Giulio Ciccone on how Pogacar motivates everyone else to get even close to his level: "We are all trying to improve and push ourselves even more"

Giulio Ciccone's 2024 was from ideal. The Italian's preparations took a hard blow when injuries and illness delayed the Italian's start of the season all the way until the end of April. Despite having missed whole spring, the Lidl-Trek rider was able to patch himself up in time to score some decent results with 8th at Dauphiné and 11th at the Tour de France. Despite a failed Vuelta, Ciccone managed to bounce back one more time to round up podium at the Classic of the Falling Leaves - Il Lombardia.

Now that he's been able to take some rest from a turbulent season, it's time to sit at the drawing board and put together plans for 2025. This year, Ciccone had to give up on starting at his home Grand Tour - Giro d'Italia, but that makes him even more motivated to come back next year, he assures. But first of all, he'd like to know what the organisers have in store.

Frankly, due to organization issues, the official route presentation was postponed which temporarily put all planing on hold. "As regards the 2025 racing calendar, we are waiting," Ciccone said in an interview with Sky Sport. "Drawing up a program, with some races that have not yet been presented, is a bit difficult. I would like to be at the Giro d'Italia 2025, but we are waiting to see the presentation of the route and then we will decide."

Ciccone looks back at his 2024: "It was a somewhat complicated season, due to various physical problems that I had last winter," the Italian rider points out. "I still managed to close it in a good way, obtaining a nice podium at Lombardia. Then I stopped for three weeks, resetting and resting my body; now it's been a week that I've started training again, between the gym and the bike."

Training sessions that seem to have moved to new frontiers, given what Tadej Pogacar has been doing in recent months: "He has certainly raised the level a lot in recent years, today it is practically impossible to think of being able to reach him," Ciccone comments. "There is only one Tadej Pogacar. Surely, realizing his level must be a stimulus. We are all trying to adapt to make more sacrifices and try to change something in training, to improve and push ourselves more and more."