Michael Storer’s season of growth ends with Giro podium dream

The Australian said in an interview with bici.pro that the key was learning to stay patient and trust the process. After years of flashes and frustration, 2025 became the season where everything aligned. He won the Pantani Trophy, finished on the podium at the Giro della Toscana and ended the year with a strong ride at Il Lombardia, a race that suits his patience and climbing style.

"It was a good experience and I knew I was fine," Storer said. "This last month of racing I have collected several positive results, starting with the podium at the Giro della Toscana. Which was followed by the victory at the Pantani Trophy, the first in my career in a one-day race."

Behind those results is a change in how Storer races and recovers. He completed both the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France this season, his second time tackling two Grand Tours in one year.

“I saw that my body responds well and manages to prepare for two such important races close together,” he said. “The hardest part was managing the fatigue, especially at the Tour, where I went with the aim of racing day by day.”

His partnership with team manager Matteo Tosatto has also played a role in that evolution.

“Honestly, I had in mind to reach the top 10 at Lombardia, at most the top 5,” Storer said. “Then my manager, Matteo Tosatto, told me to look even higher, that the podium has three steps and the last one would be up for grabs. It seemed a bit exaggerated to me, but in the end I really got on it.”

He smiled thinking back to Tosatto’s words after the finish. “He sees certain things. It’s hard to have him as a manager because he is never satisfied. He pushes me to always give my best, and sometimes it helps. He says that I am too easily satisfied, and it’s true. He makes me dream bigger.”

That’s where Storer allows himself to dream further too. “I always dream of winning a stage in the Giro or the Tour,” he said. “If we want to exaggerate, I can say that I would like to get a podium at the Giro, but I don’t say it out loud otherwise Tosatto will say to me: ‘Why not win it?’”

After a long season, Storer plans to stay in Italy until Tudor’s December training camp before heading home. 

“I’ll be in Italy until the team camp in December,” he said. “Then I hope to go back to Australia for the national championships, which this year are in my hometown, Perth. It would be nice to do the Tour Down Under too, but I don’t know yet if the team will go. If not, I could stay in Australia through January and head straight to the UAE Tour. I haven’t been home since February 2024, so it would be great to make it work.”

Italy, though, has quietly become another kind of home. “I’ve gotten used to winters in Varese,” he said with a smile. “They’re getting warmer and drier every year.”

Wherever he finds himself at the end of 2025 and into 2026, the Giro will remain somewhere on his mind.