Dario Cataldo

After surprisingly winning the Baby Giro in 2006,[5] Cataldo signed as a neo-professional for Liquigas for the 2007 season.[6] In January 2007, Cataldo was hit by a car while training and broke his right wrist.[7] Later that year, Cataldo won two stages in the Tour de l'Avenir.[8] After a disappointing year in 2008, Liquigas did not renew his contract.[5]

In 2009, Cataldo switched to the Quick-Step team.[9] For his first two years, Cataldo failed to make a huge impact however in 2012, he began to reach his potential. Cataldo won the 2012 Italian National Time Trial Championships and finished in 12th place at the Giro d'Italia. Cataldo won the queen stage of the 2012 Vuelta a España, stage 16 finishing atop a climb which was featured for the first time in the Vuelta, the Cuitu Negru. He escaped with Thomas De Gendt of the Vacansoleil–DCM squad early in the race and they were never caught. Cataldo shook off De Gendt with less than 2 km (1.2 mi) to race on the very steep final part of the stage, reaching more than 20% gradient in places. He managed to lift his arms for a second as he crossed the line for the 'victory pose' before slumping over his handlebars with fatigue.[10]

Cataldo at the 2014 Giro d'Italia

His success in 2012 saw him earn a move to UCI World Tour champions Team Sky, where he was expected to play the role of a super-domestique for either Bradley Wiggins at the Giro d'Italia or Chris Froome at the Tour de France.[11]

In October 2014 Astana announced they had signed Cataldo for the 2015 season, with the team's general manager Alexander Vinokourov describing his role as being a climbing lieutenant for Vincenzo Nibali and Fabio Aru, as well as contributing to the team's performance in team time trials.[12]

In June 2017, he was named in the startlist for the 2017 Tour de France.[13] His tour ended when he withdrew due to injury on 12 July, caused by a crash in the feed zone.