Damiano Cunego targeting the Giro d’ Italia as the biggest goal of his 2012 season
Damiano Cunego is eyeing the podium during the 2012 version of the Italian Grand Tour.
The cyclist is currently focusing on the Classics event to build up for the Italian Grand Tour. His most recent participation was in the Amstel Gold Race 2012.
Cunego tried his best during the Dutch race but could not match the likes of Enrico Gasparotto.
The Italian rode brilliantly during the 260.4 kilometre race and secured the top spot in the fastest time of 6 hours, 32 minutes and 35 seconds. Damiano finished the race 51 seconds behind to claim the 31st position.
The Italian started his professional career with Team Saeco Macchine per Caffè-Longoni Sport for 2002-04 seasons and joined Team Lampre-Caffita in 2005.
The 30-year-old claimed his first victory of the 2012 season during the Gran Premio di Lugano with a second place finish in the race.
He finished 4th overall at the Tour of the Basque Country and 6th at the Volta a Catalunya.
Cunego told Cyclingnews, “After Liège, we’ll have the final confirmation of whether it’s what we’ll do, officially”.
“We’ll have to wait until then because there are a series of decisions that need to be made about the team for the Giro”.
“I’m ruling out participating in the Tour this year because there’s so much time trialling,” Cunego said but this year”.
“I have a decent condition, and I think I can feature well in both the classics and the big tours. I’m at the right weight, I’m going well on the climbs and my resistance is good,” he concluded.
Damiano holds the honour of riding as many as fifteen Grand Tours under his belt, including seven Giros, four Tours and four Vuelta a Espana participations to his credit.
He finished first during the 2004 edition of the Italian race and claimed the 4th and the 5th position during the Giro d’ Italia 2006 and 2007.
Only time will tell if Cunego can fill his bag with stage wins during the Giro d’ Italia 2012 scheduled from May 5-27, 2012.
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