WOOD HAS DEFINED HIS DESTINY. It’s indeed been at the banking where Manlio Moro from Friuli has cut his teeth and made a name for himself so far, yet it’s also thanks to the material it’s made from that the young Italian talent has built a future when the one on the bike ends. Having finished his studies, specialised in furtniture, he had to choose between entirely focusing on bike racing or starting Architecture studies at university. So far, the bet he made has led him, in 2024, to the highest tier of professional road cycling with the Movistar Team.

AT THE FOREFRONT OF THE TRACK. The ‘azzanese’ -his origins are Azzano Decimo, a small village in the Pordenone area, northeast of Italy- has taken every possible title on the national scene in youth stage -he went to conquer five Italian championships at the 2021 events- and shone brightly on the world stage over the last few years: two vice world titles in the Team Pursuit with the ‘azzurro’ jersey (at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, 2022, and Glasgow, 2023), the 2023 European title in Grenchen (Suiza) and a medal at the U23 Euros.

THE DREAM OF PARIS – AND BEYOND! Part, for the last three seasons, of the most decorated squad in the demanding Italian amateur calendar, Zalf Euromobil Fior, he has built a reputation as what it’s called ‘passista veloce’ in Italy: someone who, while not being a climber by any means -more than 80kg-, he gets through certain kinds of ascents with agility, is a fantastic rouleur and can win sprints into small fields. His explosivity, taken care of on the track alongside the likes of Ganna, Milan, Lamon or Consonni, has opened him the doors of the Olympic dream in Paris 2024; his consistency, on the other hand, allows him dreaming of a good future both on the flat and in the Northern classics. It will be a pleasure to see at the Movistar Team how those ambtions become reality.