Guest of honor on "Velocità", the show created by Luciano Rabottini and hosted by Jacopo Forcella (Rete 8, ed.), Giulio Ciccone returned home to his Abruzzo, on that program he followed with rapt passion as a boy. Giulio opened up with his proverbial generosity, answering point by point, question by question. "What grade do I give myself for this season? A solid 8, the result of my consistency", he says. Then he reveals when he started thinking it was time for a change (next year he will wear the Pinarello Q36.5 jersey): "At the Giro d'Italia, the day I lost the pink jersey. That day I understood that perhaps it was time to change". And further: "The fact that Luca (Guercilena) left the team (Lidl-Trek) only accelerated my decision".

And then his dream: "A Monument. Liège and Lombardia are my sweet obsession: of course, if there's Tadej...". And that nagging thought he can't shake: "Stages or general classification in a Grand Tour? I'm all about the classification. The more I can't do it, the more I think about it: I'll try again, even if the plans still need to be made".

Finally, his deep love for his youthful idol, Marco Pantani. "I have the Pirate's sticker on my frame", he recounted, "and this thing was even a point of discussion with the team, which didn't want stickers on the bike. I did everything to keep it. Luigi Veneziano (the Pirate's historic mechanic, ed.) gave it to me a few years ago, before the start of a Tirreno. He gave me that sticker and a Pirate bandana, which I always carry with me in my luggage. For me Marco has always been a source of inspiration. Not for nothing, with my wife Annabruna and Veneziano, last July I went to Cesenatico, to the "Pantani Space", where I donated my jersey: I always draw inspiration from him. The sticker? I'll keep it on the Pinarello too".