Vincenzo Nibali was the special guest of an evening organized by the municipality of Seregno, a unique opportunity to listen to the stories of the Italian champion who marked the history of modern cycling. The event was part of the Sport Week festival in the Brianza town, which was named European City of Sport 2025.

Nibali, pressed by questions from Walter Proserpio of Radio Deejay and influencer Lisa Offside, offered those present a true journey not only through his professional cycling career, but especially into the most intimate and human aspects of his profession. Everything could only start from his Sicily and his passion for cycling that gradually developed following his father Salvatore. "I became passionate about cycling little by little, I was about 7 or 8 years old and my father was gifted a bicycle and started participating in amateur races on Sundays. The races were very different, the level was lower and everyone went for passion, soon my uncle also started participating. I always liked touching bikes, dismantling and reassembling them, I would touch my father's tools. I practically built my first bike, it was an old rusty frame that we sanded down and then I stuck some Bianchi stickers on it, and that's where everything actually began," Vincenzo said, highlighting the numerous difficulties a young Sicilian had to face - "I was about 14 when I did my first race, I came second and everyone got excited. From that moment on, every Sunday we would travel to races that were often in Palermo, it was incredibly hot and the car had no air conditioning, thinking about it today is crazy, but the motivation was stronger than anything else." Cycling had always been a deeply felt sport on the island where there were races and teams, a well-established movement that however stopped after a certain category and was no longer able to provide opportunities for young athletes.

The transfer to Tuscany was necessary, a decisive choice to pursue his dream, and Nibali has no regrets. The days were marked between studying and training, although the most important moment remained the race in which the Sicilian absolutely gave his best. "When I moved, I had no regrets, but I was sorry to leave my family, it was an important leap that forced me to take responsibility. I lived in a small house with a teammate, every day we went to school in Empoli where I was studying advertising and insurance, then once home, training would begin. I risked everything, I didn't know how it would end, I had bet everything on cycling and had no plan B. Now sports have changed a lot, kids are followed in every aspect from a very young age, they have specific nutrition, training, it wasn't like that for us. However, I believe that children must be taught that sports are important, but not everything, they must always have a plan B in life, work hard, study, find another path because it might always be useful, you can't be an athlete forever."

During the evening, emotions were not lacking, and everyone in the Seregno Auditorium listened in awe to the Shark's story of turning professional, his first races with Fassa Bortolo and then Liquigas, the first results and great victories. It's impossible to list all of Nibali's successes, a task very difficult to accomplish in one evening, so the Shark decided to focus on some moments like the cobblestone stage at the 2014 Tour, a terrible day but fundamental for the final success, and the epic Risoul stage in the snow in 2016 when he won his second Giro. "I think the 2016 Giro was one of the greatest challenges I faced, I didn't start very well, I was suffering from allergies and everyone thought I was done for. I was very angry because everyone said I should retire, I was fourth in the standings and under no circumstances would I retire. Then the mountains came, we started climbing and something changed, the allergy went away and we managed to build a beautiful team victory. It was all amazing, I had extraordinary teammates, we had the strength to turn the situation around." A great opportunity for redemption for the Messina native, who then took the chance to remember Michele Scarponi, a dear friend and teammate who was fundamental in the 2016 Giro. "Michele was extraordinary, he was already a great champion and then he came to Astana to help me, he completely put himself at my service helping me win many races. I remember one day he was at the front of the group pulling and on a descent he hit a spectator, he returned to the front shortly after, laughing and joking, saying he had sorted everything out. That was him, a unique person who lifted spirits and created a beautiful team atmosphere, something that perhaps doesn't happen anymore today."

Vincenzo Nibali opened up in a long conversation, revealing anecdotes, personal stories, and some insider information. Among teammates and rivals, Nibali revealed his most fearsome opponents like Christopher Froome, especially strong with the Sky team, and in particular the Pistolero Alberto Contador, an incredible athlete who was practically always impossible to challenge. They discussed group dynamics, an athlete's preparation, meals from breakfast to dinner, and the various injuries that are part of the job, but often the cause is something else entirely. Such was the case of the terrible fall during the 2018 Tour when a fan invaded the road causing a serious crash. "Because of that fall, I fractured my tenth thoracic vertebra, a terrible injury, perhaps one of the worst of my career. They had given me a stop of at least 6 months, but I immediately got to work, had surgery and a month and a half later I was already racing, the strength to restart was stronger," Vincenzo said - "accidents can happen in racing, but in this case it wasn't just fate, I ended up on the ground because a fan had invaded the road and never apologized to me, and it's precisely this that still hurts me today."

During the long conversation, there was often talk of young people, of a changed cycling, of increasingly large investments, but above all of an Italian movement often branded as being in total crisis. Nibali, who has been working closely with the Professional Cycling League since the beginning of the year, provided an overview of the Italian situation. "I like today's cycling, I can say I've seen the old and then lived through mine which was a bit of a watershed. It's beautiful and exciting cycling, but unfortunately there are only ever 5 athletes sharing the victories, it's exciting on TV, especially for fans, but if I look with an entrepreneur's eyes, we risk killing everything. In Italy, it's necessary to restart from youth cycling, invest, create new infrastructure and for this I believe not bidding to host the Olympics in Rome was a big mistake, it would have allowed the entire Italian territory to activate around sports including cycling. Now everything has become globalized and costs have skyrocketed, in Italy we had 15 high-level teams, now it's no longer possible. Now World Tour teams are all state teams, like UAE or Bahrain or Astana, or they are supported by large companies and magnates. Despite this, it remains a popular sport, it's the only one that doesn't require an entrance ticket, a fan can meet their champion simply by waiting under the team bus and I think that's beautiful."

It was an intense evening that ranged from memories of the first pedal strokes to contemporary cycling, we have heard Vincenzo Nibali's stories many times yet there's always a different angle. As he himself confirms at the end of the evening, it's like each time is a new journey where new details and memories that were often set aside emerge. Our conversation with Vincenzo was then broader, ranging from the 2025 Giro to concrete interventions for our cycling, which you can listen to starting Monday, June 9th in the new episode of bla bla bike.

During the cycling-themed meeting, the municipal administration with Mayor Alberto Rossi paid a special tribute to Giacinto Santambrogio, a professional from 1969 to 1979 and winner of two Giro stages, two Tour stages, a great athlete who brought prestige to the city of Seregno.