A post a few days ago when he announced his retirement from cycling, then a great silence. A post written with wisdom and clarity, passion and awareness. So at just 23 years old Alessio Nieri He said enough. Or rather, he was forced to say enough.
The rider of Work Service-Vitalcare-Cavaliere He had suffered a terrible fall at the Tour of Turkey, towards the end of last season. He ended up in the hospital and was left alone there, waiting for an insurance doctor who never arrived. A family friend then brought him back to Italy.
The stop
But if those were the blows of the moment, then the cold ones emerged. In fact, very cold ones.
«The focus was mainly on the lung and rib problems. – says Nieri – so in the thoracic area, but then there was something else. last time I told you I was back on the bike, but I still had some pain. As I continued training, these pains became more and more intense and severe. So I did more tests, more in-depth analysis, and it emerged that basically... in the back, where these pains were concentrated, the lumbar vertebrae were crushed and a hernia also emerged».
Doing 4-5 hours like that certainly wasn't ideal. Especially since we're talking about an athlete, not a cyclist who rides for fitness, to avoid getting a belly fat, or for fun.
Unavoidable decision
It goes without saying that training like this became impossible for the young Nieri. Between the gym, physiotherapy and everything else, things weren't improving. Actually… Alessio did a bike workout and then had to take a break for three days. You can't be an athlete like that.
«I had also started running again – he explains – to try to get back to being pro. I had done the Florence-Empoli, but then just as I was starting to intensify everything, things got worse at the same time. Training like this was impossible, and so one day, when I got home, I said enough. What I'd more or less understood inside myself for a while had become official."
It's not easy to say goodbye to your dreams. Sure, we're not talking about an absolute champion, but still a young man, a promising climber.
Alessio Nieri had started cycling rather late. It was 2018, as a second-year student. Starting road racing at that age wouldn't have been easy. In fact, few people trusted him, especially since he'd become a junior the following year. Who would invest in a young man starting from scratch, or almost, in this increasingly important category?
"The Taddei cycles He gave me a chance to race,” he says, “but it was mountain biking. I started with them. Then, after a while, I went to the races alone. My "dad," Alessandro, took me. In my first attempts as a junior, I was doing pretty well. I was always in front, but I never won. Victory came as an amateur. I took the Mastromarco-Sensi-Nibali and I won a hill climb. Then from there I landed at Bardiani-Csf Faizanè».
Beyond cycling
Clearly, Alessio's life changed. And it did so overnight. What had been a beautiful and pleasant routine suddenly vanished. In these very days the Tuscan is discovering a new dimension, a new way of managing his days.
"It's strange, actually. Before, you'd wake up: breakfast, a look at the weather, and off you went on your bike. You'd come back in the afternoon. You'd eat, then take a little rest, and it would be evening. Everything is different now. Even with food. I'm rediscovering so many things."
And among the many things, inevitably, there are also ideas for the future. Nieri has a dream: to become a sporting director. And he's on the move to find work.
"The Federation – he explains – now he's significantly extended the time it takes to become a sports director for the pros. It will take a bit of time, but that would be a goal. I'd still like to stay in the racing world, which I still really enjoy. For now I'm looking for something like a masseur. I've always liked it and I even took the course."
New life
Changing perspective also means looking at races from a different perspective. Even if the critical and incisive judgment of those who ran until a few weeks ago and were part of that group remains, the perspective is still that of the rider.
«I enjoyed the classics – says Nieri – and I must say that Van der Poel I really liked him. He's the man of spring. In fact, for me he's "the" cyclist. I also remember being close to him in the group more than a few times when I was running. And what can I say: he's beautiful on a bike. Stylistically perfect.He puts on a show when he attacks. He has a great team for one-day races and he's also big. You can't move a guy like that easily."
It should also be noted that Nieri was a climber weighing just over 55 kilos, the opposite of Mathieu! That doesn't change the fact that the world champion is a sphinx in the saddle.
Marcellusi and not only
And while he was enjoying the classics, Alessio was overwhelmed by the farewell messages from his former colleagues.
"So many people wrote to me," Nieri says with a certain pride, "even people I hadn't heard from in a while, and that made me very, very happy. It meant they loved me. Then with someone, you see Marcellusi we really felt each other. Martin, besides being a former teammate at both Mastromarco and Bardiani, is a true friend. He knew about my retirement a little before I announced the news.
"But come on... we're moving forward. If I look at the glass half empty, it hurts to think that I can no longer follow my dream of being a rider and that it all happened so suddenly. But if I look at the glass half full, Maybe that day in Türkiye, instead of staying on the edge of the cliff, I could have ended up in it.
"For now, I know that with physiotherapy and specific work, I'll regain some mobility in my back, which I also need for a normal life." And that's what matters, dear Alessio.
