Davide Cimolai (Movistar Team) will retire at the end of the 2025 season, drawing a line under 16 years in the WorldTour after a cascade of illnesses turned what was meant to be a gentle run-in to 2026 into a fight simply to stay healthy.
“I started this year with the intention of racing until 2026, but the reality immediately turned out to be different from my expectations,” Cimolai told bici.PRO. The turning point came around the Tour de Romandie, when a neglected wound on his arm became a severe infection. “Hospitalisation was necessary and I risked the amputation of the arm itself,” he said. “But the biggest problem was the massive doses of antibiotics,” which triggered three ear infections in a matter of weeks.
That nightmare followed a heavy flu at the Tour of Oman that left him riding the UAE Tour and early Classics on fumes. After a brief reset in Livigno he showed flashes at the Tour de Wallonie and Tour de Pologne, only to be flattened again when he “caught Covid in a heavy way” in Poland. “This accumulation of physical and mental difficulties made me realise that the professional journey was over,” he admitted.
Cimolai bows out with nine professional victories, 15 Grand Tours completed and five Tours de France finished on the Champs-Élysées, much of it spent as a trusted lead-out for sprinters such as Fernando Gaviria (Movistar Team).
Now 36, he speaks with calm rather than bitterness. He credits his partner Alessia as his “greatest support” and highlights Movistar trainer Leonardo Piepoli for helping him “see things from a different perspective” in his final seasons.
Post-peloton, Cimolai plans a “studio” to mentor young riders and a project in agriculture, hoping to pour a domestique’s patience into new soil. After a year when his body finally said no, he leaves the sport on his own terms.
Picture credit: Simon Wilkinson/SWpix.com
