Gianni Moscon belongs to those riders in cycling peloton whose reputation preceeds their sporting performances. The 30-year-old was once regarded as one of the brightest talents in the peloton and that is why he was scouted by the Team Sky back in 2016.
And while the Italian set off to a great start with number of close call results at the World's biggest races between 2017 and 2019, it was also around this period that Moscon's 'naughty side' started to show up. Everybody remembers the 2018 Tour de France when Moscon punched Elie Gesbert during the 15th stage, resulting in a DQ and a hefty fine for the Italian.
Despite his widely-spread bad reputation within the bunch (something that was confirmed by Jens Debusschere after another incident in 2020), Moscon's qualities as a cyclist are still valued in the peloton. It's been more than three since the Italian came close to winning any race but now, as a veteran of nine years in the bunch, he's able to capitalize on his experience, something that was put on full display at this year's Tour de France when the Italian rider took perfect care of his Soudal - Quick-Step leader Remco Evenepoel in hectic sprint finishes.
Naturally, team boss Patrick Lefevere was satisfied with Moscon's services and speaking to Daniel Benson earlier this year, he sounded ready to extend the Italian's contract:
"Gianni Moscon stays, for probably two more years. He wanted to stop racing last year because he was disappointed with his former team but then his agent, Giovanni Lombardi, who has been a friend, told me that if he didn't come to us then he would stop racing. Moscon was a very good rider in the Tour and he was on a minimum wage this year but the result now is that I'm rewarding him with a two-year contract," said Lefevere at the time.
But with Soudal - Quick-Step's 2025 roster coming close to being complete, it's becoming clear that Moscon's future doesn't lie with the Belgian WorldTour team. Earlier this Tuesday, Gazzetta dello Sport bring the rather surprising news that Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe reached an agreement with Moscon who should ride in support of Primoz Roglic and co from next year.
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- 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
- And we, what are we doing?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And yet, it attracts people, even you. What’s more, it attracts the rival fanboys to fill cyberspace with endless pointless my hero is better than your hero blabla that’s all been heard before and only helps sell the site as an advertising platform. You know what the solution is but most can’t resist. No different than women who follow and discuss celebs through gossip magazines.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- he is doing 460 watts for 35 min to achieve 7 w/kg with VO2 at 96 , just unreal numbers.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just do it, and put up with the consequencesJumpyjohn08-11-2026
- "was a headliner at the Tour de France" Nobody cared about Piddie. Only rivals that were there for Pogi, Jonas, Remco, Sexias, Lipo, Del Toro and they were all expected to lose. Piddie was not even in any conversation.abstractengineer08-11-2026
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Info @Gazzetta_it - Gianni Moscon will leave @soudalquickstep at the end of 2024 and sources confirmed us that next year he will join Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe. Deal done, only official communication missing @cycling_podcast
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