Roberto Ivano Luca Vacchi (born 28 November 1965,

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

) is an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

retired

racing cyclist Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling spo ...

and a

sports commentator In Broadcasting of sports events, sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as a sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real time (media), real-time live commentary of a game or event, traditionally delivered in the present t ...

Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia, owned and operated by Warner Bros. Discovery through its WBD Sports unit, it operates two main channels—Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2—across most of its territorie ...

. He commentates

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing whereby skiers traverse snow-covered terrain without use of ski lifts or other assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreational activity; however, some still use it as a m ...

and a variety of other sports, but is most known for his cycling coverage together with

Anders Adamson Per Anders Adamson (born 26 July 1957) is a Swedish former cyclist. He competed in the individual road race and team time trial events at the 1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olymp ...

. Vacchi also works as an announcer at the Swedish national football team's home matches,

Vasaloppet (Swedish language, Swedish for 'the Vasa race') is an annual long distance cross-country skiing (sport), cross-country ski race held on the first Sunday of March. The course starts in the village of :sv:Berga, Malung-Sälens kommun, Berga, jus ...

Royal Palace Sprint Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, ...

and other events.

Biography

Vacchi was born in

in 1965 to

parents who had emigrated to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

in the 1950s. At the age of 9, his family moved back to Italy to

La Spezia La Spezia (, or ; ; , in the local ) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second-largest city in the Liguria ...

where he discovered competitive cycling. After a few years in Italy they moved back to Sweden. There he continued his career in cycling with

Hammarby IF Hammarby Idrottsförening ("Hammarby Sports Club"), commonly known as Hammarby IF or simply Hammarby ( or, especially locally, ), is a Swedish sports club located in Stockholm, with a number of member organizations active in a variety of differ ...

(1978–79) and

Spårvägens GoIF Spårvägens GoIF, ''Stockholms Spårvägars Gymnastik och Idrottsförening'', was founded in 1919 by employees of Stockholms Spårvägar under the name Stockholms Spårvägspersonals GoIF. Today the club has 15 departments of sports and a total of ...

(1980–1991). In 1992, he joined Västerås CK, where he ended his career. In 1993, while working for the

Swedish Cycling Association Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

approached Vacchi with an offer to commentate cycling on TV. In the beginning he did not comment much, but eventually it became a full-time job. He credited

Bengt Grive Bengt Edvin Axel Grive (born Gustafsson, 21 March 1921 – 17 September 2003) was a Swedish sports commentator, journalist and author. Early life Grive was born on 21 March 1921 in Stockholm, Sweden, the son of Edvin Gustafsson and Elsa (née L ...

as his mentor during the first years at Eurosport. Vacchi is known for his enthusiastic commentary on cycling races and for his vast knowledge of the sport as well as being able to give detailed geographical, cultural and historical information on places around the tours. Vacchi also works as the press director for the

Swedish Ski Association The Swedish Ski Association () is a sports governing body for skiing in Sweden. It was established in Sundsvall on 11 December 1908 as the Swedish Cross-Country Skiing Association () before changing name in 1911. The headquarters were originally l ...

and as the editor-in-chief of the

magazine '' Glid''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vacchi, Roberto 1965 births Sports commentators Swedish male cyclists Italian male cyclists Cycling announcers Living people Swedish people of Italian descent Cyclists from Stockholm 20th-century Italian sportsmen 20th-century Swedish sportsmen