He comes from Cerro Veronese, a little village just below Bosco Chiesanuova, and from an early age he proved that his mother was right when she said "He's not the type for team sports, he's a bit of an individualist.
"He loves to challenge himself". This is why he set aside football and hockey, and this is why he successfully took up first cross-country running and then cycling. He went into cycling late, in 1997 (2nd year of the pupils' category) but in his first season wearing the yellow-blue shirt of the Gaiga-Gore Tex he immediately won no fewer than 14 competitions and achieved second place in the Italian Championships in his category.
His talent dazzled people's eyes and brains as early as 1999, when he won the Junior World Championship at Verona, not far from his own home, reaching the finishing post completely alone and earning a historical triumph for Italy.
After two years in the Under 23 category wearing the Zalf-Euromobil-Fior shirt (and winning, among other things, the classic Bassano-Montegrappa) he signed a contract with Claudio Corti and set out on the path to become a professional.
He appeared as a professional in 2002 with Saeco and his career took off at once. In his first year he won two open contests, the Giro d'Oro and the Giro del Medio Brenta. 2003 also saw two victories, but of a different calibre: a lap and the final classification at the QingHai Tour, a Chinese race in laps that saw the Italian team taking part in a lap race 25 years after the Vuelta '78.
He was only 22 but it was already clear that Damiano was a first-class achiever with lots of basic talent. The Giro d'Italia, in which he took part in 2003, gave him an understanding of what a great race in laps lasting three weeks really means. The gifted Damiano was in no hurry: he came 34th but allowed himself two years to reach a top place. The two years were not necessary because 2004 was a fabulous year for Damiano. He was immediately successful in Spain and then came victory in Italy! He won the Giro del Trentino with two laps, he won the Giro dell'Appennino, he won at the Gp. Larciano and, most importantly, he won the Giro d'Italia with 4 lap victories, donning the pink shirt for days. His pink adventure was crowned by memorable laps such as his arrival at the Santuario di Montevergine where he sprinted ahead of the rest of the group in atypical Saeco uniform, or his perfect tactics at Falzes where he took fire on the last upward slope with his companions Andrea Tonti and Eddy Mazzoleni to arrive alone and snaffle the pink shirt from Yaroslav Popovich of Ukraine. And last but not least, his unforgettable exploit at Boario where he arrived together with his companion Simoni, the Italian Cioni and tough-man Honchar and then cut through the finishing tape with his arms raised in victory.
He is the new man of cycling, the boy who has set the fans on fire like no other.
Only two months after his triumph in Milan he appeared again at the two-day Trofeo Mengoni in Marche and had all
the others (including Ballerini’s Italians) lined up behind him as he achieved his eleventh success of the season.
The 2004 season still wasn’t finished and he left with his Saeco companions for Spain with the aim of refining his
preparation. He took part in the world championships in his native city of Verona and arrived among the best after
attempting an attack on the slope of the Torricelle. This intense 2004 still wasn’t at an end and he made a trip
to the Fair of Las Vegas on the other side of the world. When he came back he put his seal on the race called “The
Classic of the Dead Leaves”: the Giro di Lombardia, where he beat M. Boogert of Holland and Ivan Basso. With this
result he eclipsed Paolo Bettini at first place in the U.C.I. international classification, totalizing 13 seasonal
victories and becoming the world’s no. 1 cyclist.<
The 2005 season began with a new uniform, new colours and the same aims. The formation was born at the wish of its patrons
Mario Galbusera and Sergio Zappella, or rather of the Lampre and Saeco groups, becoming Lampre-Caffitta and managed
in tandem by Giuseppe Saronni and Claudio Corti. The first part was based on minor races and the Giro d'Italia. The
flash of lightning came in the lap of the Giro di Romandia where he wore the leader’s shirt for two days, losing the
leadership only in the final stopwatch timing. His condition seemed good but alas, the virus of mononucleosis had struck
the Little Prince of cycling. He recovered in the finale striking a fine double blow at the Gp. Nobili Rubinetterie of
Arona and the Trofeo Melinda of Fondo, as well as triumphing in front of numerous fans at the Japan Cup.
In 2006 the Lampre was strengthened due to the support of the new partnership with the Fondital company of Brescia,
owned by the Niboli family. Marzio Bruseghin of Veneto, Paolo Tiralongo of Sicily and Taddei Valjavec of Slovenia
arrived to create a winning group at Damiano’s side. The first part brought much satisfaction to the Lombard formation;
Damiano achieved a series of successes such as the lap and final Classification of the Settimana Ciclistica Coppi-Bartali,
lap and final Classification of the Giro del Trentino, Gp di Larciano. On the eve of the start of the Giro d'Italia 2006
Cunego already had 5 successes behind him but unfortunately he was not able to increase the series during the pink adventure,
in spite of some interesting performances. Thanks to a convincing finale he achieved an overall classification of fourth,
behind the Basso-Gutierrez-Simoni trio.
After a month’s rest he was back at the starting line, trying his hand for the first time at the Tour de France. After a first week bunched among the group the slopes arrived and so did Damiano. His attack on the Pyrenees brought him no luck, but his turn came with the mythical climb up the Alpe d'Huez, where he came second. In the other laps he held onto the yellow shirt, then two days from Paris, in the last Alpine lap, he brought off a memorable exploit, snaffling the white shirt for the best young cyclist from the German Marcus Fothen. The last lap but one was timed by the stopwatch but the Italian gave a magnificent performance, defending the top position in the particular classification reserved for the Under-25s before providing the world with an unforgettable display the next day.
He was back at the races a few days after the Tour, putting himself at the disposition of the Lampre-Fondital team as in, for example, the classic Giro del Lazio where with masterly team-play he helped his companion Giuliano Figueras to achieve final success, then doubling the result by coming second himself.
2007 began officially on Monday 12th February 2007 when, in the original scenario of the military base of Ghedi, the Lampre-Fondital Team introduced itself to the press. The idea came from Sergio and Emanuele Galbusera where, together with Fondital, Wilier Triestina, Specialized, Diadora, Oregon Scientific and all the other official sponsors the Lampre-Fondital 2007 staff took flight towards more prestigious aims …
The season began in Spain and in one of the most difficult competitions, the Tour of the Basque Countries, Damiano was at the centre of the stage at once. He came fourth after a great performance in the last stopwatch-timed test. The programme towards the Giro 2007 changed and, in full agreement with the Lampre-Fondital directors and in particular Giuseppe Saronni and Giuseppe Martinelli, he took part in the Trentino. In the first two laps Cunego gave his fans one thrill after another, winning the first fraction by a wide margin and the second after a struggle. He kept in control in the last two fractions and obtained the final classification for the third time in the Giro del Trentino. That same evening he left for the most difficult race in the world: the Liège-Bastogne-Liège in Belgium.
In this competition he showed the strength of his legs and came 7th after attempting a couple of attacks during the last few kilometres.
We’re at the Giro... the most beautiful and the most thrilling race of all.
Damiano tries with all his courage and determination, he creeps up from place to place until he arrives at a whisker from victory (5th overall), defeated by the last stopwatch-timed lap which took place in his own Province of Verona.
The 2007 season was coming to an end but Damiano wanted to leave his mark, and not just any mark...
First he imposed himself at the Trofeo Beghelli and then came the great result: he won the Giro di Lombardia 2007!
2008 is a special year because there are the Beijing Olympics and the World Championships (held here at home) calling for the attention of the champion of Verona.
First, however, came the spring classifications and the dearly loved Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
In Spain, an important lap set the seal on the first success of 2008 for Damiano Cunego – the fifth lap of the Vuelta Pais Basco ahead of blazoned racers such as Alberto Contador, Thomas Dekker, Kim Kirchen and Davide Rebellin.
In overall classification he was only fourth, but immediately after, at the Klasika Primavera, he obtained his second success before the Spanish Valverde.
