Davide Ballerini is no unknown force in the peloton as the winner of 2021 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, but he still might've needed to remind fans of his qualities with a Giro d'Italia stage win. And based on the response, it must've worked!
According to journalist Ciro Scognamiglio, no less than three teams are in the running to sign Davide Ballerini. According to him, Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling seem to be the frontrunners, but Team Jayco AlUla and even Team Visma | Lease a Bike have also displayed serious interest.
Info @Gazzetta_it - @ballero_94 @XDSAstanaTeam - stage winner at @giroditalia this year - won't remain in the team for next season. @Pinarello_Q36_5, @GreenEDGEteam and @vismaleaseabike have shown interest in him according to our sources @cycling_podcast
— Ciro Scognamiglio (@cirogazzetta) August 21, 2026
Ballerini turned professional with Androni Giocattoli in 2017, and through one year with Astana in 2019, he joined Quick-Step where he enjoyed the best years of his career. But by 2024, Ballerini was ready to re-join Astana whom he helped on the rise from bottom of WorldTour division to its current sixth spot.
Read also
It's not so long ago that the top WorldTour teams would not waste their time looking to bolster their ranks by recruitments at XDS Astana. But since the end of 2024, the Kazakh team wrote a whole new chapter and even premium brands such as Visma | Lease a Bike and Netcompany INEOS are hoping to get their hands on some of Astana's valued assets.
Giro breakthrough
In 2026, Ballerini struggled to find his success in cobbled Classics, but that didn't break his spirit. The 31-year-old Italian eventually got back on track with a stage win at Tour of Turkiye, just in time for Giro d'Italia.
Davide Ballerini wins stage 6 at the 2026 Giro d'Italia
Astana brought Matteo Malucelli as its designated leader for sprint finishes while Ballerini was tasked with lead-out work.
But on the sketchy finish of stage 6 to Napoli, a large crashed occured just behind Ballerini in the final U-turn, sending Ballerini and Stuyven up the road. And in a one-on-one duel on wet cobbles, Ballerini stood his ground to win his first stage at the home Grand Tour. In quite a bizzare fashion too.
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.
claps 1visitors 1
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- Raise thine hand if the money you have made for retirement slips away on poor investments.Most of us will outlive our financial comforts because we don't have the financial acumen to ensure a comfortable lifelong retirement and that is a statistical fact not my opinion.Many millionaires have pissed their money away or had it taken away by so called conniving "financial advisors".The world of wealth is a dangerous place that most of us will never experience nor appreciate.
Brucegel15-11-2026 - You are interested in Pogi for one reason only, you feel like you are somehow related because you share some vague geographical identity. Other than that you have very little interest in cycling as all your posts show, if it can’t be connected to Pogi you have nothing to post. That said, recent activity here shows we are attracting quite a crowd from his region.Jumpyjohn15-11-2026
- From knowing past cycling stars with shops I can only say, think it through. Not only is it mundane after a while but it really doesn’t take you out of the limelight, in the end you’ll be trying to stay away from the place yourself whilst all your fans keep coming for you.Jumpyjohn15-11-2026
- Careful investment? I think he can live very comfortably with zero investments, what does he need more? The world would do well if more people set a target for how much they need or would make them “happy” and then stop worrying about perpetually having to make more.Jumpyjohn15-11-2026
- Yes, Roglic could theoretically have beaten Sepp. Jonas must have had complete confidence that he could come back and win the Vuelta another year. Visma had not allowed Roglic to ride the Tour that year, so his future did not look so bright, despite his narrow Giro win..Hills3315-11-2026
- So far, a good series about riders before my time, even if the text feels AI generated like so much on this site. About the rider, he seems like one of many who are active fan favorites but don’t survive in the stories of cycling, a few decades later - I didn’t really know anything about him and this was a good read, thank you!RidesHills15-11-2026
- A calm, honest documentary, a bit of hagiography but mostly not too much. When he talks about a coffee shop, it aligns with several things in his world - he might want calm, but he does (more than a little bit) have someone near him (his fiancee) who makes sure that things happen the way he expects. Many atheletes have retired only to find out just how much others were taking care of their lives for them. If they work out (I'm old, things happen), I am sure it will take a renegotiation, which is a good thing. I truly enjoyed watching it, seeing him, seeing her, seeing the whole system built around him.RidesHills15-11-2026
- You do? My mother grew up around Bleiburg (Pliberk), across the border in Austria . My grandparents lived close to the train station in Bleiburg, and I spent a lot of the 70s and 80s there. The "Jugo" train of my youth went to Dravograd or Maribor, exotic places (behind the wall) at the time. What a moment that was, the 10 days war of '91 - times sure have changed.RidesHills15-11-2026
- 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
Loading
Write a comment