"I expect to grow a lot": An iconic family name returns to professional peloton through Mario Cipollini's nephew!

The name Cipollini is a household brand in cycling mainly thanks to the legendary sprinter Mario Cipollini, but his older brother Cesare (1958-2023) also had a fulfilling professional career with several top-10s at Giro d'Italia and a stand-out victory at 1983 Giro dell'Emilia. And while Mario was only blessed with daughters of which neither is known to have plans to pick up cycling, Cesare's son (Mario's nephew) Edoardo will enter the professional ranks with the new Hungrian-Italian team MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort this year.

The 20-year-old Italian will be a part of the group of mostly brand new faces at the highest level (only 8 out of 21 riders have previous experience at professional level), as the team previously known under the name Colpack moves up a division. Edoardo Cipollini might not come across as the biggest talent of the group, but he should not be underestimated.

During his two years at under-23 level, Edoardo climbed onto the podium of national level races six times (5x in 2025) and added a 4th place at the under-23 Gran Premio Industrie del Marmo. Towards the end of the season, we could've also seen Edoardo at the Coppa Sabatini, where he was part of a daily breakaway which ended up animating the final phases of the race as Ben Granger finished 3rd. Edoardo finished 53rd on the day, by far his best performance at this level so far.

"I'm a fast rider, but I can also handle moderate climbs. My favorite terrain is steep climbs with double-digit gradients, preferably not too long," the youngster introduces himself to cycling fans in an interview for SpazioCiclismo. Will he show a turn of speed comparable to his uncle's? We'll have to wait for a bit to find out.

But it's certainly thanks to his strong cycling background that he had picked up the sport. Does sharing a family name with one of the best sprinters in history weigh in on Edoardo's shoulders? "You feel the burden at the beginning, maybe when you're little, and many people come to talk to you, always making comparisons. But as you grow older, you realize it's an advantage," he points out.

Racing in vastly different eras, there's a limit to how much of their know-how could Cesare and Mario pass down on their successor, but Edoardo still carries on one piece of advice in particular: "The advice I received was to expect to work hard and take a lot of beatings, as they say in the trade. And both have already arrived…"

Edoardo already spent the past two seasons with MBH Bank Ballan CSB (as was the team known in 2025), thus making the transition to professional level quite smoother. The young cyclist definitely isn't thrown into the deep end.

"I'm in a familiar environment," he confirms. "This has somewhat softened the impact of the transition to pro. I expect to grow a lot, but also for it to be a year where I shouldn't set my expectations too high."

Although the team doesn't qualify for WorldTour races yet, the calendar will mostly resemble the past seasons, although the team will no longer ride the Italian national calendar, nor under-23 races, unless UCI changes their mind.

"It's one thing to race as an amateur, but it's more difficult to achieve the same performance as a professional. If I could place in the top 10 in some races, that would already be a good result," Edoardo outlines his goals for 2026.