Matteo is currently one of the best performers in one-day races. He is a two-time winner of the Paris-Tours race, he has also achieved a total of eight stage victories at various Grande Giro events and won the European title in 2018. His transition to cycling, however, has not been as rosy as it might seem. The first time he joined a cycling team was at the age of six, however, his father, Alessandro, had no intention of nurturing a future champion. Instead, he merely wanted to help the young Matteo learn to balance on two wheels. Matteo’s first few years of sporting activity were divided between cycling and volleyball. Then, in 2003, he began to practise cyclo-cross and soon won the national title in his category. He became U23 national amateur champion in 2011, the same year in which he received the call to join Quick-Step, his debut among the pros. In 2019 he won a silver world championship, but his victory was bittersweet: he was beaten by a whisker by Danish Pedersen. Although he acknowledged his success, his achievement was offset by the disappointment of narrowly missing the gold medal.