Fabian Cancellara announced that he will line up at the Giro d'Italia next May in what will be his final season in the professional peloton. The Swiss rider confirmed his participation in the corsa rosa during a press conference in Treviso on Wednesday, where Segafredo was revealed as co-title sponsor of the Trek Factory Racing team for the next three years.
"I'll be at the Giro d'Italia. I've never worn pink and so it's a goal for my last season," Cancellara told reporters. "I already spoke about it with [Trek-Segafredo team manager] Luca [Guercilena] about a month ago."
Cancellara has raced the Giro just twice during his career, in 2007 and 2009, and withdrew in the second week on each occasion. He holds the record for the most days spent in the yellow jersey of the Tour de France without ever winning the race overall (29), but the pink jersey is one of the very few missing from his collection. The 9.8-kilometre time trial on the opening day of the 2016 edition in Apeldoorn ought to provide him with an early opportunity to lead the Giro.
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"The yellow jersey of the Tour is the most prestigious but perhaps the maglia rosa is the one with the most passion, the most emotion," said Cancellara. "And obviously, I come from an Italian background so it's something that would mean a lot to me. A lot of years in the past, I either didn't have the chance to go to the Giro, or else I just went to ride and see."
When Cancellara announced his retirement plans last month, he suggested that he was unlikely to ride in the Olympic Games in Rio, though now at least, his programme has only been sketched out as far as May.
"The programme up to the Classics is fairly certain, starting with Mallorca and the Volta ao Algarve," he said. "I still have to confirm if I'll do the opening weekend in Belgium, but then I'll certainly ride Strade Bianche, Tirreno and Milan-San Remo as normal before the cobbled Classics, and then the Giro is on my programme after that."
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