Edoardo Affini on the best season of his career: “I wouldn’t say I grew wings, but it was certainly a confirmation of my form"
Cycling
Having signed with Team Visma | Lease a Bike in 2021, Edoardo Affini finally seemed to reach the potential he had shown over the past few years. This year he won the European time-trial Championships, but has had plenty other performances that proved to be quite worthy.
“I think this was one of my best seasons ever. The start of the year was challenging due to crashes involving our team leaders, but even then, we had great moments," Affini said in a press release. The Italian was then part of the team's cobbled classics block, and support Olav Kooij's sprinting ambitions at the Giro d'Italia.
"Matteo’s [Jorgenson] victory in Paris-Nice and Olav’s [Kooij] stage win in the Giro are memories I’ll cherish for a long time. That period was undoubtedly the best of my season and, honestly, of my entire career. Those were special moments I will always remember".
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He put in a few very strong time-trials before the Vuelta a España where he also went on to support Wout van Aert to several sprint wins. “The Vuelta was really tough, and I had never raced a time trial so soon after finishing a Grand Tour. I didn’t know what to expect".
"I wasn’t in the hot seat for long, just a few minutes. The most nerve-wracking moment was when Stefan Küng posted his intermediate time," he shares. "That’s when I started to believe a bit more. In the end, when I saw that he couldn’t match my time, I was able to throw my hands in the air.”
But the highlight of his career came afterwards, as he won the Mixed Relay TTT at the European Championships and the victory in the individual time-trial ahead of Stefan Küng. “I thought of my grandfather right away. He passed at the beginning of the year, and I know he would have loved to see me win. He always believed I could do it. After that, I couldn’t wait to see my family. They were in Hasselt to cheer me on.” He then finished third at the World Championships time-trial, joining Remco Evenepoel and Filippo Ganna on the podium.
“I wouldn’t say I grew wings, but it was certainly a confirmation of my form. We didn’t do anything different this year compared to previous ones. I kept working and training on the time trial bike, and together with the team, we optimized the equipment. These performances also set the stage for what’s to come in 2025," he concluded.
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💬 "I thought of my grandfather right away. He passed at the beginning of the year, and I know he would have loved to see me win."
— Team Visma | Lease a Bike (@vismaleaseabike) December 19, 2024
Read more about the 2024 of Edo! ✍🏼⤵️
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
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Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
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- I hope he rides a bitmij15-11-2026
- Greatest athlete this world has ever produced ! LOL ... you definitely are a comdian ! Cycling is so sprecialized and you think he's the greatest athlete ever ! Still laughing !frieders315-11-2026
- b.s. headline. Jonas wasn't told anything, it is just a pundit telling him what to do. the actual article is not even close to the insinuation of the headline.mij15-11-2026
- I think Roglic could have beaten Sepp. not Jonas. I was referring to Sepp.mij15-11-2026
- I'm deeply sick of this guy and his unwillingness to race seriously for more than a month or two. I'll never respect riders who do that. Seixas will be stronger than him next season, and maybe Del Toro as well. I don't even think he'll finish on the podium at any GT where Pogi, Seixas, and Del Toro are racing.megasmacky15-11-2026
- Not a chance in hell.megasmacky15-11-2026
- If you go watch some races from last season other riders that have never caught Jonas...are now catching him. Some are just riding away from him and he can't hold the wheelmd197514-11-2026
- He just doesn't have the desire anymore. I read an article earlier today that said he almost retired last year. His reasoning was he is away from home to much. Visma was able to keep him riding by allowing him to skip certain camps. So, while currently Visma is doing altitude work...Jonas is at home. Which means 2 things. 1- He maybe fresher than other riders. But, not the condition. 2-Is a somewhat slap in the face to others on the team that are supposed to help him win. Yet feel like he hasn't done what they have so perhaps they don't provide as good of protection or they ride more for theme (which the team may not notice).md197514-11-2026
- Roglic could not have won anyway, after Jonas followed him when Roglic decided it was his turn for a stage win. Jonas had already attacked Kuss twice, so it was Jonas who was within seconds of taking the lead before Kuss was 'gifted' the win. It felt a bit like Roglic was being thrown under the bus when the team made his unhappiness public.Hills3314-11-2026
- POG1, another nice doc about our favourite, I watched most of it with a big smile on my face (except for the bits about his crashes 😢 obvs!).Lozza14-11-2026
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