About Us

 

 

 

Meet the gang

 

Andy Hampsten

Andy’s resume as a pro cyclist is long and impressive: his 12 seasons focused on the Tour de France 8 times and the Giro d’Italia 6 times. The race he is best known for is his win at the 1988 Giro d’Italia. The epic ride through the snow on the Gavia Pass that year won him the race and embodied the spirit of cycling for many Italians, who adopted him as “il nostro Andy”, “our Andy”. Andy has since soaked up the best of Italy and is happy to share his knowledge of the land and culture with others: he has an intimate understanding of olive oil and wine from tending his own trees and vines on his farm, and knows every road that leads to a cafe. It is with great passion that he leads each Cinghiale tour. Whether it’s talking of the local terrior or sharing engrossing stories of the peleton, he offers his guests a personal experience of Italy. When not on tour Andy enjoys working with his brother, Steve, and their bike company Hampsten Cycles or working on various projects between between Boulder, CO and Tuscany with his wife Elaine and their two children Emma and Oscar. More About Andy

 

Elaine Lauterbach-Hampsten 

Raised in a soccer family, Elaine was slow to learn of the cycling world (what, the Giro d’Italia is not a sandwhich?!), but it didn’t take much convincing to join the Cinghiale-way. She’s been running Cinghiale Cinghiale tours alongside Andy for more than a decade and has taken whole-heartedly to cycling the roads and experiencing the culture of Italy and beyond by bike. She is our behind-the-scene director and manages your Cinghiale experience from beginning to end.

 

Gerardo Carpentieri 

Cinghiale Cycling tours is forever enhanced by the warm, friendly and talented, Gerardo Carpentieri, his wife Daniella, and their bike shop, Ciclosport. Honorary grandparents to Andy and Elaine’s kids, these two know it all, from bikes to pasta sauce, you are in good hands. Gerardo runs each tour with Andy and Elaine, gracefully drives the follow van, skillfully manages his rental bike fleet, and helps maintain each guest’s bicycle. He’s our resident miracle worker and we wouldn’t want to do Cinghiale tours without him.

 

Enrico Caracciolo 

An Italian native, Enrico lives in Castagneto Carducci and travels, mostly by bike, all over the world as a freelance photographer, journalist and travel writer. He’s our resident Cinghiale and happily shares his discoveries of roads, foods, and people with us. Enrico is an accomplished cyclist and is continually proving to us that Italy is a bottomless pit of treasures. He’s responsible for much of our photo content, and can ride, shoot photos, and drink a cappuccino all at the same time! When not accompanying Cinghiale, Enrico works mainly as geographical and travel reporter, specializing in cycle touring. His work is published in numerous travel and weekly magazines, books and travel guides. In recent years he has explored and traveled extensively through many parts of the world including Alaska, Australia, Africa, South America, New Zealand and all over Europe. Check him out: http://www.enricocaracciolo.com

 

Kerry Helmuth

Kerry joins us from Trento, Italy by way of Madison, Wisconsin. A former professional cyclist, Kerry settled first in Bormio, a town nestled in the shadow of the epic Stelvio and Gavia passes. She now lives in Trento with her family, teaching high school and law at the local university, and raising her two boys. Kerry is a lead guide for us on our mountain tours and happily joins in the rolling hills of Tuscany from time to time. Like Andy, Kerry possesses a great passion for cycling and all things Italian (especially the food!). She happily rides at a leisurely pace and never misses an opportunity to share her knowledge of the land and the sport.

 

Chicca Maione  

A native of Naples where she earned her degree in architecture; Chicca now lives in Castagneto Carudcci and shares her love of food through her cooking school. We’ve been lucky to work with Chicca from the beginning of our tours, conceptualizing the dream combination of cooking and cycling in Tuscany. Chicca teaches our cooking classes from her home, and the experience is beyond delightful. A fellow cyclist, she has traveled through many parts of the world, such as, Alaska, Australia, Ecuador, New Zealand, Zimbabwe and all over Italy and Europe.  After the birth of her daughter, Elsa, she moved to Tuscany, where she restored her Tuscan farmhouse. In her kitchen she started to share authentic recipes with her guests and founded Cooking in Tuscany, a culinary-gastronomic association that spreads the traditional-Italian and the typical-Tuscan cuisine in Italy and abroad. The aim of the association is to experiment and research old traditional recipes, to use and emphasize seasonal products, and to promote the culture and the tradition of a place through the knowledge of its local products.  Learn more from her website: http://cookingintuscany.cc

 

Steve Hampsten 

Andy’s older brother, Steve Hampsten, is best known for his bicycle design company, Hampsten Cycles. Founded in 1999 by Steve and Andy, Hampsten Cycles is the place to go when you’re in need of a professional fitting and a friendly bike-buying experience. Specializing in great-fitting and smooth-handling road bikes – using tires of all sizes – Hampsten Cycles offers fine custom frames in steel, titanium, and aluminum.  A cycling enthusiast since his North Dakota days when he and “little Andy” discovered 25-mile rides as a way to dodge pulling weeds in the family garden, Steve likes nothing better than to talk about all things bicycle-related, unless it’s skipping work to go for a ride, followed by a heavy snack. We are lucky to have Steve on the road with us in Italy every so often, especially to counter Andy’s stories! www.hampsten.com

 

Richard Feichter

A native to the Alta Badia region and ancient Laudin culture in Northern Italy and professional mountain guide, Richard adds the locals touch to our mountain tours. His years of traversing the Dolomite range and his deep roots to the area give him a keen knowledge of the history and terrain. He knows the best strudel, the best shortcuts, and where to find the best speck. When he’s not climbing a mountain in one form or another you can find him at the home he built with his wife and two daughters.

 

Scot Nicol 

Legendary Ibis Cycles founder and our favorite wine expert, Scot Nicol,  joined us for the first time in 2004. Since then he has added his prodigious cycling strength, oenological expertise, and implacable good humor to Cinghiale trips on Corsica, in Tuscany, and in his own backyard of Sonoma County, where he knows the roads like the wine-stains on his favorite shirt. In addition to blessing us with his god-like bike industry status and educated taste-buds, Scot enriches our California trips with his knowledge of the flora and fauna of Sonoma and the adjacent coastal region. www.ibiscycles.com

 

Rob Coppolillo  (In his own words)

“The progeny of Calabrian olive farmers and Italian war heroes,” Rob Coppolillo comes to guiding bike tours after an undistinguished nine-year cycling career and hectic early life of bottle rocket wars and afternoon soccer matches. The little money he makes comes from freelance writing projects, which include copywriting, late-night poetry slams and magazine features”. He won an “Excellence in Journalism” award in 1997 from the Society of Professional Journalists for a bio he penned on the career and post-cycling life of Andy Hampsten. Now a full time Alpine guide (he’s the guy you want to lead you through the back country), we’re lucky when Rob drops in for some Cinghiale fun. When he’s not in the great outdoors, Rob spends his time in with his lovely wife and  twin boys. http://www.vettamountainguides.com/