Q 01/05

Damiano Cunego's 2004 Giro d'Italia and Giro di Lombardia wins made a same-year double last done in 1972 by whom?

A) Bernard Hinault

B) Felice Gimondi

C) Eddy Merckx

D) Francesco Moser

Answer · why

C) Eddy Merckx

Eddy Merckx had been the last rider to win Italy's Grand Tour and its autumn monument in one season. Cunego was only 23 when he matched him.

Q 02/05

Which team captain and defending champion did Damiano Cunego upstage to win the 2004 Giro d'Italia?

A) Gilberto Simoni

B) Stefano Garzelli

C) Paolo Savoldelli

D) Francesco Casagrande

Answer · why

A) Gilberto Simoni

Gilberto Simoni finished third behind his own helper. He was furious when the 22-year-old sprinted past him to win stage 18.

Q 03/05

Which nickname did Italian fans give Damiano Cunego, winner of the 2004 Giro d'Italia?

A) The Pirate

B) The Little Prince

C) The Shark

D) The Cricket

Answer · why

B) The Little Prince

The Little Prince, Il Piccolo Principe in Italian, nods to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's boy hero. It stuck because Cunego was seen as one of cycling's g...

Q 04/05

Damiano Cunego won the Giro di Lombardia three times; by which poetic nickname is that Italian monument known?

A) The Hell of the North

B) The Race of the Two Seas

C) The Race to the Sun

D) The Race of the Falling Leaves

Answer · why

D) The Race of the Falling Leaves

Race of the Falling Leaves is the name it earns as one of the last classics of the year. Cunego's three wins came in 2004, 2007 and 2008.

Q 05/05

Before taking up cycling as a teenager, Damiano Cunego was a successful schoolboy in which other sport?

A) Cross-country running

B) Cross-country skiing

C) Long-distance swimming

D) Speed skating

Answer · why

A) Cross-country running

Cross-country running won Cunego a regional schools title before he switched to the bike at 15. He then won 14 races in his first season of cycling.