The retiring riders for whom Il Lombardia will be their final race received a warm send-off and a guard of honour from the peloton at the start of the Italian Monument in Bergamo on Saturday morning.
Multiple riders are closing the curtain on their careers in Italy this Saturday, including former winner Bauke Mollema (Lidl-Trek), plus Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), Rudy Molard (Groupama-FDJ United), Odd Christian Eiking (Unibet Rose Rockets) and Ion Izagirre (Cofidis).
At the start, the retirees were presented with a guard of honour from their peloton colleagues, who lined the road with their bikes in the air to wave off the departing riders.
Mollema, who won this race in 2019 and has the most starts in the current peloton with a whopping 17, was also presented with a medal and framed plaque on stage during the team sign-on to commemorate the last race of his career.
This comes alongside a special Netherlands-themed paint job on his Trek bike for his final race.
"There's quite a lot going through my mind today, it's a special day, ending my career here in Lombardia, in a race that I won and that has given me a lot," the Dutchman told Rai at the start.
"It's been a long journey, almost 20 years in professional cycling, and today is the last day, in a race I love. I've always loved to race in Italy, so I hope to enjoy it a bit, but it will also be a lot of suffering."
Mollema on stage with his medal and plaque (Image credit: Getty Images)
The guard of honour and peloton farewells ended up being slightly overshadowed, after a protest in the name of rider safety became the biggest story of the start of Il Lombardia.
Subscribe to Cyclingnews for comprehensive race coverage of the UCI Gravel World Championships, alongside the final Monument of the season, Il Lombardia. Subscribers get unlimited access to exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.
Matilda is an NCTJ-qualified journalist based in the UK who joined Cyclingnews in March 2025. Prior to that, she worked as the Racing News Editor at GCN, and extensively as a freelancer contributing to Cyclingnews, Cycling Weekly, Velo, Rouleur, Escape Collective, Red Bull and more. She has reported on the ground at all of the biggest events on the calendar, including the men's and women's Tours de France, the Giro d'Italia, the Vuelta a Espana, the Spring Classics and the World Championships. She has particular experience and expertise in women's cycling, and women's sport in general. She is a graduate of modern languages and sports journalism.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
