There will always be a stigma attached to Antonio Tiberi, a reputation he will forever be attempting to improve. No matter what he goes on to achieve in cycling and in life, for many he will always be known as the rider who accidentally shot dead a politician’s cat when he was 21. “Going forward from this bullshit that I did was not easy,” a candid Tiberi tells Rouleur. 

The regretful episode happened in early 2023 in his adopted home of San Marino. He was testing an air rifle at the time, not believing that it was a lethal weapon. To his horror, it was. Trek-Segafredo suspended him and then sacked him, and the local courts fined him €4,000. “It especially wasn’t easy in the first few months when I was receiving messages and everything. That was the worst period for me,” he goes on. “I just focused and wanted to be myself, to show the world who I really am, and do what I know how to do best on the bike.”

So who really is Tiberi? In the immediate aftermath of the incident he appeared on national television visiting a cat shelter with his tearful father. It was his way of demonstrating his remorse to an outraged public. The 24-year-old sitting across from me in his Bahrain Victorious sweater is polite, courteous, even a bit shy. He speaks in excellent English, too, a product of his upbringing. “I tried to, not explain, but to show to the world that what happened was just a mistake and a bullshit [decision] of a 21-year-old guy,” he continues. “I am also growing up and I feel inside that every year that passes I become more and more mature.”

This article was published in Rouleur in December 2025. To read the full article click here.