The shock was on the face of Thomas Champion and within the voices of the Eurosport commentators when Matthew Riccitello got here sprinting up the ultimate metres of the Giro d’Italia’s stage 20 time trial.
Riccitello obliterated the quickest time set by the Frenchman, going practically two minutes faster. After all, the efficiency of the 21-year-old – the youngest rider within the Giro – was rapidly overshadowed by the nail-biting battle between Primož Roglič and Geraint Thomas. The American would finally be eleventh place however his exceptional experience left everybody questioning the place this younger American got here from.
Cyclingnews spoke to him a couple of days after the race to search out out.
A precocious begin
Matthew Riccitello was on the USA crew with junior world champion Quinn Simmons in 2019
The outcomes present that Riccitello made a speedy rise from being a precocious teenager clipping off in a breakaway on one of many nation’s quickest group rides to signing his first WorldTour contract with Israel-Premier Tech and making his Grand Tour debut.
The son of knowledgeable triathlete, he dabbled in all three sports activities however biking is the one which caught.
“I do not actually bear in mind what made me need to begin street biking – however as soon as I began I appreciated it greater than all the pieces else and stored doing it,” Riccitello remembers.
Racing for the native membership El Grupo, Riccitello began out within the 13-14 age group however rapidly started competing with adults as a class 4, scoring prime 10s in stage races just like the Tucson Bicycle Traditional, San Dimas Stage Race and Tour of the Gila.
The following yr he claimed his first stage race victories within the Valley of the Solar and San Dimas Stage Race and his first nationwide championship title within the time trial, all within the 15-16 age group in 2017.
Across the identical time, he began leaping into The Shootout, a weekly group experience in Riccitello’s hometown of Tucson, Arizona. The Shootout is notorious for being one of many quickest and best group rides within the nation and one that’s visited by many WorldTour professionals who come to town’s honest local weather for winter coaching.
Sooner or later throughout The Shootout, he made the breakaway with Michael Woods, who was racing with the Cannondale crew on the time, and it kicked off a exceptional string of occasions that vaulted him first onto the USA Biking nationwide crew, Axel Merckx’s Hagens Berman Axeon squad and now the WorldTour.
“I suppose he was impressed by me and talked about my title to his coach [Paulo Saldanha – currently Israel-Premier Tech performance manager -ed],” Riccitello explains to Cyclingnews. “I feel his coach knew the final title simply because he was a triathlete and knew my dad a bit. So he reached out – they’ve had a watch on me from early on.”
A expertise to observe, Riccitello was profitable class 3 grownup races by age 16 together with crushing the competitors in Tour of the Gila. He raced the Junior Tour of Eire with the nationwide crew with Lux/Specialised and after taking silver within the nationwide championship time trial to Magnus Sheffield, then joined the nationwide crew.
In 2019 Riccitello raced a full summer time with the nationwide crew, gaining worthwhile expertise in stage races. An general podium within the Tour de l’Abitibi and prime 10s in two Swiss stage races earned him his first choice for the World Championships, the place he was a part of the crew behind Quinn Simmons‘ victory in Yorkshire.
“That was most likely one of many coolest moments thus far I’ve had in bike racing – simply being part of a crew that wins a world championship, even only a Junior World Championship, it was actually cool. The way in which the crew obtained round Quinn – we knew was the favorite on paper and that if we rode in assist of him as a crew – which is fairly uncommon for juniors – that he would have a extremely good shot at profitable the race. Everyone on the crew was simply excited by that. The way in which we rode after which to have Quinn profitable, in the long run, it was only a actually cool expertise.”
Pandemic interruption
Riccitello’s outcomes that yr additionally caught the attention of Axel Merckx and fairly fortuitously, they agreed that he would be a part of the crew for his first yr out of the juniors
“That was earlier than COVID began – earlier than my second yr as a junior, in order that complete yr the place there was no racing,” he says. “I did not must stress about discovering a crew for the next yr, which ended up figuring out very well for me.”
He had already deliberate to graduate from highschool early in 2020 so he may go to Europe for a full season in his last yr as a junior and once more – the choice proved fruitful.
He jumped into the professional males’s discipline at Valley of the Solar and completed on the general podium behind Sheffield and Tyler Williams (L3GION), then topped Sheffield and Michael Garrison in a professional males’s time trial in Georgia. It proved his expertise but once more however COVID shut the entire season down.
“That complete yr they stated the World Championships would possibly nonetheless occur [despite the entire junior calendar’s cancellation] – so I simply stored coaching. It helped me keep motivated,” Riccitello stated.
“I might have achieved all of the coaching regardless, simply because I like using my bike and coaching. I loved simply using that yr, not doing college, and never travelling an excessive amount of – it was truly fairly good.”
In 2021, he began again with Hagens Berman Axeon and lived the dream in Europe, diving into the deep finish at Volta ao Algarve earlier than beginning the Giro Subsequent Gen or “Child Giro”.
His first brush with Italy did not go so effectively.
“Within the Child Giro, I had a abdomen bug – Campylobacter. I feel I obtained it from consuming water from a fountain in Girona that I positively should not have drank from.
“I confirmed up already not feeling too effectively and thought possibly it will get higher rapidly however I did one stage and felt utterly empty and that simply obtained worse from there.”
That season was a stable base for 2022, the place an general victory within the Istrian Spring Trophy in Croatia set the stage for his debut as a trainee for Israel-Premier Tech. The outcomes did not inform the entire story – he obtained sick once more in the course of the Giro Subsequent Gen and helped teammate Leo Hayter to the general win.
Extra worthwhile expertise got here on the Vuelta a Burgos – his trainee debut with Israel-Premier Tech – and Tour de l’Avenir. All of which arrange his exceptional experience within the Giro d’Italia time trial.
The recent seat
Matthew Riccitello received the very best younger rider’s classification on the 2023 Vuelta a San Juan and completed ninth general – the identical end result Remco Evenepoel had in his debut yr within the WorldTour
Riccitello’s debut within the WorldTour on the Vuelta a San Juan went higher than anybody anticipated. He completed ninth general behind winner Miguel Angel Lopez and received the very best younger rider classification – the very same end result that Remco Evenepoel scored in his WorldTour debut in 2019.
Then, he completed the UAE Tour, Volta a Catalunya and Tour of the Alps – the place he had a stable experience in eighth on the foremost summit finale on the Passo di San Valentino.
He says he had no Grand Excursions on his plan in the beginning of the yr however the crew determined he was prepared for the Giro d’Italia.
“They informed me in March that it was a risk that I might do the Giro. And once I considered it, I stated I wished to do it. After they informed me that I might get to do it, it was a little bit of a shock. However in the long run, it turned out to be a extremely good alternative and a great studying expertise. When you had informed me earlier than the race, that there are going to be that many days of rain, I possibly would have been a bit much less excited, but it surely’s nonetheless now wanting again on the race. I am actually glad I obtained to do it.”
Like many of the peloton, Riccitello was sick in the course of the race – in his case, twice. He confirmed his climbing expertise modestly on stage 4 on the summit end at Lago Laceno, ending close to the entrance of the group with the entire favourites. Nonetheless, he caught a chilly two days later, obtained higher, after which fell unwell once more within the third week.
On the day of the stage 20 time trial, Riccitello was sitting in 57th place general and within the second wave of riders. Thomas Champion (Cofidis) had set the quickest time as Riccitello made his means up the climb to Monte Lussari. The tv cameras had utterly ignored him after an unremarkable intermediate test however quickly zoomed in on him within the last 500 metres as he wowed the commentators. He had set the quickest time by practically two minutes – even Champion’s jaw dropped in amazement.
Riccitello completed with the eleventh greatest time on stage 20 of the Giro
“I knew the place I used to be beginning and made it a objective to be on the new seat,” Riccitello stated. “I believed there was a great probability that I may do it. After I completed I used to be excited to be on the new seat, however I did not actually know the way my time would stack up towards the remainder of the GC guys.
“I believed possibly I misplaced a bit an excessive amount of time on the flat half to actually be the too far up. As soon as I noticed Jay Vine’s time, I imply, he went three seconds sooner than me. However I knew he went arduous and I knew then that the time can be fairly good.
“I used to be fairly happy with the end result. I did not really feel like I had gotten a great probability to actually put in a great experience, so it was only a good feeling.
“I used to be in a great place and wished to do a extremely good time – however I additionally did not must stress about shedding a spot or gaining a spot on the overall classification – I simply wished to place in a great effort on the final day of the race, and I wasn’t too, too confused. Going into it, I used to be simply extra excited.”
There may be much more to be careful for on this 21-year-old American. His subsequent problem highlights his climbing prowess – he opted to race the Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Problem on June 13 slightly than head dwelling for the US Professional Nationwide Championships. He’ll rejoin the nationwide crew in August for the Tour de l’Avenir however the the rest of his season remains to be to be determined.
If there may be one factor he is discovered from his time in Europe, it is to not drink from random fountains on the aspect of the street.
“I will not make that mistake once more.”
