ProTeam Meet the Lotto Soudal youngsters: Filippo Conca

As the new cycling season gets underway, Lotto Soudal is happy to welcome several new riders to the team. One of them is the 22-year-old Italian Filippo Conca, who joins Lotto Soudal as a neo-pro. Conca, who lives in Bellano – a small village at Lake Como - talks about his first impressions of Lotto Soudal and his ambitions for the upcoming years. Time to get to know Filippo Conca!

Filippo Conca: “I am fortunate to have the area of Il Lombardia as my training roads. I know some of the legendary climbs as Madonna del Ghisallo or Muro di Sormano like the back of my hand. It’s always a special feeling to be training on these climbs. There are also several climbs with a distance up to twenty kilometres close to where I live.”

As an U23 rider, Conca managed to finish twice fifth on the general classification of the U23 Giro d’Italia, one of the most prestigious races on the U23 racing calendar.

Filippo Conca: “Although I finished fifth at the U23 Giro d’Italia in 2019 and 2020, I don’t consider myself as a pure climber. I’m quite tall and with a weight over 70 kilograms, I am not among the featherweights of the peloton. The level of the climbers at the U23 category is already high, so it will be even more difficult to be up there amongst the pros. However, I am hoping to learn a lot about myself in the years to come and I also still need to discover my main strengths.” 

At January training camp in Spain, where Lotto Soudal is training in three different groups, the 22-year-old Italian is able to gain tons of experience with his first season as a professional cyclist in sight.

Filippo Conca: “I immediately felt at home with team Lotto Soudal. It feels great to be riding alongside guys like Caleb Ewan during training camp and I’m trying to learn as much as I can from the more experienced riders. That will be my main goal for the upcoming season. It is also great to be part of a big group of Lotto Soudal neo-pros, against whom I used to race during the past years. It feels nice to pass to the professional ranks together and I hope we can show some great things in the future.”

“When I got the chance to become a professional cyclist at a WorldTeam like Lotto Soudal, I of course took this opportunity with both hands. My ultimate dream is to be at the start of the Giro d’Italia and somewhat later to win a stage there. As an Italian, I think this is one of the most beautiful things to achieve.”

Conca is not only concentrating on his professional cycling career, the Italian is already thinking ahead as he resumed his studies in Italy.

Filippo Conca: “I put my studies of Business and Economy at UniECampus near Como on hold the past few years to concentrate on my cycling career, but now time will be a little more manageable to continue studying. Besides, there is also no pressure to finish my studies and it’s also a nice distraction from cycling.”