A first time to remember. Giulio Ciccone received the award as best professional last night in Milan, during the Awards Night, from Mario Molteni, president of the Ambrogio Molteni Foundation.

"It was a good season and the fact that I'm here tonight is proof of that. Victories matter, of course, but it's especially the consistency of performance that allows you to stand out in today's cycling, and I believe I've had that consistency. And let me say that I'm very happy because this is my first Oscar, I had never won one even in the youth categories."

And then, receiving the award, the Abruzzo cyclist from Lidl Trek adds: "I confirm that ranking in grand tours will no longer be a priority for me. Sometimes I wasted my best condition chasing certain results, sometimes I was a bit unlucky, but now I've decided to focus more on pursuing stage victories. If I manage to wear the pink jersey, it would be the fulfillment of a dream, after all, even when I wore the yellow jersey, I wasn't at the Tour to rank..."