Damiano Cunego

Damiano Cunego
	Cunego at the 2006 Giro d'Italia
Personal information
Full name	Damiano Cunego
Nickname	Il Piccolo Principe (The Little Prince)
Born	September 19, 1981 (age 42); Cerro Veronese, Italy
Height	1.69 m (5 ft 6+1⁄2 in)
Weight	59 kg (130 lb; 9.3 st)
Team information
Current team	You have called {{Contentious topics}}. You probably meant to call one of these templates instead: Alerting users {{alert/first}} ({{Contentious topics/alert/first}}) is used, on a user's talk page, to "alert", or draw a user's attention, to the contentious topics system if they have never received such an alert before. In this case, this template must be used for the notification.; {{alert}} ({{Contentious topics/alert}}) is used, on a user's talk page, to "alert", or draw a user's attention, to the fact that a specific topic is a contentious topic. It may only be used if the user has previously received any contentious topic alert, and it can be replaced by a custom message that conveys the contentious topic designation.; {{alert/DS}} ({{Contentious topics/alert/DS}}) is used to inform editors that the old "discretionary sanctions" system has been replaced by the contentious topics system, and that a specific topic is a contentious topic.; {{Contentious topics/aware}} is used to register oneself as already aware that a specific topic is a contentious topic.; Editnotices {{Contentious topics/editnotice}} is used to inform editors that a page is covered by the contentious topics system using an editnotice. Use the one below if the page has restrictions placed on the page.; {{Contentious topics/page restriction editnotice}} is used to inform editors that the page they are editing is subject to contentious topics restrictions using an editnotice. Use the above if there are no restrictions placed on the page.; Talk page notices {{Contentious topics/talk notice}} is used to provide additional communication, using a talk page messagebox (tmbox), to editors that they are editing a page that is covered by the contentious topics system. The template standardises the format and wording of such notices. Use the below if there are restrictions placed on the page.; {{Contentious topics/page restriction talk notice}} is used to inform editors that page restrictions are active on the page using a talk page messagebox (tmbox). Use the above if there are no restrictions placed on the page.; If a user who has been alerted goes on to disruptively edit the affected topic area, they can be reported to the arbitration enforcement (AE) noticeboard, where an administrator will investigate their conduct and issue a sanction if appropriate. {{AE sanction}} is used by administrators to inform a user that they have been sanctioned.; Miscellaneous {{Contentious topics/list}} and {{Contentious topics/table}} show which topics are currently designated as contentious topics. They are used by a number of templates and pages on Wikipedia.;
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Classics specialist/Climbing specialist
Major wins
	Grand Tours Giro d'Italia General Classification (2004) 4 individual stages Tour de France Young rider classification (2006) Vuelta a España 2 individual stages Stage races Giro del Trentino (2004, 2006, 2007) ; Coppi e Bartali (2006, 2009) One day races and classics Giro di Lombardia (2004, 2007, 2008) Amstel Gold Race (2008)
Medal record
Representing Italy
Road bicycle racing
UCI Road World Championships

Damiano Cunego (born September 19, 1981 in Cerro Veronese, Veneto) is an Italian professional road racing cyclist who rides for the Italian UCI ProTeam You have called {{Contentious topics}}. You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:

Alerting users

{{alert/first}} ({{Contentious topics/alert/first}}) is used, on a user's talk page, to "alert", or draw a user's attention, to the contentious topics system if they have never received such an alert before. In this case, this template must be used for the notification.
{{alert}} ({{Contentious topics/alert}}) is used, on a user's talk page, to "alert", or draw a user's attention, to the fact that a specific topic is a contentious topic. It may only be used if the user has previously received any contentious topic alert, and it can be replaced by a custom message that conveys the contentious topic designation.
{{alert/DS}} ({{Contentious topics/alert/DS}}) is used to inform editors that the old "discretionary sanctions" system has been replaced by the contentious topics system, and that a specific topic is a contentious topic.
{{Contentious topics/aware}} is used to register oneself as already aware that a specific topic is a contentious topic.

Editnotices

{{Contentious topics/editnotice}} is used to inform editors that a page is covered by the contentious topics system using an editnotice. Use the one below if the page has restrictions placed on the page.
{{Contentious topics/page restriction editnotice}} is used to inform editors that the page they are editing is subject to contentious topics restrictions using an editnotice. Use the above if there are no restrictions placed on the page.

Talk page notices

{{Contentious topics/talk notice}} is used to provide additional communication, using a talk page messagebox (tmbox), to editors that they are editing a page that is covered by the contentious topics system. The template standardises the format and wording of such notices. Use the below if there are restrictions placed on the page.
{{Contentious topics/page restriction talk notice}} is used to inform editors that page restrictions are active on the page using a talk page messagebox (tmbox). Use the above if there are no restrictions placed on the page.
If a user who has been alerted goes on to disruptively edit the affected topic area, they can be reported to the arbitration enforcement (AE) noticeboard, where an administrator will investigate their conduct and issue a sanction if appropriate. {{AE sanction}} is used by administrators to inform a user that they have been sanctioned.

Miscellaneous

{{Contentious topics/list}} and {{Contentious topics/table}} show which topics are currently designated as contentious topics. They are used by a number of templates and pages on Wikipedia.. His biggest wins are the 2004 Giro d'Italia, the 2008 Amstel Gold Race, and the Giro di Lombardia in 2004, 2007, 2008. He finished second in the UCI Road World Championships in 2008 and in the 2008 UCI ProTour. Primarily a climber, he has improved his Time-Trialing and he is characterized by a great sprinting ability, unusual for a climber. He is considered the best Italian cyclist for classics, after Paolo Bettini's retirement.

Career

Cunego began cycling as a teenager after being a successful cross-country runner. He was discovered by Giuseppe Martinelli who also worked closely with the late Marco Pantani. Cunego turned pro in 2002 at 20 years-old with Saeco team. Cunego won the Giro d'Oro and the Giro Medio Brenta in his first season as a professional with Saeco in 2002. In 2003 he won the seventh stage and the overall classification of Tour of Qinghai Lake.^[1]

He came to prominence in May 2004, winning the Giro d'Italia at 22 with the Saeco team, which became Lampre-Caffita in 2005. 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 the 22 year old Maglia Rosa and angrily said "You're a bastard...you are really stupid."^[2]

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.

In the 2005 Giro d'Italia, Simoni and Cunego were co-captains of Lampre-Caffita. Cunego posed no threat to Simoni. 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. 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 2006 Tour de France Cunego was best young rider. 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,^[3] with two powerful sprints against Alejandro Valverde and Frank Schleck, with victory in the latter propelling him to the top of the UCI Pro Tour rankings,^[3] as he also went on to finish second in the 2008 UCI Road World Championships.^[4] He was widely tipped to be victorious in the 2008 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 "the race of falling leaves" and then he ended the season with the victory of the Japan Cup, confirming himself as one of the best Classics Specialist in the world.

In 2009 he won the Settimana internazionale di Coppi e Bartali risulting victorious in two stages; later he won two mountain stages at Vuelta a España being the favorite in the World Championship, where he arrived 8th.

Palmares

1999

1st

Junior Road Race World Championship

2002

1st Giro d'Oro

1st Giro del Medio Brenta

2003

1st

Overall, Tour of Qinghai Lake

1st Stage 7

4th Overall Brixia Tour

6th Japan Cup

2004

1st

Winner Overall Classification Giro d'Italia

1st Stage 2

1st Stage 7

1st Stage 16

1st Stage 18

1st Giro di Lombardia

1st

Overall, Giro del Trentino

1st Stage 1

1st Stage 2

1st Giro dell'Appennino

1st GP Industria & Artigianato

1st Gran Premio Nobili Rubinetterie

1st Memorial Marco Pantani

2nd Japan Cup

4th Giro del Veneto

6th Klasika Primavera

9th UCI World Championships Road Race

2005

1st Gran Premio Nobili Rubinetterie

1st Trofeo Melinda

1st Japan Cup

2nd Overall Tour de Romandie

1st Stage 3

3rd Tre Valli Varesine

7th Giro del Veneto

9th Liège–Bastogne–Liège

2006

1st

Overall Giro del Trentino

1st

Overall Settimana Ciclistica Internazionale "Coppi e Bartali"

1st Stage 3

1st Giro d'Oro

1st GP Industria & Artigianato

2nd Giro del Lazio

2nd Klasika Primavera

3rd Liège–Bastogne–Liège

4th Overall Giro d'Italia

1st

Young Rider classification, Tour de France

2007

1st Giro di Lombardia

1st

Overall, Giro del Trentino

1st Stage 1

1st Stage 2

1st Stage 4 Deutschland Tour

1st GP Beghelli

5th Overall Giro d'Italia

4th Overall Tour of the Basque Country

5th Giro dell'Emilia

2008

1st Giro di Lombardia

1st Amstel Gold Race

1st Klasika Primavera

1st Overall Japan Cup

2nd

UCI World Championships Road Race

3rd La Flèche Wallonne

3rd Tre Valli Varesine

3rd Overall, Vuelta al País Vasco

1st Stage 5

1st

Points Classification

4th Overall, Tour de Suisse

2009

1st Stage 8 Vuelta a España

1st Stage 14 Vuelta a España

1st

Overall, Settimana Ciclistica Internazionale "Coppi e Bartali"

1st Stage 2

1st Stage 3

3rd La Flèche Wallonne

5th Amstel Gold Race

6th Klasika Primavera

5th Overall, Vuelta al País Vasco

6th Overall, Tour de Suisse

7th Liège–Bastogne–Liège

8th UCI World Championships Road Race

2010

5th La Flèche Wallonne

6th Amstel Gold Race

10th GP de Québec

2011

1st Giro dell'Appennino

1st Stage 2 Tour de Romandie

3rd Montepaschi Strade Bianche

3rd Overall, Giro di Sardegna

1st Stage 2

8th Overall, Tirreno–Adriatico

Grand Tour General Classification results timeline

Grand Tour	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
Giro	34	1	18	4	5	-	17	11
Tour	-	-	-	11	-	WD	-	29
Vuelta	-	15	-	-	WD	WD	WD	-

Notes and references

^ Farrand, Stephen (2009-02-23). "Damiano Cunego: Rider Profile". cyclingweekly.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-01-27.
^ "Damiano Cunego: Rider Profile". cyclingnews.com. 2004-05-30. Retrieved 2009-01-27.
^ ^a ^b "Cunego sprints to Amstel Gold win". BBC News. 2008-04-21. Retrieved 27 April 2009.
^ "Road Cycling Worlds 2008". BBC News. 2008-09-28. Retrieved 27 April 2009.

External links

Damiano Cunego official website
Damiano Cunego - Italian Site and Official Fans Club Online's Room.
Damiano Cunego at trap-friis.dk

Template:Lampre

Template:Persondata

[1] Farrand, Stephen (2009-02-23). "Damiano Cunego: Rider Profile". cyclingweekly.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-01-27.

[2] "Damiano Cunego: Rider Profile". cyclingnews.com. 2004-05-30. Retrieved 2009-01-27.

[Amstel_win-3] "Cunego sprints to Amstel Gold win". BBC News. 2008-04-21. Retrieved 27 April 2009.

[Worlds_2008-4] "Road Cycling Worlds 2008". BBC News. 2008-09-28. Retrieved 27 April 2009.

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