Diego Ulissi sets sights on Italian National Championship after Giro dell'Appennino victory: "We will try to give it a proper battle"
Cycling
Showing his incredible longevity, Diego Ulissi marked his 16th consecutive season with a pro win on Tuesday afternoon at Giro dell'Appennino 2025. Now, the 35-year-old is switching targets towards the Italian National Championships - a title that has so far proven elusive in his career.
"We had a pretty young team today, with guys from XDS Astana Devo Team, some of them had just come back from the Giro Next Gen. Everyone did a great job," reflected Ulissi in post-race comments posted to the official website of the Astana team, having soloed for around 50km to take the victory. "We controlled the early breakaway. Then, on the hardest climb, with around 50 kilometres to the finish, I attacked."
"It was quite tough with the head wind, but I managed to gain some advantage and take this win," Ulissi continues, before turning attention to the aforementioned fight for the Italian tricolour jersey. "Up next we have the Italian National Championships and I think we have a strong team there, so we will try to give it a proper battle."
In an added bonus for the XDS Astana Team, Ulissi ended up being one of two riders on the final podium. Joining his compatriot, former Italian national champion Simone Velasco sprinted to 3rd at the line.
"Today I didn’t have super legs because I really suffered from the heat, but we were still up there in front, and I tried to cover as many attacks as possible for Diego," he recapped. "All our guys did a great job in the first part of the race, up to the decisive moment. Then it was up to Diego and me when the race opened up, to do our part. Diego made a great move, he rode solo for about 50 kilometres, and I tried to neutralize all the counterattacks. In the end, I managed to win a bunch sprint and claimed third. So yes, for us it was indeed a good day."
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
claps 1visitors 1
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling for
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment