Joe Praino, a resident of Arlington, Virginia, earned himself a trip overseas to experience the world's most prestigious cycling race, the Tour de France, up close and in person. Praino edged four other finalists in Cannondale's Trip de France social media campaign for the right to experience the behind-the-scenes action for one of the sport's elite race teams, Team Liquigas-Cannondale .
Praino, a Cat 4 racer himself, is looking forward to helping the pro team during the "medium mountain" stages in the first week of the Tour. "It's always been my dream to be in the team car, handing up food and bottles to the racers," he says. "That's the best place to be during a stage, you're really inside the race when you're riding in the team car." He's not sure if that's how he will help the team; team staff may call on his service for a variety of pre- and post-race tasks.
Fans submitted short videos in May and early June to Cannondale's official Facebook page , explaining why they were the most qualified to serve as Team Liquigas-Cannondale's honorary member. "I have about 800 facebook friends, but I was still in second place in the contest with a week to go," explains Praino.
"I had been handing out business cards about the contest to strangers on the street, at bike races, but I had to change my strategy." In the final days, whenever his friends came up on the "chat" feature of facebook, he told them step by step how to vote for him. "I asked my wife to contact all her friends and give step by step instructions to them," he says. Praino also recruited his brother and other close friends to get out the vote, similar to a political campaign.
After being one of five selected finalists, Praino's video tallied the most online votes, on both Cannondale's and Peloton Magazine's Facebook pages. In his submission entry, Praino sports a Liquigas-Cannondale cycling jersey, while showcasing pictures of himself as a kid and riding on his first road bike. Praino incorporates plenty of humor into his winning video including: rubbing olive oil on his legs as part of race-day preparation, sipping mineral water out of a tea cup and celebrating his victory by standing on furniture, while receiving congratulations from his wife.
"This is a thrill of a lifetime and I have to thank Cannondale for providing me with this unique experience, as well as my family and friends for rallying behind me and voting for my video," says the amateur cyclist. He's really looking forward to meeting team leader Ivan Basso, who Praino believes has a good chance of being on the podium.
"On behalf of everyone at Cannondale, we would like to congratulate Joe Praino for being selected as the grand prize winner of our Tour de France Facebook contest," says Bob Burbank, General Manager, Cannondale. "We are very excited about Ivan Basso's chances at winning the Tour de France, as well as all of the athletes and personnel that will be representing Team Liquigas-Cannondale at this year's race."
In addition to expenses paid hotel and airfare, Praino also receives a Cannondale SuperSix road bike, a SUGOI kit (includes a cycling jersey and bib shorts) and a year subscription to Peloton Magazine.
Every member of Team Liquigas-Cannondale will be riding Cannondale's newest innovative road bike, the SuperSix EVO. Featuring a BallisTec carbon construction, the SuperSix EVO frame weighs only 695 grams, making it the most efficient road bike ever designed.
Although Praino races for Team UONO, he often trains with a Virginia team named after a famous Italian cyclist: Squadra Coppi. In fact, Adam Austin from that team told Praino about the Liquigas-Cannondale contest. "I enjoy riding in the mountains the most, with climbs over 5 or 6 kilometers," says Praino who sometimes rides on the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive.
Praino's heritage should help him communicate with the Italian team's staff and riders. "My grandparents speak Italian, and I know conversational Italian," he says. "I've already planned what I'm going to say if the riders need a pep talk. I hope they can understand me!"
Follow Liquigas-Cannondale on Twitter (@Liquigas_Cdale) and on Facebook (Cannondale Bicycle Corporation).
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