He has never lost the affection of his fans, and it's been 35 years since he dueled with Indurain and Bugno at the Giro and Tour. Claudio Chiappucci is still in top form, touring Italy and Europe with mountain bikes, events, races, even the Giro-E with e-bikes. And on all matters of current cycling, the Diablo has his strong and incisive opinion.

What kind of season has it been?
"I saw the dominance of the big World Tour teams, particularly UAE Emirates XRG: it was Pogacar's team's year. I don't know if they'll be able to confirm themselves, it's difficult to repeat such results, but the team left everyone speechless with what they collected on all terrains, on all routes, with some new riders too. They did something that hadn't been seen for years and years. Going beyond these results, I believe, is truly complicated and difficult."

What surprised you the most?
"The ease with which they do things. They absolutely dominate when they're present. Even with a rider you don't expect, because Del Toro, honestly, who would have expected him to be at such high levels this year?"

And what do you expect from Del Toro in 2026?
"Confirmation. It's the first year we've seen him so brilliantly, but I expect a confirmation of what he showed this year. As they always say, sometimes it's easy to reach the top, often confirmation is difficult, and it remains to be seen if, in these times, that phrase still works."

What other episodes did you like most?
"I remember Van Aert's stage win in Siena at the Giro d'Italia. Van Aert was a bit less impressive than in previous years, that's true. He also had various issues, I often see him injured. I want to see now if for him this was such a year, a bit dark: we were used to seeing him brilliant in sprints, brilliant on climbs, brilliant in time trials, brilliant on all terrains. This year that wasn't quite the case."

But if you had to think of a beautiful image from 2025 to put on a postcard, what would it be?
"It doesn't matter if it's beautiful. No, it's the image I saw at the Giro on the Colle delle Finestre. It's something that in modern times is hard to think and imagine, that day something incredible happened. There's Simon Yates winning the Giro, the other two looking at each other: either they were fighting, or they had nothing left, or who knows what else was happening, but they gave a free pass on the last day to a rider who isn't from the last tier, but certainly no one could expect Yates to be the Giro winner. Let's say this 2025 gave us several surprising images, because I also remember the Tour of Flanders, when Van Aert's Visma was clearly ahead with three men and then they lost. But the Giro d'Italia is in front of everyone's eyes, especially at the end when everyone was saying 'well, Del Toro has won' and instead he threw away a victory within his reach."

Do you think Carapaz also made a mistake?
"Carapaz is an experienced rider, an intelligent rider, but not stupid. If he behaved like that, probably something happened. We only see it from the outside, we don't really know what happens in the race."

Let's move to a more current topic: all three Grand Tours have finally been presented, including the Vuelta.
"Look, now Giro, Tour, and Vuelta are increasingly adding important stages, climbing stages, challenging stages, impossible stages. This is the trend I've seen. In our time there was more unpredictability, but today on such tough routes I don't see surprises emerging, they seem very one-sided Tours to me."

Evenepoel gave up coming to the Giro despite 40 kilometers of time trial: do you think he was right to focus everything on the Tour and the classics?
"He didn't do well, he would have been better starting with the Giro, which was within his reach. On paper, the Tour is less suitable for him: either he's extremely sure with the team and riders he has, otherwise I see it as tough, in the sense that I haven't seen him among the strongest on important climbs, and therefore he'll hardly do something in the mountain time trial."

We won't have Remco, but Vingegaard will come to the Giro: what do you think?
"Let's say the team neither confirmed nor denied the news. Vingegaard is coming to the Giro because he's afraid he can't win a Tour where Pogacar is superior to him and he knows he can do nothing. So he's targeting the Giro because he's never raced it, the route is challenging, and by winning he would enter that small elite of riders who have won all three grand tours. But he can't then go to the Tour and say, 'ah well, I've won the Giro, so what do I care about the Tour'."

That's somewhat what Evenepoel was supposed to do, then.
"I tell Evenepoel: come to the Giro and win it, gain morale and prepare better for the Tour. Red Bull-Bora made a great investment in Evenepoel, and throwing him immediately into a Tour where, in my opinion, it's impossible for him to do great things... You saw his last Tour. No, Lipowitz did very well because a third place is still significant, but I see these riders more as support, they can't challenge the great leaders like Vingegaard, Evenepoel, or Pogacar. They're still behind these, in modern times it's impossible to think they'll make a difference one day or another."

Instead, which rider do you particularly like and why?
"Well, I've always liked Carapaz. Now I see him a bit disarmed too, I don't see the Carapaz of the past, but I like these attacking riders who exist, who try, who are never defeated, and who resemble me. It's too easy to bet on a rider who consistently wins, right? I kept Carapaz in consideration precisely for this, because all in all he resembles me. Of course, he's no longer at the forefront with the greats, but he never gives up, he's one who attacks, who tries and tries again, and then he has an enviable record. He's unpredictable, he can end up doing anything, even winning the Olympic gold when no one considered him among the favorites. That's the beauty: it's easy to always be among the favorites and say I'm betting on the one who always wins. It's nice to seek out riders who can give you what you don't expect."