Mario Scirea

Mario Scirea reached the pinnacle of his amateur cycling career at the 1987 Villach World Championships when he won the 100 km team time trial gold medal with Eros Poli, Flavio Vanzella, and Roberto Fortunato. At the Seoul Olympics the following year, Scirea failed to repeat that success, finishing fifth.

Scirea turned professional in 1989 with Malvor and shortly afterwards the Café de Colombia team. He took part in his first Giro d’Italia in his début season, and also won a stage of the Tour of the Americas. In 1990 Scirea joined Chateaux d’Ax with Gianni Bugno, a rival for many years in their amateur days. The pair worked together in many Giros and Tours de France.

In 1996 Scirea moved to “Super Mario” Cipollini’s Saeco team and was a trusted member of the squad for nine seasons. His role was to assist Cipollini in the sprints and at the age of 38, helped “Super Mario” win the 2002 World Road Race title.

Scirea retired at the age of 40 in 2004 after competing in 14 Giros, six Tours and six Vueltas de España. After retirement he became sports director of Liquigas/Cannondale and then at Lampre from 2015-18.