Marco Saligari – The Commisar's Report

Behind the wheel
Photo: © Tim Maloney

Marco Saligari was a pro for 12 years, where he earned the nickname “Il Commisario” for his ability to astutely read a race and provide leadership on the road for his team-mates. Since the beginning of this year Marco has been the director of sport for Colnago-Landbouwkrediet, a squad of 23 riders, most of whom are “neoprofessionisti” or young riders. Saligari will be writing a column this year for Cyclingnews.com

Index to Marco Saligari diary entries

Hello friends, my name is Marco Saligari and I’m a former professional cyclist. I had twelve years as a pro, racing practically all over the world, starting in Europe, then in Oceania, Asia and America. After I finished my career in 1998, I was mostly working in an unusual profession as a cycling television commentator for Italian Eurosport.

For the last five months, I’ve come back into pro cycling as the director of sport for a team called Colnago-Landbouwkrediet, a squad of 23 riders, most of whom are “neoprofessionisti” or young riders.

That’s why Cyclingnews has asked me to write a diary this year, since we thought it would be interesting to see how the young riders on Colnago-Landbouwkrediet developed over the year.

Metlushenko wins
Photo: © Sirotti

Our program began in Tuscany, Italy in early February with the 7th Trofeo Costa degli Etruschi in Donoratico which ended with a win from my rider, the ukrainian Metlushenko who had a splendid sprint to beat everyone. That first win was so nice! Above all because it was the first international race in the team’s season, won last year by a major name: Mario Cipollini.

As I’m writing this from my hotel room, after a long and difficult stage of Coppi & Bartali, I have to confess that my mind is already in team car for the stage tomorrow. To have on my team riders like Popovich, winner of the 2001 U23 world championship, well, it’s a big responsibility, because I know myself from experience that is not always easy to move into pro cycling for a winning young athlete.

A Presto

Marco