Francesco Casagrande has decided to call it a day. The Italian has participated in his last race as a professional cyclist on Sunday, namely in the Giro di Toscana. Initially, it was planned for the 34 year-old Naturino-Sapore di Mare rider to be the team's captain at the Giro d'Italia, but as the Professional Continental Team was not given a wildcard by the event organiser RCS, Casagrande now opted for retirement.
The Italian is leaving a beautiful palmarès behind: a Clasica San Sebastian double, Tour de Suisse, Flèche Wallonne, three Giro d'Italia stages as well as a handful of Italian one-day races. In 1999 however, he was suspended for five months for testing positive for a banned substance.
