After one year as a lead-out man for Francesco Lasca at Caja Rural, Davide Vigano may be forced to end his career. Despite having an offer to stay at his current team, the Italian is looking for new team and knows that there is a big risk that he will be unable to find one.
On June 12, Davide Vigano turned 30 but he may already be forced to retire. In fact, the Italian sprinter could have continued his career and had an offer from the Caja Rural team where he has been riding in 2014, but he decided that he wanted more than that.
"I don't want more money," he tells Tuttobiciweb. "I just wish I could ride for a team that is a bit bigger and better structured. I want to do more races, especially the biggest ones.
"With all due respect to Caja Rural which I have to thank, I feel I can play a more important role in a larger team. Quite frankly if I have to ride at the minimum wage for 30 years, then I will take a normal job. This year I had a solid season. I won a stage in the Tour of Portugal, I won the points jersey, I was third in Clasica de Almeira and third on stages in Portugal and Azerbaijan. I think I had more than twenty top 10 results in only 50 races. The balance is not bad. And if we consider that most of the time I rode in support Luis Leon Sanchez, I do not seem to have gone so bad. I have scored 262 points in the Europe tour, but apparently it doesn't matter. Probably you need other qualities.
"I have given myself a little time to find something interesting. In the last nine years as a professional, I have always given something. I have always worked for my captains, Paolo Bettini, Tom Boonen, Boasson Hagen, Daniele Bennati and Alessandro Petacchi."
Despite his difficult situation, Vigano has no regrets.
"No, I think I have always given my best," he says. "Maybe I was a bit supportive. I might have had to think more about myself. I had to be more selfish."
Vigano already knows what he will do if he doesn't find a new team.
"I will take a normal job," he says. "That's my only option. I have already spoken with my wife who works in the insurance sector. We are considering a few possibilities but I do not deny that it is very hard. I really like to ride my bike but I will not be pathetic. It is a very delicate moment of my life and I was hoping for a different ending." I
Vigano does not regret his decision not to accept the offer from Caja Rural.
"I know, and for this I sincerely thank them," he says when asked about the chance to stay at his current team. "In my situation, many riders wouldn't hesitate for a single second, but I think I can earn more. If the cycling world tells me otherwise, I will take not and I will move away. I will do so with reluctance but I will do it."
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