Domenico Pozzovivo

Domenico Pozzovivo

Pozzovivo at the 2012 Tour de Pologne
Personal information
Full name	Domenico Pozzovivo
Born	(1982-11-30) November 30, 1982 Policoro, Italy
Height	1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)[1]
Weight	53 kg (117 lb; 8.3 st)[1]
Team information
Current team	Ag2r-La Mondiale
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Climber
Professional team(s)
2005–2012 2013–	Ceramica Panaria-Navigare Ag2r-La Mondiale
Major wins
Grand Tours Giro d'Italia 1 individual stage (2012) Stage races Giro del Trentino (2012)
Infobox last updated on 26 January 2014

Domenico Pozzovivo (born 30 November 1982) is an Italian professional road racing cyclist for UCI ProTeam Ag2r-La Mondiale.^[2] His very small stature confer him with the qualities of a pure climbing specialist. He is most known for a victory in stage 8 of the 2012 Giro d'Italia, an overall victory in the 2012 Giro del Trentino, and is notable for his high education.^[3]

Personal life

Pozzovivo has a degree in economics and wrote a thesis entitled "Southern politics from the unity of Italy up to now". His high education has earned him the nickname "Dr. Pozzovivo" in the peloton. He stated that his fields of interest outside cycling are history, technology, economics, politics and weather forecasting.^[3] He also speaks French fluently^[4] and stated that a jump into politics would interest him after his cycling career.

Career

In 2008, Pozzovivo finished on the third step of the podium of the Giro del Trentino, which had a race categorization of 2.1. The first place went to Vincenzo Nibali of Liquigas while Stefano Garzelli from the Acqua & Sapone-Caffè Mokambo took the second place.^[5] He then participated in his third Giro d'Italia. While he was not considered a favorite for the overall rankings prior to the race,^[6] he managed to finish in ninth position of the general classification.^[7] He notably took the second position on the fifteenth stage,^[8] a mountain affair finishing atop the Category 1 Passo Fedaia, which was featured for the first time in Giro history. He was bested only by his team-mate Emanuele Sella, who eventually tested positive for the blood booster MIRCERA and was later disqualified.^[9]

2009

In 2009, Pozzovivo took the fifth stage of the Settimana Ciclistica Lombarda, his first major victory since 2004.^[10] He also finished second in the general classification of the mountainous Brixia Tour, more than a minute behind the winner Giampaolo Caruso.^[11] He placed in the top ten of three stages in that race, including third on the second stage, three second in arrears of Leonardo Bertagnolli.^[12]

2010

The 2010 season saw Pozzovivo take a great stage victory in the Giro del Trentino, on the fourth trial of the Tour, where he edged a surging from behind Riccardo Riccò of Ceramica Flaminia by 3 seconds.^[13] Pozzovivo finally took the third place overall, with the Kazakh Alexander Vinokourov of Astana taking the top honors.^[14] Pozzovivo came in second place of the 2.1 categorized Giro dell'Appennino, where he attacked on the daunting Passo della Bocchetta, with only Robert Kiserlovski being able to follow him and crest the climb with him. The pair collaborated well to the finish, where Pozzovivo was bested by the Liquigas-Doimo man in the sprint, therefore taking second place.^[15] In July, the diminutive Pozzovivo won the Brixia Tour, bagging two mountain stages in the process.^[16] He prevailed in the overall classification of the five stage race by a margin of one minute and fifty seconds over Team Sky's Morris Possoni.^[17]

2012

In 2012, Pozzovivo won the prestigious Giro del Trentino. He was victorious in stage 3 of that race, which led the riders from Pergine to Brenzone, finishing after a steep climb, the Punta Veleno. Team cars were not allowed on that climb since it was very steep and the tarmac was inappropriate. Motorbikes were the only resource available for riders suffering a mechanical problem.^[18] The victory on that hard stage granted him the leader's jersey, which he managed to hold on to the following day on the fourth and final stage, which was disputed in snowy weather conditions. He finished that stage in third position. He also won the Mountains classification jersey.^[19]

Later that year, he sailed to victory in stage 8 of the Giro d'Italia, attacking on the slopes of the Colle Molella, 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) away from the finish. His nearest pursuant, Spaniard Benat Intxausti of Movistar Team, completed the stage with a 23 seconds deficit on Pozzovivo.^[20] He finished the Giro eighth overall, being always very competitive in the mountain stages. In June, Pozzovivo prevailed in the queen stage of the 2.1 rated Tour of Slovenia, a 219 kilometres (136 mi) course peppered with climbs. Pozzovivo broke away with Janez Brajkovič of Astana and somewhat surprisingly, beat Brajkovič in the sprint.^[21] With that operation, he took the overall classification leader's jersey thanks to a six second lead over Brajkovič, but lost it the next day in the individual time trial, where Brajkovič bested him by ten seconds. Pozzovivo had to settle for the second place of the Tour.^[22]

In the fall, Pozzovivo took part in the Italian Classic Giro dell'Emillia and launched an attack in the steepest part of the final climb, while he was part of a small leading group of three riders. Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team) resisted in his wheel to place an attack of his own, which would prove to be the decisive move as the Colombian sailed to victory. Pozzovivo was passed by two competitors in the final meters and took the fourth place.^[23] Days later, Pozzovivo abandoned during the Giro di Lombardia, a race which suited him well in the past. The cold and heavy rain played a part in this outcome, as none of his Colnago team-mates reached the finish line either.^[24]

2013

For the 2013 season, Pozzovivo left Colnago-CSF Bardiani, where he started his professional career back in 2005, and moved to World Tour outfit Ag2r-La Mondiale.^[2] He was looking to repeat his 2012 win in the Giro del Trentino, but he had to withdraw after a crash in stage 3 of the race where he injured his elbow and broke two ribs.^[25]

Palmarès

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Grand Tour	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
Giro	WD	-	17	9	-	WD	WD	8	10
Tour	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Vuelta	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6

WD = Withdrew; IP = In Progress

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Domenico Pozzovivo.

• Domenico Pozzovivo profile at Cycling Archives
• Domenico Pozzovivo's profile on Cycling Base
• Profile at colnago-csf.com