On April 27, Elia Viviani (Lotto) began the sixtieth Tour of Turkey on the Atatürk Park in Antalya and he recognised the very same place the place he claimed his first professional victory.
In 2010, on the finish of stage 7 and his very first professional race with the Liquigas-Doimo WorldTour workforce, Viviani turned a winner for the primary time.
A decade and a half later, he recalled the second after successful once more on the similar occasion fifteen years on, taking victory on stage 7 of the 2025 race.
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“It was a chaotic closing as a result of the lead-out prepare of André Greipel crashed within the final nook, one man attacked and I adopted him,” the Italian mentioned.
Ninety victories and an Olympic title for omnium later, he’s again as a winner, simply forward of one other peloton veteran, Alexander Kristoff. The Norwegian has confirmed that this yr shall be his final, however 36-year-old Viviani doesn’t rule out the choice of racing additionally in 2026 – “Particularly if I get near 100 wins however I don’t get them this yr,” he mentioned.
“I used to be and not using a workforce this winter, it was not regular for me”, he famous as his three-year contract with Ineos Grenadiers got here to an finish and wasn’t prolonged. “
“Aged 36, it was not simple. I at all times mentioned I wished to do another yr, possibly two if I’m nonetheless aggressive and right this moment I confirmed that I’m. Firstly I’ve to thank Lotto and the supervisor Stéphane Heulot for giving me this opportunity. There have been solely one-day races on my programme and I advised the workforce I actually wanted a stage race to get into the rhythm.
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“They proposed the Tour of Turkey and I’ve a really particular feeling with this race. The organisation is nice, riders are handled effectively with good lodges and good locations on the seaside, I at all times get pleasure from being right here.”
Throughout the low season, Viviani was usually named as a possible coach for the Italian biking federation as a brand new cycle was began after the re-election of president Cordiano Dagnoni, however he is not eager about his post-race profession but.
“Nothing is ready for my future as a coach, in any other case you wouldn’t see me right here on a motorbike,” he mentioned. “I nonetheless get pleasure from waking up at dwelling, doing the sacrifices you must make as a professional rider. It’s even tougher for a sprinter for those who don’t win races. I do know that at 36 years previous, the physique doesn’t reply anymore like once I was 20. However I nonetheless get pleasure from being a professional bike owner very a lot.”
Earlier than Saturday, the Italian’s final victory was stage 1 of the Tour of Guangxi in China in October 2023. In three years with the Ineos, he scored 4 victories, fairly removed from his golden yr when he took 18 wins for QuickStep Flooring in 2018, together with 4 levels on the Giro d’Italia and three on the Vuelta a España.
Though he is proved he can nonetheless win, Viviani is effectively conscious that he is in a unique section of his profession now.
“I joined Lotto as a result of they’re actually younger they usually want some references within the workforce and I’m right here additionally to win races,” he mentioned. “In trendy biking, we burn a number of younger riders as a result of there aren’t steps anymore. They jumped to the professional ranks they usually faux to be winners and leaders. I nonetheless imagine there are some particular guys, the names everybody is aware of verify that, they flip professional very younger they usually win Tour de France and all the largest races on the planet… However unluckily, not all of the riders are like that.
“The most important a part of the peloton nonetheless must develop step-by-step. That is what I need the younger riders to know. My message to them is: don’t miss some steps, do some smaller races as effectively and when you’ll know your worth, it’ll be time to do every thing at perfection to win races.”
Maybe the phrases of a coach within the making, the one query is when…
