Giacomo Nizzolo was born in Milan, and the 33-year-old sprinter is hoping he will be there at the end of the mammoth 293km race to contest the finish on the Via Roma. However, Tadej Pogačar or Wout van Aert may well spoil the plans of Nizzolo and the other pure sprinters by going clear on the two short but decisive climbs before the finish, the Cipressa and the Poggio.
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Nizzolo’s best finish in his six attempts at Milan-San Remo was fifth in 2020. He’s been knocking on the door this year with third places at the Clásica de Almeria and Trofeo Alcúdia–Port d’Alcúdia and a fifth place at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne.
This is Nizzolo’s Israel-Premier Tech bike, a Factor Ostro VAM, dressed in CeramicSpeed, Shimano, and Rotor parts, plus cockpit and wheels from Factor’s sister brand Black Inc.
(VAM, or velocita ascensionale media, is a measurement of climbing speed.)
The Factor Ostro VAM weighs a claimed 780g in size 54cm — allowing riders like Nizzolo to rider deeper wheels and still have a bike that weighs right near the UCI minimum of 6.8kg/14.99lb.
Nizzolo riding at the Clásica de Almería, earlier this year. While he won the Italian race in 2021, he was third behind Alexander Kristoff and Nacer Bouhanni this February.
Longtime Cervélo engineer Graham Shrive joined Factor in 2019 and has brought his experience and skills to bear on making lightweight, aerodynamic race bikes.
Nizzolo has a solid 55t ring on his Rotor power meter crank, and a CeramicSpeed Oversized Pulley System on the back. Mechanics keep the drivetrain immaculate.
The big pulley reduces drag by minimizing chain articulation, plus its use of ceramic bearings.
Factor worked with CeramicSpeed on the custom headset for the Ostro VAM.
Nizzolo has the newer 9250 Shimano Di2 sprint shifters on his Black Inc integrated bar. They are a bit larger than the 9150 sprint shifters.