Few riders have embodied the values of the cycling trade like Damiano Caruso (Ragusa, Sicily; 1987): consistency, loyalty and an almost infinite capacity for suffering in the service of others. On Thursday, the Sicilian pinned on his race number for the last time at the Gran Piemonte, closing a career that began in 2009 as a stagiaire with LPR and saw him grow alongside Ivan Basso and Vincenzo Nibali at Liquigas, toughen up at BMC and become, from 2019, the road captain of Bahrain Victorious.
For years he was the luxury domestique every leader wanted at his side, until the 2021 Giro d’Italia gave him back what cycling owed him. Mikel Landa’s crash left him leading the team, and Caruso responded with the race of his life: second overall behind Egan Bernal and solo winner at Alpe Motta on the penultimate stage, after launching the decisive attack with Romain Bardet on the San Bernardino. “I consider myself a very good professional, I’ve had many placings in my career, but today I really had my day as a champion”, he said at the finish. A few months later he would add a stage win at the Vuelta a España, on the Alto de Velefique.
That podium was no accident. Fourth in 2023 and fifth in 2025, Caruso has lined up at the Corsa Rosa nine times, the last of them this very year: at 38 he finished ninth, was named Supercombattivo of the edition and guided his young teammate Afonso Eulálio to the Maglia Bianca. “I have to admit there are a lot of emotions, even though I had prepared myself for this moment”, he said before the start. “I can be proud to end my career having ridden two Grand Tours in quick succession. I was able to support Eulálio in the fight for the Maglia Rosa and see him win the Maglia Bianca”.
His retirement is not a farewell to cycling, just a change of seat. From 2027, Caruso will be a sports director at Bahrain Victorious, the team he himself describes as a family, and from the team car he will pass on to new generations everything he has learned in seventeen seasons in the peloton. “I will honour my role as road captain and try to give everything until the end. And then I start again in my new role as sports director”, he said ahead of his final race. Thanks for so many afternoons of effort, generosity and class on the roads of the Giro. Thank you for everything, Damiano, and the very best of luck in this new chapter!
