Elia Viviani raced for a final time at the Gent Six Day on Sunday night, at his last dance after a 20-year career as a road sprinter and leader of the Italian track team.
The 36-year-old Italian woke up as a former athlete on Monday, but has a new role after the Italian Cycling Federation named him as their track team manager in a shuffling of the whole national team.
Viviani raced the Gent Six Day with Lotto teammate Jasper De Buyst. They led the race after five days but eventually finished third, with Madison world champions Lindsay De Vylder and Fabio Van den Bossche taking overall victory in the packed velodrome.
Viviani was given an emotional farewell, with the crowd singing his name and the riders giving him a guard of honour. Fellow Italian track riders and Olympic medalists Filippa Ganna and Simone Consonni travelled to Gent for Viviani's farewell at the legendary 't Kuipke velodrome.
"Many people asked me why I wanted to say goodbye here, during the Six Days of Ghent," said a beaming Viviani. "You are the answer. This is special. This 'last dance' is for you. Thank you all for all the emotions of the past twenty years.
"I have goosebumps. Luckily, I'm not crying. That means it's the right decision. It's what I want, and this is what I dreamed of, to end up on this track with these people around me. This is the perfect ending."
Viviani won 90 races on the road but is known for his love of track racing. He won Olympic gold in the Omnium in Rio in 2016, a silver medal in the Madison in 2024 in Paris and a bronze in the Omnium in Tokyo in 2021. He won three world titles on the track, including the Elimination Race at the recent championships in Chile.
Along with long-standing national coach Marco Villa, Viviani helped revive track racing in Italy and inspire the national team to success at both Olympic and World Championship levels. In Italy, he is affectionately nicknamed 'il Profeta' (the prophet) for the way he inspired and led his country's track team for the last three Olympic cycles.
While Viviani was racing in Gent on Saturday, the Italian Federation confirmed his future as part of the Italian national team for the current Olympic cycle until the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Viviani apparently opted against a role as a directeur sportif with Ineos Grenadiers to take on the new national teams role.
"I'm proud that the Italian Federation has put their trust in me and I hope I'm good enough for the role I have been given," Viviani said.
"The Federation has been my home for many years and the new role as track team manager will be a new challenge and a chance for me to grow and learn about team management."
