Valentina Scandolara

Valentina Scandolara (born 1 May 1990) is an Italian road bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI Women's Continental Team .

Career Scandolara was born in Soave. She showed great talent in sports from a very early age, winning three National Champion titles in Cross Country running and one in Futsal, before committing full-time to Cycling.

During the early stages of her professional career, she raced for Italian teams and was active on the Track and in Cyclocross, before being signed in 2014 from UCI number 1 ranked and fully commit to Road Cycling.

In November 2015 she was announced as part of the inaugural squad for the team for the 2016 season.

In September 2016 she was announced as part of the squad for 2017.

She took a break from professional racing at the start of 2018 due to physical health problems, but she would return to racing at the end of February with the Maaslandster International Women's Cycling Team at the Setmana Ciclista Valenciana, before signing with Australian amateur team to start a summer season of racing in the US at the end of April. In between the 2017 and 2018 racing seasons, Scandolara completed the UCI Sport Directors Diploma and the UCI Coaching Diploma.

After winning the overall classification in the Lexus of Blackburn Bay Classic Series in January 2019, she directed Sarah Gigante to a double title in the Australian National Road Race Championships and the Australian National Time Trial Championships in Ballarat (Victoria). She also worked as Sport Director for the Sydney University–Staminade Cycling Team during UCI competitions "Race Melbourne", "Cadel Evans Road Race" and "Herald Sun Tour" in January 2019.

In December 2020, Scandolara signed a contract to ride for the team, for the 2021 season.

Personal life In February 2019 she graduated in Psychology at the University of Padua, with a thesis on women's cycling titled "Mind over matter: Emotional Intelligence as an Important Predictor of Success in Professional Women's Cycling".

Major results Sources:

Cycling

2004

2005

2006 National Novices Road Championships

2nd Time trial National Novices Track Championships

2007

2008

National Junior Track Championships

2nd 500m time trial

UEC European Junior Track Championships

2009 Track European Cup, Barcelona

2010 1st GP Union Vélocipédique Genevoise Lancy 2nd Classica Citta di Padova 3rd Prix des Vins Henri Valloton 6th GP Comune di Cornaredo 2011

1st Giornata del Ciclismo Rosa a Nove 2nd Trofeo Vannucci Alberto 2nd GP Comune di Cornaredo 3rd National Cyclo-cross Championships 3rd Team sprint, National Track Championships 5th Road race, UEC European Under-23 Road Championships 5th Road race, National Road Championships 7th GP Liberazione 2012 National Cyclo-cross Championships

3rd Elite race 6th Grand Prix de Dottignies 2013 1st Draai van de Kaai 1st Trofeo Vannucci Alberto 1st Stage 6 Thüringen Rundfahrt der Frauen 2nd Women's Bike Race Montignoso 3rd National Cyclo-cross Championships 3rd Ridderronde Maastricht 4th Overall Trophée d'Or Féminin 4th Overall Giro della Toscana Int. Femminile – Memorial Michela Fanini 10th Overall Grand Prix Elsy Jacobs 1st Mountains classification 2014 1st Giro del Trentino Alto Adige-Südtirol 1st Draai van de Kaai

National Road Championships 2nd Road race 5th Time trial 2nd Overall Santos Tour Down Under 7th Overall Ladies Tour of Norway 2015

1st Stage 1 1st Melbourne Supercrit 1st Stage 4 Tour Cycliste Féminin International de l'Ardèche 2nd Overall Giro della Toscana Int. Femminile – Memorial Michela Fanini

2nd Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race 2nd Acht van Westerveld 2nd SwissEver GP Cham-Hagendorn 2nd Draai van de Kaai 4th Overall Ladies Tour of Norway 6th Road race, European Games 10th Giro dell'Emilia Internazionale Donne Elite 2016 1st Draai van de Kaai 1st Melbourne Supercrit 1st Stage 3 Bay Classic Series 2nd Winston-Salem Cycling Classic 2017 1st Overall Bay Classic Series 1st Stage 1 1st Dwars door de Westhoek 2018 1st Overall Intelligentsia Cup 1st Races 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 & 10 1st USA Pro Road Tour Saint Francis Tulsa Tough – Race 3 USA CRITS Natural State Criterium Series 1st Races 1 & 3 Wilmington Grand Prix 1st Road race 1st Monkey Hill time trial 2019 1st Overall Bay Classic Series

Other sports Cross Country Running 2000 2nd CSI National Cross Country Running Championships, Rocca di Papa 2001

2002

2003

Futsal 2006