Antonio Tiberi's 2026 has the new horizon of the TourAfter fifth place and the white jersey in the 2024 Giro d'Italia debut, this year a crash and a shattered morale led to a placing outside the top 15, which doesn't do it justice. The problem is that in this super-fast cycling, It's not just the children who grow up prematurely, the fans' expectations also burn like straw. Therefore, Tiberi, who is still 24 years old, has been unfairly thrown into the bin by many.
In these days of training on the streets of Altea, Antonio has started building for next seasonThe holidays are over, and this year, for the first time, they were truly vacations, before reuniting with family and cultivating the relationships that nomadic life inevitably weakens. When we ask him in the afternoon to tell us about his plans, his tone is relaxed and aware.
"We're training well," he says by the pool. the feelings are good, so everything is going wellThe temperature isn't bad even further inland, with maybe a little rain every now and then. We haven't seen any full sunny days yet, but we're managing to do what we have planned."
It looks like you'll be going to the Tour next year...
We still have to have a meeting to finalize the details, but that's how it is. I'll start at the Valenciana, then Tirreno, Liège, Romandie, Dauphiné, and then I'll make my Tour de France debut. The goal? To get to Paris.I went there for the first time this year on holiday and loved it. So I'm aiming to return to celebrate the end of the Tour de France on the Champs-Élysées.
A choice to avoid the excessive waiting times of the Giro?
I'm curious and also happy to debut in France. Many, even teammates, tell me that based on their experience the Tour suits me better than the Giro., so I'm curious to see if that's true. I always like doing the Giro d'Italia, because it's my home race. But talking to the team, we saw that it's also the right time to go to FranceFor my part, I immediately said that I would be super happy and so we chose.
When you think about the Giro, are there more good memories or bitter ones?
I went from 2024 where everything went great, to 2025 where everything went terribly wrong. So I keep the good memories ahead of me rather than those of 2025. Although until the cursed fall of Nova Gorica, everything was going as we had planned. I was third in the standings, and it's true that the real mountain stages hadn't arrived yet, however from that moment on the physical and muscular problems have reshaped my ambitionsMy condition started to decline as the stages went by, but it's all part of our sport and therefore must be accepted. These are experiences that will prove useful in the future.
Among the experiences there is also a 2025 full of too many retirements at altitude and the feeling that you arrived at the races already exhausted…
It's definitely one of the first points we addressed when drafting next year's plan, both in terms of preparation and competitions. The feeling last year was that I had done too much altitude and had pushed my body too hard outside of competitions.You squeeze out of the race, then you squeeze in the race, you squeeze out of the race, then you squeeze in the race and at a certain point it becomes too much. This is why the altitude has been included in the program. more specifically and targeted to the real objectives.
First Bennati, then Villa and probably also Amadio say that to do well in the next world championships, Tiberi needs to gain more experience in road racing.
I personally asked the team when they asked me for preferences for next year. I asked to run more one-day races, maybe some classics. For this I will do the Liège, but at the start of the season, the Trofeo Laigueglia, which is a classic, is also held in Italy, and I'm very pleased. Then, rightly, with the Tour on the program, the stage races are the main part.
Just the Tour or the Tour and the Vuelta?
For now, I would say Just tourThen maybe we can think about some shorter stage races or one-day races. We still have to talk about what will happen after July, maybe in January we'll be more precise and in any case it will depend on how the season goes.
You've been to the Giro twice with Caruso: will you have him alongside you at the Tour too?
Damiano's certainty is that, being his last year, he will want to do very well at the Giro. That said, I hope it doesn't stop, because it's still going strong.After the Giro, we'll see what the team says, because it doesn't seem to me that he has completely closed the door on the Tour.
When we talk about the Tour, what comes to mind?
Vincenzo Nibali, I watched him on TV when he won. And then I remember Voeckler and his grimaces and his tongue sticking out. I've always watched the Tour on TV. and this also makes me feel so much determination and joy at the thought of making my debut.
Curiosity: did you choose the Tour after seeing the route?
No, actually we had decided before, when we had the call with the managers to compare the ideas we had. When it came out path there was the final confirmation.
What do you like about the course?
The fact that the first stage is a team time trial, a specialty I like and always enjoy doing (in the opening, Tiberi in action at the 2025 Tour de Pologne, in the time trial where he took fourth place, ed.). The chosen modality is different from usual: time is taken on the first and the detachments of each become effective. Then, as I was saying, the uphill finish on the third day makes the first week more interesting. And then the classic climbs of the Tour and the double Alpe d'Huez in the end.
Let's close with the technical innovations of the new bike: what do you think?
I was very positively surprised. I tried the Bianchi for the first time here on retreat, but I had seen it live when we did the bike fit, more or less after the Lombardia. It's very light, responsive, and quick: an excellent bike.
Have you tried the time trial one too?
Certainly, and despite being a completely different bike from the Merida, I found myself perfectly in position from the first pedal strokesWe just had to revert to the old bike's position and didn't have to change anything. Despite being a time trial bike, it's very light and responsive. You can feel it gliding well.
Was it enough to report the measurements on the road bike too?
After the Lombardy race, we did the bike fit on the Merida and I trained with that. When I arrived here in Spain, We brought the measurements back to the Bianchi and I didn't have to adjust anythingThe thing that made the mechanic's job easier was the fact that the saddle and the group were the same, and this eliminated other complications. I also found the handlebars very comfortable, which are unique and different from the ones we used.But I have to say it's really comfortable and offers a very responsive ride and a great feeling. In short, it seems to have everything you need to get started.
