Alessio Magagnotti is one of the most promising young talents in the Italian cycling movement and already in these first months of racing he is confirming the numbers he showed in the junior category that could become something truly great. In 2026 he began his adventure with Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe Rookies, he entered professional cycling with new distances, new paces, undoubtedly lots of pressure but he proved to be far from unprepared. In Spain, at his first professional race, he grabbed third place at the Trofeo Palma won by his teammate and just over a month later he made his mark in Croatia in one of the stages of the Istrian Spring Tour.

«When I arrived at the Red Bull Bora development team I felt really good, they welcomed me greatly and the entire staff immediately tried to find the best program for me. In Spain at my first race it was wonderful, I knew the course suited my characteristics very well, but in the team there was also Arne Marit who found himself in the right place at the right time and certainly has much more experience than me. I was coming from the junior category where things are very different, I was definitely missing something, but I tried to learn right away. The team gives us the opportunity to train alongside the World Tour team and this helps you find a racing rhythm that under-23 races alone cannot provide and this often makes the difference. In Croatia I tried to benefit from that experience and I'm happy I won» explains Magagnotti, who is meanwhile facing one of the biggest changes of his young career. The emotion has been great since joining the team, we talk about a development squad, but the structure is that of the World Tour, the training camps were together and there's the possibility of racing with the first team as happened in Spain and recently at Coppi e Bartali.

If last year Alessio dreamed of being able to start his career in professional cycling, now he finds himself in a gigantic reality where he has the chance to compete with those champions he only admired on TV. After his third place at the Trofeo Palma, Remco Evenepoel was one of the first to congratulate him, but he certainly wasn't the only one. If in the first weeks with the team there was the language barrier, once that was overcome he integrated perfectly into the workings of a top-level squad. «Initially I was a bit disoriented, I arrived in a new environment and didn't have much familiarity with the foreign language, but now I believe I've integrated well into the group and I think that's the most important thing. With the other Italians, even from the World Tour, there's already an excellent relationship, I talk a lot with Giulio Pellizzari and Giovanni Aleotti who are giving me excellent advice but especially with Danny Van Poppel who is a rider with great experience and with characteristics very similar to mine – Magagnotti continues – at Red Bull Bora there's a gigantic organization, but what surprised me most is the fact that in the end everyone is very helpful. Looking at it from the outside it seems like a very closed environment, but everyone is always ready to help you, even Remco Evenepoel is very approachable, I've always seen him on TV and it still seems surreal to me to have done a training camp with him or to have received his compliments.»

But how far can Alessio Magagnotti go? He asks himself this question admitting that he still doesn't know what will actually await him; his journey has just begun yet the dream of becoming a classics rider and leaving his mark in the legendary races of the north is already strong. Compared to last year the workload has increased, but the desire to improve and the determination to find his own path haven't changed. «I'm trying to discover myself little by little, but I don't have too much pressure, even in the team they know I'm only at the beginning and that I need time. If I had to choose a rider as a model I would say Mads Pedersen, I would like to be able to resemble him because he's fast, but above all he's a classics rider. My dream is to start in the northern classics, and who knows maybe one day I'll manage to win them. This year I'll be at the start of the under-23 version of Paris-Roubaix and personally I can't wait to race it; I hope everything goes smoothly though because in races like this a small mistake is enough to be left out and see your dreams shattered.» concludes Alessio who will be at the start of Paris-Roubaix Espoirs and Gent-Wevelgem under-23.

Meanwhile among the entries for the Schildreprijs, although not yet official, the name of Alessio Magagnotti has appeared, the race is perfectly suited to his characteristics.