Tiago Antunes, joined the Academy the last August the 1st as a trainee, and the upcoming one will be his first full season with our colors. In the last part of the 2018 season, the 21-year old Portuguese combined his racing schedule with the Academy together with Spain’s Aldro Team. But his journey in the cycling world started way back. “Back in 2005, my parents wanted me to pick a sport so I tried football but after my first training, I realized that it was not my thing. After some months, I tried cycling for the first time and I fell quickly in love with it and I started racing with 7/8 years old” points out the Portuguese rider. 

In his early days in the cycling world, Antunes represented the colors of several local clubs before moving up to the U23 ranks with Sicasal-Constantinos-Delta Cafés. After one and a half seasons where the strong climber showed himself in the local scene, seizing two wins in 2016, the call from Aldro Team came and he finished the season as a trainee for the Spanish team. Tiago reallocated himself in the north of Spain and was allowed the chance of racing some international U23 races and finished within the Top 10 in the 2017 Ronde de l’Isard and Course de la Paix and enjoyed his first Tour de l’Avenir experience at the end of that very same year. 

At the beginning of 2018, the Portuguese rider was offered the opportunity of joining the UCI World Cycling Center team, he packed again and made Switzerland his new home, but after four months he decided to come back to Aldro Team with whom he raced again the Ronde del l’Isard at a high-level, before joining the Academy as a trainee halfway this very same season. This long journey that brought the youngster to the Academy has taught him some valuable lessons. “All these years as a cyclist I have learned a lot, not just about cycling itself, but also about the real life. Being a full-time cyclist it is powered by passion and constant challenges, it pushes you to the limit in both, physical and mental sides, preparing you for any day-by-day situation”.