Alessandro De Marchi’s farewell reveals a rare highlight of his career

Talking to bici.pro, De Marchi recalled a moment that captured exactly what this farewell embodied: humble and human. “Now I’ll tell you something you probably won’t expect,” he said. 

“My birthday is May 19, and May means Giro d’Italia. On my birthday in 2018, my fans from the Red Passion group were waiting for me on the Zoncolan. During the stage, I stopped there, they sang happy birthday to me, I had a glass of beer, and then I rode on to the finish. That’s one of the moments that will stay with me forever.”

De Marchi never wanted to leave Italy. He built his home near Buja, the town that gave him his nickname, Il Rosso di Buja. His farewell wasn’t about trophies or speeches but about community. A children’s race opened the day, echoing the joy that once made him fall in love with cycling. Later came stories, laughter and old race footage. The kind of memories that don’t need a podium.

“The time has come to say it’s enough,” he said softly. “It’s come with a smile and the right sense of calm. It wasn’t sudden; I’d already shared my thoughts before, and that was important for me. Maybe not everyone understood my choice, but I needed to be honest with myself first, and then with those who followed me.”

At the Veneto Classic, the peloton honoured him with a corridor of bikes as he walked through for the last time. “It was beautiful,” he said. “You step out of your world as a rider, hoping you’ve left something behind. To stay joyful, you have to stay true to the spark that made you pick up the bike in the first place.”

De Marchi has never shied away from speaking his mind. After the Tour, he said he would have struggled today to race wearing the Israel Premier Tech jersey he once did. “Maybe at times I could have been lighter,” he admitted. “But everyone expresses themselves in their own way. Those who know me know I also have moments when I just seek lightness.”

That honesty is what makes Buja proud of him. “I hoped and knew Buja would respond like this,” he said. “It’s in the nature of this place and its people. When they’re called upon, they come together.”

The evening marked the close of his racing career and the start of a new chapter for the three-time Vuelta a España stage winner and former maglia rosa wearer at the Giro d'Italia. De Marchi will join Jayco-AlUla as a sports director, working with the next generation of riders.