{"id":230244,"date":"2025-10-28T14:34:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T14:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/230244\/"},"modified":"2025-10-28T14:34:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T14:34:09","slug":"its-time-to-say-enough-with-a-smile-and-the-right-serenity-one-of-cyclings-veterans-has-no-regrets-ending-career-at-39","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/230244\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cIt\u2019s time to say enough, with a smile and the right serenity\u201d \u2013 One of cycling’s veterans has no regrets ending career at 39"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

De Marchi reflected on the time he took the decision to retire. \u201cIt\u2019s time to say enough,\u201d he confessed. \u201cIt came with a smile and the right serenity. It wasn\u2019t a shock, I had already communicated it before, and that was important for me. Maybe not everyone understood my decision, but I needed to be honest first with myself and then with those who followed me. It was a slow process that reached its peak last winter, and then I gradually shared it with those closest to me, with the team, and with the rest of the cycling world.\u201d<\/p>\n

De Marchi\u2019s farewell also marked the beginning of a new chapter. Starting next year, he will join Team Jayco AlUla<\/a> as a sports director, continuing to share his experience and work closely with young riders.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea of doing something for the kids came later in the summer, when we thought about how to celebrate,\u201d he said. \u201cI remembered how I started, and we thought it would be nice to recreate that same feeling. I don\u2019t know if my sons will become cyclists, but I\u2019m happy they love the bicycle. The important thing is that they find their own way to express themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout the day, De Marchi often spoke about his unbreakable bond with his hometown and the surrounding mountains, which saw him climb them countless times.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know that I\u2019ve always left these mountains, but in a way, never completely,\u201d he reflected. \u201cNow I look at them with different eyes, and they\u2019ll continue to be the place I can\u2019t and don\u2019t want to give up. I want to stay here, even if my life in cycling continues from the other side of the barricade. The first effect of retirement? I can drink a few more beers and be less strict with myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"alessandrodemarchi\"\/<\/p>\n

De Marchi’s last professional win took place in 2024 at the second stage of the Tour of the Alps<\/p>\n

\u201cYou hope to have left something behind\u201dDe Marchi\u2019s final race, the Veneto Classic<\/a>, that took place the last day of the 2025 season, was filled with symbolism as he rode through a corridor of bicycles held upright by fellow riders, a very recent trend that honors those who are retiring.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was beautiful,\u201d he said. \u201cIt’s become a sort of tradition and it was something I looked forward to. You leave your world as a rider and in the meantime you hope to have left something behind. The desire to follow your instincts , to continue doing the things you love. Obviously in this job you are always forced to respond to different needs, those of the team, the world around you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead, perhaps, to continue to enjoy and be happy with this type of work, you have to be able to stay true to the momentum that led you to choose cycling. It won’t be easy, we know how cycling goes, but I would like to have managed to get this message across to those closest to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Known for his outspoken honesty, De Marchi also addressed his past reflections on cycling\u2019s silence about world issues, particularly regarding Israel and the war in Gaza. \u201cMaybe sometimes I could have been lighter,\u201d he admitted. \u201cBut those who know me well know that I also have moments when I look for that lightness.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" De Marchi reflected on the time he took the decision to retire. \u201cIt\u2019s time to say enough,\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":230245,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-230244","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230244\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}