Goodbye Legends: The Peloton Waves Farewell to a Golden Generation

October is traditionally the month of goodbyes. With the season drawing to a close, many riders ride their final races as professionals. The 2025 season has marked the end of the road for several top-level cyclists, some who had long announced their retirements, and others who made the decision only in recent weeks.

We’ve long known about Geraint Thomas: the 39-year-old Welshman, winner of a Tour de France and twice on the Giro d’Italia podium, called it a career after the Tour of Britain in early September. Romain Bardet (34), who found new life at the Giro d’Italia in the latter stages of his career, bowed out in June, right after the Corsa Rosa and the Critérium du Dauphiné. Just before the Giro’s start from Albania, Caleb Ewan also announced a sudden retirement at just 31, after signing with Ineos Grenadiers, admitting he no longer had the motivation to continue at the top level.

Viviani, Nizzolo, Démare, and Kristoff: End of an Era for the Sprinters

This year marked the closing chapter for an entire generation of fast men. Elia Viviani (36) leads the list. The Olympic track champion from Rio 2016 bid farewell to road cycling at the Giro del Veneto, finishing in his hometown of Verona, before one last stint on the track at the World Championships and the Six Days of Ghent. A five-time Giro stage winner and 2018 Maglia Ciclamino, that same year he was also the most successful rider in the world, with 90 road victories in total. Viviani is one of those athletes who transcended cycling, becoming a household name and even Italy’s flag bearer at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Joining him in retirement is Giacomo Nizzolo (36), his compatriot and rival-turned-friend, who carried Italian sprinting on his shoulders for nearly a decade. Twice winner of the Maglia Ciclamino (2015, 2016), Nizzolo finally claimed a long-awaited Giro stage in 2021 after an incredible 11 second places. He finishes with 31 career victories, including two Italian national titles and one European Championship.

Another Maglia Ciclamino to call it a day is Arnaud Démare (34), who said farewell at last weekend’s Paris–Tours. The Frenchman, winner of Milan–Sanremo 2016, retires as the most successful Frenchman in the history of the Giro d’Italia, and with 97 career wins, one fewer than Alexander Kristoff (38). The powerful Norwegian, who also retires this year, leaves behind a glittering palmarès that includes Milan–Sanremo 2014 and the Tour of Flanders 2015.

Majka, the Maglia Rosa, and the Others

Before, during, and after his triumph at Il Lombardia 2025, Tadej Pogačar repeatedly thanked Rafal Majka (36). The Polish domestique ended his career at the Classic of the Falling Leaves, having been a loyal right-hand man to the Slovenian superstar in many of his triumphs. Majka nonetheless boasts stage wins at the Tour de France and four Giro top-10 finishes, with fifth overall in 2016 as his best result.

Three Italians retire having worn the Maglia Rosa: Salvatore Puccio (36), a tireless team worker who briefly led the Giro after winning the team time trial in Ischia in 2013; Alessandro De Marchi (39), a breakaway specialist who wore pink for two days in 2021 – the last Italian to do so until this year, when Diego Ulissi led for 24 hours; and Gianluca Brambilla (38), who captured the stage ending in Arezzo in 2016 and held the jersey for a couple of days.
Among the former Maglia Azzurra winners, Geoffrey Bouchard (33) – King of the Mountains at the 2021 Giro – also hangs up his wheels. His career unfortunately ended with a broken collarbone at the Tour de Luxembourg, not the farewell he had hoped for.

Also stepping away from the peloton are Basque riders Jonathan Castroviejo (38), European time trial champion in 2016, and Omar Fraile (35), stage winner at the 2017 Giro in Bagno di Romagna; Michael Woods (39), Canadian climber and winner of the 2019 Milano–Torino and a Tirreno Adriatico stage; and a host of loyal domestiques and veterans including Kristian Sbaragli, Pieter Serry (37), Simone Petilli (32), third on Gran Sasso at the 2023 Giro, and Louis Meintjes (33), runner-up at the 2023 Giro di Sicilia – all three taking their final bow at Il Lombardia.

Also retiring after long careers, though seen less frequently on Italian roads, are Pierre Latour, Geoffrey Soupe, Adrien Petit, Tim Declercq, Daniel McLay, Anthony Perez, Anthony Delaplace, Ryan Gibbons, and Ide Schelling..