Source: A&J All Sports Author: Anne Wu
▲ Carrera brothers, older brother Johnny (left) and younger brother Alex (right)
At the end of 2021, a tragic car accident made Italian Alex Carera and his brother Johnny Carera once again become the object of heart-wrenching and prayers for the entire Italian professional cycling circle - since his brother Alex escaped from a car accident eight years ago, almost on the same date, brother Johnny collided with a reverse-moving freight car on the way home after attending a fan party for a professional driver. The driver hits and escapes, Johnny's car is destroyed, and he himself, like his brother eight years ago, is dying.
The Carrera brothers are not professional drivers, but their names are always behind the champions we know well – they are agents of tour 66 champions Tadej Pogacar, Tour de France and Tour d'Illinois vincenzo Nibali, women's world champion Elisa Balsamo and many other famous drivers.
After more than a month of rescue and treatment, Johnny, who was seriously injured in the car accident, finally got out of danger of life and returned home in early 2022 to continue recuperation. Like his brother, Johnny Carrera showed the tenacity of his life. And the career of this brother and partner who have also experienced the nirvana of life and death has always had a classic chapter.
Alex Carera and older brother Johnny Carera co-founded A&J All Sports in 1997. After more than 20 years of meticulous operation, the brothers have worked together to create a miracle in the world of professional cycling – not only with a strong and united talent team, but also by one of the most trusted and popular sports companies for professional athletes in Italy and around the world.
The younger brother, Alex Carrera, is the most central soul of the company. It all started with an American film 19 years ago, and Alex, inspired by it, was unwavering in establishing his own sports ideals:
"It's a very special film called Jerry Maguire, starring big star Tom Cruise. Although it describes the love and career of a man, I see in this simple story the belief pursued by the protagonist as a sports agent: do not fall into the trap of money, cherish the relationship between athletes and agents, find a correct path and athletes to overcome all difficulties, resist the interference and temptation on the road to success, and achieve goals and dreams together. That's when I decided: I want to be a sports agent like Jerry Maguire, with his attitude and principles. ”
Alex Carrera is not a cyclist, but his life has been close to cycling and racing since childhood:
"My interest in cycling comes from my father and my brother. My father used to be a cyclist and an amateur driver, and my brother used to be one of the best Italian under 23 riders. I began to follow them to various cycling competitions in Italy when I was 3 years old, and over time I got to know many young professional cyclists. But I don't like the feeling of riding on a bicycle very much, and I prefer the sport of tennis in comparison. During my college years, I interned at an American insurance company, and as a result of my exposure to the business, my contact with athletes became more frequent. In 1997, when there were only a handful of sports agencies, I was so convinced of its market prospects that my brother and I decided to start our own sports agency: A&JAll Sports. ”
This is a typical Italian business sense and vision. It turns out how complementary alex's life creed for himself and the career he chose are, and his unique vision of selecting co-drivers gives him a head start in the circle from the start:
"I was young when I first started the company, only 23 years old. The first three young professional drivers were signed, and from now on, the most famous of the three is Italian driver Damiano Cunego. Cunego was only 18 years old at the time, and three months after signing him, he won the Youth Division at the Professional Road World Championships in Verona that year and became famous! Then we signed michelle bartoli, Gilberto Simoni and other great drivers at their peak.
In 2001, Gilbert Simeone became the first driver under A&J Sport to win the Tour de Italy championship. In 2003, he won the Tour de Italy again, and in 2004, it was Damiano Cunego who won the Giropa Universal Italian championship for us. ”
▲ In the early days of A&J All Sports, the Carrera brothers and Cunegro, who won the World Championships in the "Year Group"
▲ Carrera brothers and Cunegro
▲ Carrera brothers with Giovanni Visconti
Alex and The Emirates team's own players
Over time, A&J All Sports has become a leading player in the professional world, not just Italian drivers, but more and more drivers around the world are signing up with them and entrusting their careers to A&J All Sports: for example, the 2000 World Championship champion, Latvian driver Romāns Vainšteins; norwegian driver Thor, who won the Tour de France twice in the 2005 and 2009 seasons Hushovd); famous British driver Chris Froome was also affiliated with A&J All Sports when he won the Tour de France in 2013, among others.
"Of course, in the process of communicating with drivers and planning for their careers, it is also very common that we cannot reach an agreement, and we cannot sign the entire professional car industry.
I remember at one point I wanted to sign Tony Martin, a German driver who was very young at the time. The first year I called him and asked if he would like to sign up with me, and he replied that he didn't want to find an agent. But the next year, he chose a brokerage firm in his home country. It's normal, you'd have a hard time convincing a German to believe an Italian company. ”
Many people may think that the job of an agent is to sign a contract, but this is not the case. In Alex's words, his job is simple, but also very complex. He has to solve all their troubles for the company's drivers:
"The first is how to secure a career contract for professional drivers, so that they can get job security and plan their career future. The second is to solve all the logistical problems that arise, such as rider insurance, equipment use, sponsorship programs, etc. When a driver races for a team, all PR work is done by the team. Once not on the field, their PR work will be attributed to the agent. ”
▲ Carrera brothers and 2019 Road World Championships " individual time trial champion Antonio Tiberi
▲ Carrera brothers and 2019 Road World Championship U23 group champion Samuele Battistella
In 2010, Alex Carrera was voted one of the most influential people in professional cycling by the British cycling magazine Pro Cycling. An Italian who has always been recognized by the British professional cycling media, who has always regarded himself as a high-minded person, Alex deeply appreciates that this is the glory he will gain every time he devotes himself to the work of serving the career of a driver:
Pro Cycling sent me the magazine, which to this day is still on my desk. I'm not trying to show off anything, I just want to remind myself every time I see it, the seriousness of my job: not to deal with the driver problem for the time being, but to work with our contracted athletes day after day with the same rigor, to be agents they can rely on and trust, to accompany them throughout their careers. It's also the inspiration I got from the movie Jerry Maguire, which will stay with me for the rest of my life and I will strive to honor it. ”
But just when Alex Carrera's career was stable and he was successful, and A&J All Sports was growing aggressively, he experienced a catastrophe. One day in late November 2013, Alex collided with an illegally moving large truck on the highway and was seriously injured and unconscious for four months before the situation stabilized:
"Yeah, it's really a serious thing, and I've been in the hospital for a long time. One of my drivers came to the hospital to see me and asked me what was going on, and I told him it was life. I also told him that this disaster would make me stronger, and if you promised me that you could win the Tour de France next year, then I promised you that I would try to recover and get back to where I was. In the 2014 season, Vincenzo Nibaly won the Tour de France and I miraculously recovered. ”
▲ Alex with Nibali and Kazakh officials
Alex and Nibali in astana
▲ Alex and Nibali in Bahrain Merida team
▲ Alex after the disaster still does not forget his favorite tennis
Nowadays, the speed of large groups riding in professional cycling competitions is increasing, and the risk of injury faced by riders, whether in training or racing, is also expanding. After the crash, Alex was more concerned about the insurance of the company's contracted drivers. Because he believes that only very thorough insurance terms can give the rider the treatment and compensation to the greatest extent in the event of an accident.
Fast forward to 2020 when 21-year-old Snowvenia driver Tadej Pogacar from the Emirates team staged a stunning comeback in the final stage of the Tour de France, beating the winner Primoz Roglic to win three grand prizes, including the overall title. In the 2021 season, Pogacha continued to win the championship in various major competitions, and once again indisputably won the Tour de France championship. The agent for this talented young driver is exactly when Alex Carrera and A&J All Sports!
▲ Bogacha took a tacit photo with Alex after winning the Tour de France
"It can be said that Tadaye Bogacha is one of the best professional drivers in the world today. Our relationship with him began in 2016, when he won the championship of giro della Lunigiana, the famous Italian event that year. My brother Johnny contacted the coach at Pogacha immediately after the race, and he was Our company's former contracted driver, Andrej Hauptman, a Snovinian. Hopman gave us a basic picture of Pogacha and gave the child a high rating. Our signing with Pogacha went very smoothly and took only two hours. After that, everyone followed the principle of step-by-step: we took him to Giuseppe Saloni, the general manager of Blue Wave at the time, and then to the other management of the Emirates team. Two years later, he successfully joined the Emirates team, and three years later, Pogacha was at the peak of professional cycling in the world. ”
▲ Carrera brothers and Bogacha
Alex and Pogacha
Discovering young cyclists, helping them find the right career direction in their favorite sports, planning their careers, and securing their future is a sacred job. The Carrera brothers and their A&J all-sports agency have so far won 11 professional cycling Grand Tour titles. Today, they don't just look at the professional cycling industry – in 2021, A&J Signed Italian Winter Olympic Champion Michela Moioli, and at this moment, as the standard-bearer of the Italian national team, she is competing in Beijing for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
▲ On February 12, 2022, Michela Moioli won the silver medal in the mixed doubles snowboard event at the Beijing Winter Olympics
Brother Johnny, who passed by death, is gradually recovering, as his younger brother Alex said:
"Past setbacks will make us stronger. You can learn something from every change, even from the worst. Thank you Father from Heaven for protecting us like any other occasion. ”
Image credit: A&J All Sport