In the early days, cycling for me was Italian cycling. I loved Paris-Roubaix, Belgium and the rest, but I had this love affair with the Giro d’Italia because it was the first race I’d been to. To watch it in the Dolomites, it was love at first sight.
It was actually football that had been my way into it. I was a fan of the rubbish team in Turin, Torino, and would flythe early ’90s to watch them play. I was living in Lincoln at the time. My dad had raced bikes and my brother was into it too. One year we combined football with watching the Giro. I loved it. In my late 20s, I bought a bike, as my best mate was into it. I’d always played football, but was struggling with my knees. So, a combination of the Giro, my own riding and the years of Marco Pantani lighting up the sport in Italy… it was an epiphany for me.
