Italian climber Domenico Pozzovivo has announced he is returning from retirement and has signed with Solution Tech-Nippo-Rali at the age of 43.
Pozzovivo last raced in 2024, finishing 38th at Il Lombardia while riding for VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè, but now he will race for the rival Italian second division team. The team confirmed the signing on their social media channels after Italian sports newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport broke the story earlier this week.
According to La Gazzetta and confirmed in the team's announcement, Pozzovivo will make his season debut at the Tour of the Alps, which begins on April 20.
"This decision comes from an objective analysis of my condition. I am grateful to the team and will do my best to repay their trust with experience and competitiveness," Pozzovivo said.
Team manager, Serge Parsani, added, "We are thrilled to welcome Pozzovivo. From our first discussions, we sensed clarity and a strong condition. He can be an important added value for the team."
The move will make Pozzovivo the oldest racer in the top two levels of the pro peloton, a title held this year by 39-year-old Bauke Mollema (Lidl-Trke). He still has some years to run to beat the likes of Francisco Mancebo and Oscar Sevilla, however. The pair are racing this year at the age of 49.
Since retiring, Pozzovivo has studied and obtained a Master's degree in sports science and also coached veteran race walker Alex Schwazer.
"The problem is that many people don’t know that my life hasn’t stopped in the meantime. I wasn't at home depressed because I wanted to get back to racing," he told Bici.Pro.
"My days were packed even before making this decision. I'll continue with the activities I've started; my prerogative is to be able to do many things at once, and I'll stick with them.
"I don't regret quitting. Since Diana was born, or rather since two months before, I have never slept away from home. Furthermore, studying like crazy, I managed to get a two-year master's degree in just one year. In short, I don't regret having stopped."
Pozzovivo said that he continued training during his retirement, putting in 16-18 hours a week. He said that he's beaten a lot of his personal bests and noted that his comeback is partly driven by curiosity to see how he'd perform against much younger riders.
"Last year, training wasn't a regular part of my day, and equally, performance-wise, I've been at the highest level I've ever been all year, even more of the best Pozzovivo," he said.
"I beat a lot of my personal bests, and I was waiting, thinking that sooner or later I would explode, I wouldn't go any further and I would get sick of cycling.
"Above all, scientific curiosity drives me. Last year, I was kind of on the fence about how long I could keep certain things up. From that curiosity, the idea was born to see what level I could be at in a group that is half my age."
A pure climber, Pozzovivo took 13 wins through a career spanning 20 seasons and seven teams. The decision to return at the Tour of the Alps is serendipitous as it was the scene of his biggest stage race victory in 2012, before the race's rebrand from the Giro del Trentino.
After coming through the ranks at famed Italian under-23 team Zalf, Pozzovivo turned pro in 2005 with Ceramica Panaria-Navigare (now known as Bardiani). He spent eight seasons there before racing spells with AG2R, Bahrain, NTT, Intermarché, and Israel.
Highlights of his long career included that win at Trentino and a mountain stage victory at the 2012 Giro d'Italia at Lago Laceno. He also counts stages of the Volta a Catalunya and Tour de Suisse on his palmarès.
Pozzovivo was also a consistent performer at the Giro, finishing in the GC top 10 seven times, with fifth places in 2014 and 2018 his best results.
Highlights of his final season were fourth overall at the Tour of Slovenia and eighth place on stage 10 of the Giro d'Italia after a day in the breakaway. Despite his return, Pozzovivo will not return to his home Grand Tour as Solution Tech didn't receive an invite.
