Bruno Cenghialta, Fabio Baldato, and Gianluca Brambilla, three cyclists from Vicenza who transitioned from bike handlebars to driving team cars without losing their course in professional cycling.

Bruno Cenghialta, 63, has been with Astana for ten years now. Before becoming a sports director with the Kazakh World Tour team, he worked for many other squads. 2026 will be his 26th year as a technical director.

The 'Cenghia' was a top-tier cyclist from 1986 to 1998. He raced with Magniflex, Ariostea, Gewiss Ballan, Batik Dal Monte, and Riso Scotti. The jewel of his palmares is the Castres stage of the 1991 Tour de France. He also won the Coppa Bernocchi and finished second in the 1994 Amstel Gold Race, beaten by Museeuw. After hanging up his bike, he moved to the team car. Today, he is one of ten sports directors in the XDS Astana staff, which has 30 riders and divides its program into three activities. In 2026, Cenghialta will spend about 150 days away from home. The detailed schedule is being finalized, but he will certainly be in the caravan at the Giro d'Italia.

Following the finisseur Cenghialta, sprinter Fabio Baldato began his sports director career, born in 1968, turned professional in 1991 with Del Tongo and retired from cycling in 2008 with Lampre, who immediately incorporated him as a coach. From there, he moved to BMC, where he cut his teeth for eight years, then to CCC for three years, and then for five years at UAE, the stellar team of Emperor Tadej Pogacar and super talent Isaac Del Toro. About ten sports directors are on the roster, the minimum for such a structured World Tour team. Baldato has also planned around 150 days traveling across Europe in 2026, with a more relaxed start: his first commitment will be on February 4th at the Vuelta Valenciana, followed by Andalucia and Paris-Nice. Then he'll be at the Belgian classics up to Paris-Roubaix and the Giro d'Italia. By year's end, he'll have 80 races in his logbook.

As a rider, Fabio Baldato distinguished himself in both stage races and classics: he won four Giro stages, two at the Tour, two at the Vuelta, and much more. He was twice second at the Tour of Flanders, once at Paris-Roubaix, and once at Milan-San Remo. A mine of experience and professional tricks, in short.

The apprentice technical director is Gianluca Brambilla, 38 years old, who spent the last 16 years racing professionally, with a stage win at the Giro and one at the Vuelta as his standout results. At Q36.5, he's already directing those who were his teammates until recently. On October 19th, he completed his last race number at the Veneto Classic (34th), quickly completed his sports director courses in Switzerland, and the team of Tom Pidcock has already brought him on for the first training camp in Spain. His debut as a technical director will be at the Tour of Oman, from February 7th to 11th.

from Il Giornale di Vicenza