'you often think it’s just a cliché;' Affini will have his first Christmas as a father and is on cloud nine

For Edoardo Affini, this Christmas will be an especially memorable one. The Italian rider from Team Visma | Lease a Bike welcomed his first child together with his partner Lisa van Zonneveld in October. As a result, the couple will be heading into the final week of the year as a family for the very first time. They will be doing so in the Netherlands - but how different is Christmas there compared to Italy?

On 13 October, Affini became the proud father of a daughter, Celeste. Since then, he has been floating on cloud nine, experiencing the winter break in a completely new way. “It’s unique and beautiful,” he told TuttoBiciWeb. “When you talk to people who have children, you often think it’s just a cliché, but when you experience it yourself, it’s absolutely true.”

Affini lives with his partner in Donderen, far away from his home country of Italy. The small village in the Dutch province of Drenthe will also be the place where they celebrate Christmas together - now with their daughter. “Although Celeste doesn’t yet understand that it’s Christmas and doesn’t know what a present, a dress or a teething toy is, it will still help her to get to know her family,” he explains.

According to the Italian, Christmas itself is quite similar to how it is celebrated back home, but New Year’s Eve is something else entirely. “The most important thing is spending time with family and close friends, so too on New Year’s Eve. In the area where I live, people are especially crazy about fireworks. The government is working on a law to ban them, but if that gets approved, there would be an uprising,” he laughs.

won’t be the first time Affini experiences Dutch New Year celebrations. “I’ve already spent New Year’s Eve here before and I’ve seen everything - from kids with small leg protectors to the most eccentric people who spend thousands of euros on the most spectacular fireworks. Every neighbourhood organizes its own show.”

So what can we expect from Affini in 2026? “I’ll follow a classic race schedule: I start at the end of February with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in Belgium. We’ll finalize the details with the team in January. Considering the route of the Giro d’Italia, the time trial in Viareggio would be a great target, but we’ll see where the team prefers to place me. I also wouldn’t mind returning to the Tour de France…”

Beyond that, the Italian is hoping to continue improving in the time trial. Affini has already been crowned European champion once and will this time focus strongly on the national championships this year. “Every year I try to win the Italian title, even though I know it’s a tough battle against Filippo Ganna. I’ll try to make life difficult for him at the Italian championships, and I wouldn’t mind wearing the national team jersey at the European and World Championships.