Guerini to retire

By Susan Westemeyer

T-Mobile will be losing one of its mainstays at the end of this season – Giuseppe Guerini has announced that he will stop riding at the end of the season and is considering his options for 2008. The Italian from Bergamo has been with the German team since 1999, and won two Tour de France stages while in its magenta colours.

"I will be racing the Vuelta a España. Then, after that I will stop," he told Cyclingnews' Gregor Brown. "I am still thinking what I will do for 2008." Asked if he had talked with T-Mobile regarding managerial positions within the team, he responded, "I am still considering my options."

Guerini, 37, turned pro in 1993 with the GS-II Team Navigare and then went to Team Polti in 1996. While there, he finished third in the Giro d'Italia in 1997 and 1998, winning a stage in 1998. He transferred to Team Telekom so that he could further concentrate on the Tour. He came with the express purpose of helping Jan Ullrich win the Tour a second time, which never worked out.

He rode the Tour every year with Telekom/T-Mobile until this year, when he had to drop out at the last minute with stomach problems. Nonetheless, he has started 19 Grand Tours in his career. His most famous win is undoubtedly the 10th stage of the 1999 Tour de France, when he won on Alpe d'Huez in spite of being knocked off his bike by spectator.

Cyclingnews interviewed Guerini at the T-Mobile training camp last January.