A little over a year ago, it was April 25th, we told Davide Donati's victory at the Liberation Grand Prix of Rome. It had been just five days since the accident that would end the career of the Comrade Galimberti And to him, still sedated in the hospital, the Brescian dedicated the victory. He managed a perfect sprint in the leading group and finished ahead of Montoli and Biagini.
This year, with equal naturalness but with the shirt of the Red Bull-Bora, Donati took second place in the final stage of the Settimana Coppi e Bartali, winning the sprint behind Jay Vine, ahead of Lutsenko and SheffieldIf this is his level at 19 (he'll actually be 20 in three days), perhaps we can expect great things. In the meantime, leaving the rider to his own path, we rewound the tape and asked Dario Nicoletti, his sport director last year at Biesse-Carrera, to tell us about it, to find out more.
Let's start from the end: Donati won the Liberazione in his first year and in his second he left for Red Bull: was it known from the beginning?
No, it came out during the year. His agent is Omar Piscina, with whom we have a good relationship. He was correct and always kept us informed about the various stagesAfter the Liberation, there was already interest in the boy. I tried in every way to keep him, even talking to him. I told him that In my opinion he is predestined and could have reached the WorldTour even if he had stayed with usBut there was nothing to be done.
Predestined?
At what level I don't know, it doesn't mean he'll become like Pogacar. In my opinion, he is destined to go to the World Tour. He has very important values and great determination.He finished his high school diploma in science and when he only thought about running, it was clear that he is smart and knows how to be in a group. he has the physical data of a modern riderI saw firsthand that he is determined in the second half of the season, when he had a decline. One might have thought that having signed with Red Bull he would have sat back, instead he was furious because he couldn't get back to the spring results.
Furious?
He found himself in Poggiana on the run with those of Jumbo-VismaHe had fallen off on the climb, which is challenging. And since he wanted to get back at all costs, he took too many risks and crashed on the descent. I found him on the sidewalk with a broken hand. (the 2024 Poggiana Sports GP was won by Nordhagen, ed.). He had to miss several races, returned at the end of the season and achieved a few more placings in Puglia.
So the placings like Coppi and Bartali are surprising up to a certain point?
They don't surprise me that much, because After a test done before the 2024 season, our trainer said: «Guys, this one is different!»We knew we had a good one, and the tests confirmed it. And then we discovered he was precise in everything and determined. It's a shame he's gone, but he's the confirmation that devo sometimes something slips out.
Had he escaped?
Totally. He was in a relationship with a foreign continental, but in the end they hired someone else and he came with us. Donati is truly the confirmation that the I have to team up they can't see them all. Even if they then come back and take them away anyway (Nicoletti smiles with a hint of resignation, ed.).
What can you tell us about his brother?
Is called Andrea and he left with the handicap of an injury, because he also broke his hand in trainingHe came back last Sunday and was already doing well, but he fell again. Luckily he didn't break his leg, but he took a very bad blow to his knee and had to stop. He's strong too, he has the same agent and comes from Trevigliese, like his brother.
What future do you expect for Donati in the short term?
Pool told us they have for him a nice project for the classics. He may not yet have fully understood what kind of rider he could become, but when he enters in those teams, they study you, identify what your resources are and move forward on the path they have chosen. So all that's left to do is wait for it. And in the meantime I'm raising another interesting boy, another who has so far escaped the attention of I have to team up.
