Davide Cimolai

Lampre–ISD (2012–2016)

Cimolai joined the Lampre–ISD squad for the 2012 season.^[7] Cimolai made his Grand Tour début at that year's Vuelta a España, where he was the Lampre–ISD team's main sprinter in a climber-stacked squad; he finished inside the top ten of a stage for the first time, when he placed seventh on the second stage.^[8][9] He took his first podium finish with the team at the 2013 Trofeo Platja de Muro, held as part of the Vuelta a Mallorca one-day races, being outsprinted by Leigh Howard and Maarten Wynants.^[10] Towards the end of the season, Cimolai recorded top-five finishes at the Brussels Cycling Classic (fifth) and the Grand Prix de Fourmies (fourth).^[11][12] He recorded one top-ten finish in 2014, finishing seventh at the Vattenfall Cyclassics,^[13] but he was part of Sacha Modolo's sprint train,^[14] when Modolo won two stages at the Three Days of De Panne in the spring.

Cimolai's first two professional wins came in 2015. He won the Trofeo Laigueglia one-day race in February, winning a group sprint of some twenty-five riders in Laigueglia.^[15] A month later, Cimolai took his first victory at UCI World Tour level when he won the fifth stage of Paris–Nice, denying a late solo attack from Thomas De Gendt with a sprint win in Rasteau.^[16] He finished as part of the front group the following week at Milan–San Remo,^[17] in eighth place – recording his best finish at a cycling monument. Cimolai's first win of the 2016 season – and the first win for Lampre–Merida – came during the penultimate stage of March's Volta a Catalunya, winning a bunch sprint into Vilanova i la Geltrú.^[18] He later recorded a second victory,^[19] when he won the second stage of the Tour of Japan in Kyoto.

FDJ (2017–2018)

After five years with Lampre–Merida, Cimolai joined FDJ for the 2017 season to form part of the sprint train for the team's main sprinter, Arnaud Démare.^[19] Cimolai made his first start with the team at Étoile de Bessèges, where he helped Démare win two stages at the race.^[20] Cimolai's first win with the team came at the Volta a Catalunya, where he won the opening stage of the race in Calella, prevailing in the bunch sprint ahead of Nacer Bouhanni.^[21] He ceded the race lead after the following day's team time trial, as FDJ finished more than one-and-a-half minutes behind the Movistar Team.^[22] At the Tour de France, Cimolai was the final lead-out man for Démare in the sprint, as Démare won the fourth stage into Vittel.^[23] The following year, Cimolai's best result – fifth place – came in the road race of the UEC European Road Championships in Glasgow; he was one of two Italian riders that were part of a lead group that formed in the closing stages of the race, and he successfully led out Matteo Trentin in the final sprint for the gold medal.^[24]

Israel Cycling Academy (2019–2021)

Cimolai joined UCI Professional Continental team Israel Cycling Academy for the 2019 season, as part of their sprint setup.^[25] He came close to his first win with the team at March's Tirreno–Adriatico, when he finished second to Julian Alaphilippe on a slightly uphill finish in Jesi.^[26] The following month, Cimolai ultimately took his first wins with the team at the Vuelta a Castilla y León; he won each of the first two stages of the race – the first of which after Carlos Barbero was relegated – and finished eighth on the final stage, as he won the general classification ahead of teammate Guillaume Boivin.^[27][28][29] After a fourth-place finish at the Eschborn–Frankfurt one-day race,^[30] Cimolai made his début at the Giro d'Italia, but his best stage result was fifth place.^[31] He then won the fourth stage of the Tour de Wallonie into Verviers in July,^[32] before recording eight top-five sprint finish results across the Tour Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle-Aquitaine (two) and the Tour of Britain (on six out of the eight stages). He formed part of the Italian team that contested the road race at the UCI Road World Championships in Yorkshire, but failed to finish.^[33]

Cimolai's 2020 season resulted in no top-three placings; he rode the Giro d'Italia for the second year in a row, finishing fifth on the sixth stage into Matera,^[34] while he formed part of the breakaway group on the penultimate stage. At the 2021 Giro d'Italia, Cimolai finished second to Peter Sagan in the points classification, but failed to win any stages – his best results were a pair of second places on stages three (behind Taco van der Hoorn) and seven (behind Caleb Ewan).^[35][36] He also rode the Vuelta a España, but abandoned the race during the eighth stage.

Cofidis and Movistar Team (2022–2025)

Cimolai joined Cofidis for the 2022 season, having signed a two-year contract with the team.^[37] Over those two seasons, he failed to record any top-three results – often being used as a lead-out rider for the team's main sprinter Bryan Coquard^[38] – and his highest one-day placing was a ninth-place finish at the 2023 Paris–Bourges, just behind Coquard.^[39] As a result, Cofidis elected not to renew his contract, and as a consequence, Cimolai was close to retiring from the sport.^[40]

He ultimately joined the Movistar Team for the 2024 season on an initial one-year contract, signing as a lead-out rider for Fernando Gaviria.^[40] Before linking up with Gaviria, Cimolai took two high placings in early-season Spanish races with fourth at the Clàssica Comunitat Valenciana 1969 and sixth at the Trofeo Ses Salines–Felanitx.^[41][42] He finished third on the final stage of Tirreno–Adriatico in March,^[43] before placing second to Caleb Ewan at July's Vuelta a Castilla y León.^[44] Cimolai remained with the team into 2025, as he signed a one-year contract extension in October 2024.^[45] Both Cimolai and Gaviria were winless in 2025, with Cimolai encountering health problems, resulting in hospitalisation and the near-amputation of his arm; he ultimately retired at the end of the season.^[46]

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

More information Grand Tour, Giro d'Italia ...

Grand Tour	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Giro d'Italia	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	130	118	127	135	DNF	134
Tour de France	—	137	163	155	168	152	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Vuelta a España	163	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	DNF	—	146	—

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