Valentina Scandolara

{{Infobox cyclist

| name = Valentina Scandolara

| image = Quaregnon - Le Samyn des Dames & Le Samyn, 2 mars 2016, départ (B045).JPG

| image_size = 200

| caption = Scandolara in 2016.

| fullname = Valentina Scandolara

| nickname = {{ubl|Vale|Brumby|Lil Italian}}

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1990|5|1|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Soave, Italy

| death_date =

| death_place =

| height =

| weight =

| currentteam = {{UCI team code|VAI}}

| discipline = Road

| role = {{ubl|Rider|Directeur sportif}}

| ridertype = All rounder

| amateuryears1 = 2003–2008

| amateurteam1 = Officine Alberti UC Val D'Illasi

| amateuryears2 = 2015–2016

| amateurteam2 = {{UCI team code|RXS|2015}} (guest){{cite news|title=#RoxsoltLadies Return for the Australian Summer of Racing|url=https://roxsolt.io/roxsoltladies-blog/roxsoltladies-return-for-the-australian-summer-of-racing|access-date=14 May 2018|work=Roxsolt|date=3 December 2015}}

| amateuryears3 = 2017

| amateurteam3 = Alé Cycling (guest){{cite news|last1=Braverman|first1=Jessie|title=Scandolara celebrates overall success at the Mitchelton Bay Crits|url=https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/scandolara-celebrates-overall-success-at-the-mitchelton-bay-crits/|access-date=14 May 2018|work=Cycling News|date=3 January 2017}}

| amateuryears4 = 2018

| amateurteam4 = Maaslandster International (guest)

| amateuryears5 = 2018–2019

| amateurteam5 = {{UCI team code|RXS|2018}} (guest)

| amateuryears6 =

| amateurteam6 =

| proyears1 = 2009

| proteam1 = {{UCI team code|SAF|2009}}

| proyears2 = 2010

| proteam2 = {{UCI team code|VAI|2010}}

| proyears3 = 2011

| proteam3 = Gauss

| proyears4 = 2012

| proteam4 = {{UCI team code|MIC|2012}}

| proyears5 = 2013

| proteam5 = {{UCI team code|ALE|2013}}

| proyears6 = 2014–2015

| proteam6 = {{UCI team code|MTS women|2014}}

| proyears7 = 2016

| proteam7 = {{UCI team code|CPC|2016}}

| proyears8 = 2017

| proteam8 = {{UCI team code|WM3|2017}}

| proyears9 = 2019

| proteam9 = {{UCI team code|CGS|2019}}{{cite news|url=https://www.cogeascycling.com/blog/the-cogeas-mettler-look-second-in-tour-of-california/|title=The Cogeas Mettler Look second in Tour of California|work={{UCI team code|CGS|2019}}|publisher=Cogeas|date=27 May 2019|access-date=7 July 2019}}

| proyears10 = 2021–

| proteam10 = {{UCI team code|VAI|2021}}

| manageyears1 = 2019

| manageteam1 = Sydney Uni–Staminade

| manageyears2 = 2020

| manageteam2 = {{UCI team code|CGS|2020}}

| majorwins =

| medaltemplates =

| show-medals =

}}

Valentina Scandolara (born 1 May 1990) is an Italian road bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI Women's Continental Team {{UCI team code|VAI}}.{{cite web|url=https://www.uci.org/road/teams/TeamDetail/15412/1001566/277|title=Aromitalia Basso Bikes Vaiano|work=UCI.org|publisher=Union Cycliste Internationale|access-date=17 January 2021|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210117225601/https://www.uci.org/road/teams/TeamDetail/15412/1001566/277|archive-date=17 January 2021}}

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 {{UCI team code|MTS women|2014}} and fully commit to Road Cycling.

In November 2015 she was announced as part of the inaugural squad for the {{UCI team code|CPC|2016}} team for the 2016 season.{{cite web |url=https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/new-womens-team-cylance-taking-aim-at-inaugural-worldtour/ |title=New women's team Cylance taking aim at inaugural WorldTour |last1=Weislo |first1=Laura |date=10 November 2015 |website=cyclingnews.com |access-date=24 December 2015}}

In September 2016 she was announced as part of the {{UCI team code|RBW|2017}} squad for 2017.{{cite web |url=https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/vos-heads-new-fortitude-pro-cycling-womens-team-in-2017/ |title=Vos heads new Fortitude Pro Cycling women's team in 2017 |last1=Frattini |first1=Kirsten |date=29 September 2016 |website=cyclingnews.com |access-date=29 September 2016}}

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 {{UCI team code|RXS|2018}} to start a summer season of racing in the US at the end of April.{{cite news|title=L’incubo di Valentina Scandolara: problemi di salute ed un rientro incerto|url=https://www.cicloweb.it/2018/01/02/incubo-valentina-scandolara-problemi/|access-date=14 May 2018|work=Cicloweb IT|date=2 January 2018}}{{cite news|last1=Rundle|first1=Kevin|title=Scandolara Leads Roxsolt Attaquer for #Season5|url=https://roxsolt.io/roxsoltladies-blog/scandolara-leads-roxsolt-attaquer-for-season5|access-date=14 May 2018|work=Roxsolt|date=18 April 2018}} In between the 2017 and 2018 racing seasons, Scandolara completed the UCI Sport Directors Diploma{{cite news|title=Sport Directors in training at UCI World Cycling Centre|url=http://www.uci.ch/wcc/news/article/sport-directors-training-uci-world-cycling-centre/|access-date=14 May 2018|work=UCI|date=30 January 2018}} 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 {{UCI team code|VAI|2021}} team, for the 2021 season.{{cite news|url=https://www.cicloweb.it/2020/12/28/valentina-scandolara-torna-in-gruppo-con-la-maglia-dellaromitalia-basso-bikes-vaiano/|title=Valentina Scandolara torna in gruppo con la maglia dell'Aromitalia-Basso Bikes-Vaiano|language=it|trans-title=Valentina Scandolara returns to the peloton in the Aromitalia-Basso Bikes-Vaiano jersey|work=Cicloweb.it|publisher=Cicloweb|date=28 December 2020|access-date=28 December 2020}}

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:{{cite news|url=http://www.cyclingarchives.com/coureurfiche.php?coureurid=37677|title=Valentina Scandolara|publisher=Cycling Archives|access-date=4 July 2012}}{{cite news|url=http://www.cqranking.com/women/asp/gen/rider_palm.asp?riderid=2575&year=0&all=1¤t=0|title=Valentina Scandolara|publisher=Cycling Quotient|access-date=4 July 2012}}