A new era of representation
From his breakthrough Giro d’Italia stage win to his consistent WorldTour presence with Intermarché and standout Green Jersey win at the 2024 Tour de France, Girmay’s influence has extended well beyond the finish line. Carera sees in him a bridge between continents — a rider whose success expands the sport’s boundaries and challenges its old centre of gravity.
“He’s opened a road that others will now follow,” Carera said. “Cycling is realising that its growth depends on inclusion and on telling stories that reach everywhere, not just Europe.”
Behind those remarks lies a shift Carera has watched unfold across decades of managing stars from Vincenzo Nibali to Pogacar. The globalisation of the peloton, he argues, demands a more diverse and imaginative approach from teams and sponsors alike. “The market is becoming more like football,” he noted, “with longer contracts, greater pressures and more complex negotiations — but also far greater opportunity.”
The next generation: Isaac Del ToroIf Girmay embodies the sport’s new global reach, Mexico’s Isaac Del Toro represents its next frontier. The UAE Team Emirates- XRG prospect, who came within a stage of Giro d’Italia victory earlier this year, has impressed Carera not only with talent but with maturity.
“He’s pure talent, but also intelligence,” said the agent. “He has something very special. He belongs to this new generation that understands a cycling career isn’t measured only by immediate victories. You have to protect development, plan wisely, and not let fame burn you too early. His ceiling is high, but his time will come.”
Carera believes Del Toro embodies a mindset increasingly vital to the sport’s future — patience and planning over instant glory. It’s a lesson, he says, that even established champions still live by. “To have a great season, you need a great winter — train, rest, recover physically and mentally. Without that, there’s no miracle.”
Building futures, not just contracts
For all his reputation as one of cycling’s toughest negotiators, Carera’s outlook remains grounded in simplicity. “My job isn’t to make them earn more, it’s to make them happy,” he reflected. “Sometimes you have to accept earning a little less to live better. Having 50 or 51 million in the bank doesn’t change anything — what matters is being at peace with yourself.”
That philosophy runs through everything he touches — from Pogacar’s carefully balanced calendar to the way he views new markets like Africa and Latin America. For Carera, the task isn’t just managing athletes, but nurturing symbols of progress. “When I see a rider like Girmay, or a talent like Del Toro, I see more than cyclists — I see what they mean for the sport’s future,” he said. “Cycling needed that diversity, that freshness, that sense of possibility.”
And with both Girmay and Del Toro still only at the relative beginning of their respective journeys, Carera’s words feel prophetic. Cycling’s geography is changing — and its future, it seems, speaks with far more accents than ever before.