After a long season many of the riders get together with their fan club for a luncheon or dinner to celebrate.
Recently the Damiano Cunego Fan Club celebrated in Peschiera del Garda at Lake Garda. More than 200 supporters attended along with teammates Marzano and Bertagnolli.
"It's always a beautiful thing when you have the chance to celebrate with all your friends," Cunego explained. "During races I always see so many of my fans on the sides of the roads, they're outstanding and there are no fans like them. I think it's important to celebrate with them."
Another rider celebrating with his fans in Verona was Elia Viviani (center of photo) of Liquigas-Cannondale. This up and coming rider won his first Pro Tour stage victory this year at the Tour of Beijing.
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The Paolo Tiralongo fans club is right here in Siracusa, just 5 minutes by bike from our apartment. We have yet to actually find the location at this point but it's on our list of things to do while we're down here. We like Damiano quite a bit more than Tiralongo but we're a long way from Verona.
ReplyDeleteI find it most intriguing that pro cycling athletes in Italy are this closely connected to their fans.
ReplyDeleteYou don't often see official fan clubs like this in North American sport nor do the athletes themselves make this kind of effort to reach out to their fans like this.
Its nice...