Gianmarco
Garofoli

Hailing from Italy, former junior national road race champion Gianmarco joins the Development program for the 2021 season. A good punchy climber who has tasted success in tricky one-day races, Gianmarco has also shown his versatility with strong time trial results too, such as his second place in the national championships in 2020.

“I want to learn as much as I can from the team and the people in it. I want to develop and improve physically on the bike and I think this is exactly the best place for me to do that.”

Gianmarco was destined to ride bikes, with his granddad, uncle and father all riding on two-wheels to some extent, with the young Italian jokingly saying that he was doing the sport “as soon as I was born.” Alongside his cycling, Gianmarco is also a keen footballer and tennis player but had to put those two sports to the side to focus fully on his ambitions as a cyclist.

Looking ahead to his time with the team’s Development program, the successes of former riders is a really big motivating factor for him.

“It’s really inspiring to see lots of guys take the step up from the Development program to the WorldTour. The team can really help to improve young riders and hopefully I can make that step one day in the future too.”

Gianmarco has just finished his studies and is still unsure whether he will take something else up alongside his cycling, or if he will just go “full focus” on the sport. In the meantime, he enjoys spending his time off the bike going for long walks with his two dogs in the countryside nearby his home.