{"id":289389,"date":"2025-11-29T08:29:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-29T08:29:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/289389\/"},"modified":"2025-11-29T08:29:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T08:29:09","slug":"retiring-european-champion-outlines-his-biggest-regret","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/289389\/","title":{"rendered":"Retiring European champion outlines his biggest regret"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Nizzolo’s trophy room also features two Italian national jerseys, won in 2016 and 2020. The latter just a few days before his continental success: “The Italian Championship has always held a special place in my heart,” commented the now former rider from Brianza. “Then, if you have to weigh victories, the European Championship probably holds more weight. I, however, couldn’t choose.”<\/p>\n

Proof of character<\/p>\n

The national titles might not be as highly valued internationally, but for Nizzolo those are the proof of his personal growth. Starting off as a pure sprinter, his victories on the lumpy roads in Italy didn’t come without a lot of hard work.<\/p>\n

“In Cittadella (2020), it was a great challenge to hold on for the entire course, due to the many times we faced the Rosina; then, in the finale, I managed my sprint. In Boario Terme (2016), the victory was a surprise for me, given that I arrived alongside Gianluca Brambilla, who had completely different characteristics than me. It was a great satisfaction.”<\/p>\n

\"Giacomo<\/p>\n

Giacomo Nizzolo in the European champion’s jersey<\/p>\n

Nizzolo also recalls the 2016 World Championships in Doha, where he finished in fifth place: “Yes, I sprinted with too high a gear, but I still got there and fought for it,” said the rider from Besana. “Whoever won (Peter Sagan\u00a0\u2013 ed.) deserved to do so, and\u00a0Mark Cavendish\u00a0and\u00a0Tom Boonen\u00a0also made it to the podium. I would have signed for a fifth-place finish at the start. It was a hellish day in terms of the heat, but I remember it fondly.”<\/p>\n

The rainbow race returns to Middle East in less than three years, but whether it’ll be sprinters on the fore again is in the stars. “The 2028 World Championships in Abu Dhabi? I wish Jonathan Milan\u00a0a great day there,\u00a0hoping they don\u2019t actually put that mountain on the course\u2026<\/a>“<\/p>\n

“Sprinters now know they have to endure tough courses to be able to compete in the sprints. When I joined the amateur ranks, I had to shed the reputation of being a rider suited to completely flat races, and the Italian Championships in Boario Terme was the first demonstration that I could handle even slightly more hilly courses.”<\/p>\n

The only regret<\/p>\n

“The dream that remains? The Milano-Sanremo,” Nizzolo replies without having to think too long. The “sprinters Monument” was never quite built for Nizzolo, but he still managed to arrive 5th in 2020, not too far off a victory. “It was the race of my dreams, but in recent years it has become increasingly out of reach\u00a0due to champions who have made it a completely different race from the past.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Nizzolo’s trophy room also features two Italian national jerseys, won in 2016 and 2020. The latter just…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":289390,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,117288,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-289389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-giacomo-nizzolo","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=289389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289389\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/289390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=289389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=289389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=289389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}