'Perfect finale' - Elia Viviani ends career with another rainbow jersey

Fittingly, Elia Viviani was the last man standing in the final race of his career. On the road, the Italian made his name as a sprinter, but on the track, he was the ultimate endurance rider too. And here he was, outlasting the opposition one last time to claim the elimination race at the World Championships in Santiago, bringing the curtain down with a rainbow jersey.

There will be a final farewell at the Gent Six later this month, but the Track Worlds in Chile essentially marked the end of Viviani’s competitive career, and there was no more appropriate way for him to sign off.

Viviani won 90 races on the road as a pro, including a European title and stages in all three Grand Tours, but he remained loyal to the track throughout his career. His ability on the boards carried him to gold in the Omnium at the Rio 2016 Olympics. He would return to take bronze in the same discipline Tokyo five years later before adding a silver in the Madison at the Paris 2024 Olympics. 

But the medals were only a part of the story; Viviani was also the trailblazer for Italy’s years of plenty on the track. His decision to keep up his track endeavours as a young professional initially seemed like an eccentricity but it would serve as a template for those who came after him. 

Italy’s team pursuit gold in Tokyo might not have happened had Viviani not showed men like Filippo Ganna and Jonathan Milan that it was possible to mix road and track at the highest level.

Viviani’s status earned him the nickname of ‘Il Profeta’ – the Prophet – and that was the legend on the t-shirt his national teammates wore trackside on Sunday as they watched him claim the elimination race title.

“I wanted to finish on a high and I’ve managed to do it,” Viviani said, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport. “Last year, I looked for a team for 2025, and I didn’t do it on a whim. I wanted to show that I could still win on the road and I did it. I wanted to be competitive at a Grand Tour, and at the Vuelta, I came close to winning. And finally, I wanted to enjoy a farewell on the track and win another rainbow jersey.”

Viviani was left without a team last winter following the expiry of his contract with Ineos but he signed a deal with Lotto in late February, and he got off the mark for his new team with a win at the Tour of Turkey in April.

On the Vuelta a España, Viviani went close on stage 8 in Zaragoza, though he was later relegated from second place for deviating in the sprint. A week after the race reached Madrid, he would score the 90th and final road win of his career at the Memorial Briek Schotte.

On Sunday evening, Viviani admitted that he had been nervous ahead of his final race, but he secured a third Elimination Race rainbow jersey by seeing off Campbell Stewart (New Zealand) in the final sprint.

“This is the perfect finale,” he said. “One of my proudest achievements is that I contributed to the relaunch of track cycling in Italy. And now we have a structure and a federation that believes in it. We need to continue this way.”

Viviani may well be a part of that future. According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, the 36-year-old has already held talks with the Italian cycling federation regarding a possible role as team manager across all disciplines.