A beautifully fitting tribute, Daniel. Thank you very much for sharing. Gianni’s character shone larger than life through the podcast over the years, it truly was the perfect medium for him.
I was honoured to spend a couple of hours with Nicoletta in Turin at last year’s Giro. Her warmth and passion for both the sport and their community was no doubt a credit to her father. My thoughts are with all those who knew Gianni, RIP.
Thank you, Daniel, for such a beautifully written and evocative tribute to Gianni. It’s characters like him, and the time to appreciate and enjoy them during the long hours following the races, that first drew me to cycling - and have kept me entranced ever since.
Poignant and moving, I’ll miss the evocations to the formation and “la bomba” from the Giro. Thank you Daniel for taking the time and effort to introduce us to one of the true characters of Italian cycling. Ciao Gianni 🙏
Thank you for that heartfelt tribute, Daniel. I could hear your voice and his, from those innumerable conversations we heard on the podcast. I will miss his voice immensely.
I could write my version of the ‘big sponsors to come’ based on the endless conversations we had every year when Gianni was registering his team with the UCI. It would be about Venezuelan bank guarantees, glittering contracts with the Colombian government and so on.
On the one hand, I was annoyed because all I wanted to do was tick boxes on an excel spreadsheet and publish a list of teams that had crossed the t's and dotted the i's. The promises made in Gianni's impeccable French and inimitable accent didn't fit into those boxes.
On the other hand, I knew that he was one of the last representatives of a romantic era in cycling that I had barely witnessed myself, and I savoured those moments.
Running into Gianni at the finish of a stage of Tirreno-Adriatico in a remote village in Abruzzo or in the chaos of the press room at Milan-Sanremo was a striking contrast to the boardroom discussions with ASO executives, 'visionary' team owners and sports marketing geniuses that were my daily routine at the UCI.
Discussions that would probably seem just as romantic today compared to One Cycling's plans. And plans that will materialise, or not, like those that have been regularly put on the table for 30 years to ‘revolutionise’ cycling. None of them have come to fruition so far, not even the ProTour, which I believed in so much and fought so hard for.
Meanwhile, Gianni would come back year after year with an army of small sponsors and his band of pirate riders. He has supported families, launched and extended careers, he animated races to the delight of fans. Was he a 'bandito'? On certain occasions, maybe. A criminal? I have no reason to think so.
Gianni was one of the few people I missed when I stepped away from pro cycling, and I realise that even more now that he's no longer with us.
My life has been all the richer for little flashes of Gianni inserted during your Giro coverage, and to echo Edward one of my highlights was always Gianni’s formations and the “bomba”. A lovely tribute Daniel
Heartfelt and Beautiful ❤️
A beautifully fitting tribute, Daniel. Thank you very much for sharing. Gianni’s character shone larger than life through the podcast over the years, it truly was the perfect medium for him.
I was honoured to spend a couple of hours with Nicoletta in Turin at last year’s Giro. Her warmth and passion for both the sport and their community was no doubt a credit to her father. My thoughts are with all those who knew Gianni, RIP.
What a wonderfully written piece and a fitting tribute.
Thank you, Daniel, for such a beautifully written and evocative tribute to Gianni. It’s characters like him, and the time to appreciate and enjoy them during the long hours following the races, that first drew me to cycling - and have kept me entranced ever since.
Poignant and moving, I’ll miss the evocations to the formation and “la bomba” from the Giro. Thank you Daniel for taking the time and effort to introduce us to one of the true characters of Italian cycling. Ciao Gianni 🙏
Thank you for that heartfelt tribute, Daniel. I could hear your voice and his, from those innumerable conversations we heard on the podcast. I will miss his voice immensely.
Fitting tribute, thank you Daniel. A giro without Gianni’s formations isn’t the same.
Thank you, Daniel. A beautifully written piece. Gianni would be honored.
Such a lovely tribute to Gianni. We would have never known and enjoyed the vivacious personality of the man without your efforts Daniel. Thank you.
A brillant poignant epitaph to a beautiful part of the Giro experience. RIP Gianni, I will miss the days formation.
I could write my version of the ‘big sponsors to come’ based on the endless conversations we had every year when Gianni was registering his team with the UCI. It would be about Venezuelan bank guarantees, glittering contracts with the Colombian government and so on.
On the one hand, I was annoyed because all I wanted to do was tick boxes on an excel spreadsheet and publish a list of teams that had crossed the t's and dotted the i's. The promises made in Gianni's impeccable French and inimitable accent didn't fit into those boxes.
On the other hand, I knew that he was one of the last representatives of a romantic era in cycling that I had barely witnessed myself, and I savoured those moments.
Running into Gianni at the finish of a stage of Tirreno-Adriatico in a remote village in Abruzzo or in the chaos of the press room at Milan-Sanremo was a striking contrast to the boardroom discussions with ASO executives, 'visionary' team owners and sports marketing geniuses that were my daily routine at the UCI.
Discussions that would probably seem just as romantic today compared to One Cycling's plans. And plans that will materialise, or not, like those that have been regularly put on the table for 30 years to ‘revolutionise’ cycling. None of them have come to fruition so far, not even the ProTour, which I believed in so much and fought so hard for.
Meanwhile, Gianni would come back year after year with an army of small sponsors and his band of pirate riders. He has supported families, launched and extended careers, he animated races to the delight of fans. Was he a 'bandito'? On certain occasions, maybe. A criminal? I have no reason to think so.
Gianni was one of the few people I missed when I stepped away from pro cycling, and I realise that even more now that he's no longer with us.
Ciao Gianni
My life has been all the richer for little flashes of Gianni inserted during your Giro coverage, and to echo Edward one of my highlights was always Gianni’s formations and the “bomba”. A lovely tribute Daniel
A very fitting tribute, Daniel.
Thank you Daniel, fitting in every way.
Lovely words and what a loss for us all
Heartfelt tribute