Elia Viviani ended his racing career with an emotional victory and a final rainbow jersey in the Elimination race at the Track World Championships in Chile.
The 36-year-old Italian will ride the Bremen and Ghent Six Days but the track worlds effectively brought down the curtain on a successful and inspiring 15-year professional career.
Viviani won 90 races on the road but is known for his love of track racing. Along with long-standing national coach Marco Villa, Viviani helped revive track racing in Italy and inspire the national team to success at both Olympic and World Championship levels.
As a person, he is widely considered one of the nice guys in the peloton who knew how to overcome defeat and disappointments enjoy a long and successful career.
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Viviani beat Kiwi Campbell Stewart to win the Elimination on Sunday, crossing his arms to signal the end of his career, before celebrating with his partner and fellow pro rider Elena Cecchini.
The Italian is known as ‘il Profeta’ [the prophet[ for the way he inspired and led his country’s track team for the last three Olympic cycles.
All the Italian team in Chile celebrated with Viviani on his final podium, with Villa putting a cape on his shoulders with the words ‘The Last Dance – il Profeta’ on the back.
“I can’t imagine a better way to end my career,” Viviani said after pulling on a final rainbow jersey.
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“I felt I still had a chance to get a result and that’s why I wanted to end my career at the track worlds. I’m proud of what I achieved over the years and thank everyone for the emotional farewell in Chile.
“When I started track racing I was by myself but now there’s a new generation of young riders coming through who are showing their talent. Now it’s up to them to continue with the work of flying the flag for Italy on the track.”
Italy finished third in the medals table at the track world championships, behind the Netherlands and Great Britain. Italy won the world title in the women’s team pursuit, the men’s Elimination with Viviani and bronze in the women’s Madison.
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Viviani turned professional in 2010 with Liquigas and also raced for Cannon dale, Team Sky, QuikStep, Cofidis, Ineos Grenadiers and Lotto in 2025. His palmares includes five stages at the Giro d’Italia, one at the Tour de France and three wins at the Cyclassics Hamburg.
Mark Cavendish beat Viviani to stop him taking the maglia rosa in the 2013 Giro but five years later, during his best season when racing with QuickStep, he won four stages and the points jersey.
Viviani’s track success began in 2022 when won a silver medal in the Scratch race. He was the favourite for the Omnium at the 2012 London Olympics and was leading, only to miss out on a medal. Four years later in Rio, he dominated the Omnium to take a gold medal, beating Cavendish and Lasse Norman Hansen.
Viviani struggled to find a professional team for 2025 but Lotto gave him a chance in January and raced a full season, winning a stage at the Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkiye and the recent Memorial Briek Schotte national-level race in Belgium.
He is expected to play a leading role in the Italian track team in the future and was also voted to represent track riders on the UCI Athletes’ Commission.