"I put my hands around his neck, pinning him to the wall": Italian rider opens up on fierce rivalry with Vincenzo Nibali

Giovanni Visconti’s cycling career was defined by immense talent and an extraordinary ability to reinvent himself. Now working as a sports director for Team Jayco AlUla after retiring in 2022, the Italian recently took a trip down memory lane, revealing a physical altercation with a young Nibali and his terrifying struggles with panic attacks.

During their formative years in Tuscany, a fierce rivalry brewed between Visconti and Vincenzo Nibali. As the older and faster rider of the two, Visconti frequently clashed with the future Grand Tour winner, culminating in an explosive incident during a sprint finish in Cerbaia. Nibali, knowing he was beaten, slammed on his brakes at the 500-meter mark to intentionally block Visconti, costing both of them the victory.

"I was 'hot-headed', let's say," Visconti recalled. "After the finish, I throw my bike to the ground and put my hands around his neck, pinning him to the wall... The judges pulled us by the ears, scolded us, and it ended there. Now we laugh about it," he told Gazzetta.

The two later became teammates at Bahrain-Merida, a move Visconti admits he regretted due to unfulfilled promises of leadership, though he stresses it was not Nibali's fault. Today, the two former rivals share a mutual respect and remain good friends.

While Visconti enjoyed a highly successful career, it was also marred by severe anxiety. He traces the darkest moment of his professional life to the 2012 Giro d'Italia. After a terrifying earthquake rattled their hotel in Legnano the night before, Visconti suffered his first-ever panic attack while riding in the breakaway on Stage 15 to Piani di Resinelli.

"I throw myself to the ground in a puddle, freezing. I rip off my jersey, I can't breathe, I fear I'm going to die," he described. "I had an oxygen mask put on in the ambulance, and I never wanted to take it off. I looked crazy. From there, it was an ordeal."

The psychological trauma fundamentally altered his physiology on the bike. Suddenly unable to handle the intense and explosive efforts required for sprinting without gasping for air, Visconti had to completely reinvent himself. He trained for long climbs, transformed his engine, and morphed from a punchy sprinter into a dedicated climbing domestique.

Exactly one year later, during Stage 15 of the 2013 Giro d'Italia, Visconti's demons returned, but this time, he conquered them in spectacular fashion. Riding in the breakaway over the Col du Télégraphe and towards the legendary Col du Galibier, another panic attack struck.

"I stop pedaling, I almost stop entirely," Visconti remembered of the terrifying moment. "Then the climb ends, I calm down, try to recover, and catch back up to the other breakaway riders. And on the Télégraphe, riding my own pace, I drop them all. I resist and win at the top of the Galibier, me, born on January 13th just like Marco Pantani. Absurd coincidences, like a movie. Apotheosis. And I started again."

Reflecting on the root cause of his panic attacks, Visconti points to the immense pressure he put on himself, compounded by the sky-high expectations placed upon him early in his career. Acknowledging that he became an "excellent rider, but not a champion," he painfully notes that he finished second a staggering 54 times throughout his career.

However, the near-misses are balanced by incredible highs. In 2008, he wore the Giro d'Italia's iconic maglia rosa for eight consecutive days, an experience that still gives him goosebumps.

"What can I say: if I think about it now, I still get the shivers. Everyone was shouting my name. It’s as if that magical jersey gives you superpowers: it made me feel like a king."