Cycling, De Marchi announces retirement at end of season

Rome, 15 April 2025 - Waiting for what will happen to the Giro d'Italia 2025, starting on 9st May da Durres, there is one clear certainty and it is unfortunately long-standing: the last Italian to have worn the pink jersey is Alessandro De Marchi, who has just announced his retirement at the end of the season.  

De Marchi's announcement

  From 12 May 2021 the symbol of the primacy is a taboo for our runners: that day the protagonist was none other than the 'Buja red', who went on the run on theApennines Bolognese and stole the pink jersey from Filippo Gana, for a relay race between two Italians that today seems like a joke. de Marchi remains leader of the general classification two days before passing the baton to the then unknown Attila Valter on the day when great cycling also knows the very unfortunate Gino Mader before crowning at the end of May at Milan who how Egan Bernal would have won the entire edition. Probably the Friulian himself hopes to soon give up this sad record to another Italian or maybe, who knows, to take it back himself. Much will depend on the choices he will make for May Team Jayco AlUla: the other choice, that of retiring at the end of the year, belongs exclusively to the class of '86. "Sometimes change is not suffered: it is desired. It is a push that comes from within, that wants to be recognized and listened to. This is a phrase that I came across reading and that perfectly summarizes the type of process I have gone through in these months. I have decided that this season, the 2025, it will be my last year as a professional cyclist. I arrive at this point with serenity, even though it is not easy to make a decision like this, but it is also true, and you recognize it, that I arrive at this point in my career and life with many satisfactions, obviously some regrets, but I decide with courage to listen to this push that comes from within me and tells me to change. To continue my journey by changing". Before saying goodbye to professionalism after 14 years, there is to honor what will be, in fact, the final year of a career embellished by 7 victories: what stands out are the 3 stages to the Return, Tour of Emilia 2019 and a fraction to the Tour of the Alps 2024 for a rider esteemed by the group and the fans also, if not above all, for his extreme correctness, combined with a courage to go on the run with few equals. "I dived into this season with the same spirit as the first, 14 years ago. What certainly changes inside me is a completely new awareness. What I ask of you is to continue to cheer, and maybe do it a little more. Obviously, I'll see you on the road".

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