Promoted from the Development team, at 21 years old he made his debut alongside Van Aert in a demanding Classic like the Strade Bianche. Pietro Mattio, from Cuneo and riding for Visma-Lease a Bike, is satisfied with his day: he finished 92nd at 21'14" from Pogacar, but his performance was far from anonymous, and the results he's achieved in recent weeks bode well for this young rider's future.

"Well, it's tough, this race is really tough, and the gravel too... Here you have to race hard all the time. When you're in a race like this you know you need to be super careful and go very hard on the climbs. After 70 km I had to swap bikes with Jorgenson, Matteo got a puncture and fortunately I was right behind him and gave him mine. While I was handing it to him, I also slipped and from there it was just chasing, I never saw the front of the race again, but I did my job".

Pietro Mattio is learning to race with the world's best riders in a team full of talent. We also saw him give his bike to Van Aert last week, who had punctured, but on that occasion the swap didn't work out because the Belgian is too tall.

The Piedmont native has had a positive start to the season, while in 2025 we saw him finish fifth at the U23 Roubaix and today he is undoubtedly one of the most promising Italian talents: he has often received compliments from his teammates.

"I think I'm doing well in the team: we'll see where I can get to, but for now I can say I'm happy with my performance". The Cuneo rider races for one of the most important teams and, aware of this, feels like a fortunate young man and wants to repay Visma-Lease a Bike for the trust they've given him. Pietro Mattio is young and still needs to understand his characteristics as a rider, but he certainly has his preferences and the Tuscan race is one of his favorites. "Certainly the road is still long and I'll try to gain as much experience as possible and then we'll see. I really enjoyed Strade Bianche, I had a bit of bad luck, but I think Paris-Roubaix, the Northern Classics and this race too are suited to me".