Antonio Tiberi, in Down Under the good morning can be seen from Australia

Best Italian in the final classification of the Tour Down Under, the opening of the World Tour: eighth, 1’07” behind the winner Jay Vine. Second in the junior classification, just 10” behind Magnus Sheffield. Fourth in the last stage. If the good morning starts from Australia, then Antonio Tiberi can be optimistic: 2023 has started well. Whether it will continue ‘better’ is up to him. The important thing is not to start again with comparisons with Vincenzo Nibali (with whom he shares managers, brothers Alex and Johnny Carera) and things like that: the 21-year-old from Lazio from Trek-Segafredo doesn’t deserve them. No one deserves such a heavy burden and who knows when Italian cycling will find a rider of the level of the Shark, who retired at the end of 2022 after a phenomenal career. However, Tiberi has talent and must be followed with confidence, giving him time to grow: not all of them are precocious phenomena like Evenepoel or Pogacar.

RESULTS – In the youth categories from Tiberi an important gold medal had arrived for Italy: that of the junior time trial at the World Championships in Harrogate in 2019. To be clear: the year before a certain Remco Evenepoel had won it… Tiberi is of Gavignano, a center with 2,000 inhabitants in the metropolitan city of Rome (“But I feel more Ciociarian than Roman”, he always specified). 1.82 tall and 62 kilos, he is the only child of Paolo, who has a farm, and of Nadia, a nurse: he watched a team of very young people who pedaled and started as G2 with Anagni Cicli Nereggi. He goes to school at the “Galileo Galilei” technical institute in Rome, aeronautical branch. Complete runner, he loves climbing. After passing through Colpack, he turned pro in the second half of 2020 with Trek-Segafredo. Last year, at the Tour of Hungary, his first pro success came. But also some counter-performance: it happens. Now the relaunch, at the dawn of the season and of Australia.