Ex Pro

Daniele Colli

About Daniele Colli

Daniele Colli clinched the Italian championship in both road and time trial as a Junior, competing for Biringhello-Rimor. From 2001 to 2004, he raced in the Amateur Under-23 category with Zalf-Désirée-Fior, securing victories in the Giro del Canavese in 2003 and both the Grand Prix of Liberation and the Alcide De Gasperi Trophy in 2004. Turning professional in 2005 with Liquigas-Bianchi, he nearly won stages at the Tour de Romandie and Tour de Suisse. In 2007, he joined Ceramiche Panaria-Navigare and, after a brief period without a contract in 2008, he signed with the Hungarian Continental team P-Nívó-Betonexpressz 2000 on June 2, achieving his first professional win at the Tour of Szeklerland in Romania. For 2009, he signed with Continental team Carmiooro-A-Style, placing third at the Memorial Cimurri, and in 2010 raced for Ceramica Flaminia. That year ended with a diagnosis of benign knee cancer, which he overcame to shine in 2011 with Geox-TMC, winning the points classification at the Brixia Tour. In 2012, he competed with Team Type 1-Sanofi, a Professional Continental team. After a brief hiatus, he returned to racing in July 2013 with Vini Fantini-Selle Italia.

Head to head

A chat with Daniele Colli

Do you remember the first time on a bike, and how long has it been?

I have a picture with my dad on a one-year-old bicycle, and a beautiful memory of my first race at 7 where I couldn't get my pedal in and I did the whole race crying, it's about the distant 1989

Remember your first racing bike?

My first bike was a Bianchi, obviously very small

What was the job you dreamed of as a child?

As a child I dreamed of one day becoming a professional cyclist

What do your friends say/like/hate about you?

You should ask them :D , jokes aside, I always try to behave well and team up with people, real friends can always really count on me

Do you have a secret passion?

I dedicate my free time to my clothing brand Becyclist, I deal with 360 degrees of business management.

What is your favorite cyclist of all time?

Gianni Bugno. I was fascinated by his class.

What's your favorite place to ride?

Lately in my short free time I train on the cycle path of Villoresi and Naviglio, at least on these routes I do not find the danger of cars.

What was your most beautiful victory?

The Italian junior championship ahead of Cunego

What was your strongest teammate ever?

Riccardo Ricco at Flaminia was really impressive uphill.

You get recognized on the street, and the kids ask you for an autograph?

As long as I was a runner it happened, now of course things have changed, the children are now so awake that they are already asking you for advice