007)

One-day races and Classics

Giro di Lombardia (2004, 2007, 2008)
Amstel Gold Race (2008)
Japan Cup (2005, 2008)
Medal record
Representing  Italy
Men's road bicycle racing
UCI Road World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2008 Varese Men's road race

Damiano Cunego (born 19 September 1981) is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist,[2] who rode professionally between 2002 and 2018 for the Saeco, Lampre–Merida and Nippo–Vini Fantini–Europa Ovini 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.

  1. ^ "Nippo-Vini Fantini hoping to secure Giro d'Italia wildcard". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. 15 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  2. ^ Benson, Daniel (17 June 2018). "Cunego closes out WorldTour career at Tour de Suisse". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. Retrieved 22 January 2019. It's been a long career and my first year was in 2002.