Salvatore Puccio, a life as a domestique. On the occasion of his 36th birthday, he announced his retirement from racing and was overwhelmed with messages of affection.

Salvatore Puccio is much loved in the peloton, he has done his best to be appreciated on and off the saddle and, after a life as a domestique, he is ready for new challenges in a cycling world that has completely changed during his 14 years of professional career. The Sicilian, a flag-bearer for Team Sky/Ineos Grenadiers, was a precious teammate for Bradley Wiggins, Rigoberto Uran, Geraint Thomas, Mark Cavendish, Egan Bernal, Michal Kwiatkowski, Elia Viviani, Tao Geoghegan Hart and Filippo Ganna, just to name a few of the team leaders who wanted him by their side in grand tours and classics, and now wants to put all his experience to use in the team car. But before starting this new adventure as a sports director, there are still some races to compete in, in Italy, as he requested. Because all roads lead home and a great story deserves the best ending.

How are you experiencing this last chapter?
"Well, because I chose to put a full stop. After so many years, I felt the need to say stop. In my recent training, I've felt a bit of melancholy, but during races I feel the fatigue and then I tell myself that I made the right decision. It's the right time to quit."

Your first professional race was in August 2011.
"A lifetime has passed. I always wore the same jersey because I felt good in this group. I've seen many teammates come and go, the staff change. I'm not the only one, but among the few remaining from the original project. I don't like changing much, I prefer stability and tranquility. The only jersey different from the club one that I wore was the blue one, with Elia Viviani, besides stages at the Giro and Vuelta, we won the European Championship in 2019."

What remains of this part of your life?
"It's extremely difficult to answer this big question. I have so many memories and who knows how many I've already forgotten. They were intense and satisfying years. Wearing the pink jersey in 2013, at my first Giro d'Italia, was a pleasant surprise, and I feel every victory of my teammate as my own. I've always been fortunate to ride with true champions who brought home the result at the end of the race. For a domestique, this is extremely important because you can work as much as you want, but if the team leader doesn't win, your work is worth zero."

Alongside the joys, there must have been some pain.
"Fortunately, I never had major problems, the first real injury happened this year, just before the Tour of the Alps I broke my wrist. I would have liked to race the Giro d'Italia again, instead for two months I was forced to stay away from races. Never mind. Now, after the races in Canada, I asked to compete in the last races in Italy: Giro dell'Emilia, Tre Valli Varesine and Il Lombardia. My friends are preparing, they'll organize a nice party..."

You've raced 17 grand tours and 29 classics, and the victory column remains at zero.
"I raced a lot, often at the end of the year I was the first in the team for number of races, starting in January and ending in October, as the old school mentality wanted. I had few personal opportunities because I always helped others. When I made a good breakaway, I regularly found myself with specialists like Alessandro De Marchi who beat me at the Vuelta and Steve Cummings at Tirreno-Adriatico, in short, the worst opponents to compete against..."

In recent years, have you struggled?
"Yes, cycling has changed a lot and is increasingly demanding. To stay competitive, last winter I did three training sessions a day. I went to the gym in the morning, on the bike, and then on the rollers, well-dressed to sweat. How long can a young rider handle these rhythms? Nutritionally, there has been a revolution. Once after an omelet, you'd do five regular hours fasting, now you start a training session with specific, personalized work with pockets full of gels, you have to get used to assimilating 120 grams per hour, which is a lot. I've never had problems with weight, I know myself, I know how to manage myself, but for many, diet is an additional stress."

We're going faster and faster.
"It's extremely dangerous and wearing, there are few of us left who brake and if you slow down, you lose 40 positions in an instant, which is hard to recover. If you leave a little space, they'll squeeze in from everywhere. It's not a problem of gears, but of mentality. The accidents we see on TV are 1% of what happens, in the group it's a continuous pushing and feeling the levers of those around you. The group is really very compact, once you experienced this frenzy only at the finish, now it accompanies us from kilometer zero. Recently on a descent I touched 84 km/h, I was scared. Alas, I'm afraid it will only get worse."

Your favorite race?
"Strade Bianche is stunning. Perhaps recently they've made it a bit too hard. That said, when Tadej Pogacar is racing, there's not much you can do..."

What's your relationship with the bike?
"After training, I don't want to see the bike, I'm not one of those maniacal about mechanics and measurements, and I admit, not even about cleaning. I already spend so many hours in the saddle, when I return I'm tired and just want to rest and play with my son. This summer he always wanted me to take him cycling, so after doing my work, I had to go out with him. Fortunately, I have an electric city bike with a child seat, otherwise, you can imagine the leg pain. Especially because Tommaso is starting to get heavy. He's two and a half and is wild, he's starting to talk and never stays still. When we go out cycling, he's super happy, especially because I always take him to different places, where there are horses and other beauties near home."

Where are you?
"In Assisi. In 2002, I moved from Sicily with my family to Petrignano d'Assisi. Then I was ten years in Monaco and in September 2023 I returned to Assisi with my wife Francesca and our little one, born in March of that year. We were lucky to buy a penthouse with a large terrace overlooking Santa Maria degli Angeli, it was under construction and we didn't let it slip away. With the end of my competitive career, I'll have more time to dedicate to my loved ones, who have been and always will be fundamental."

When you're not in the saddle?
"Gardening has gotten me. It relaxes me immensely. My father-in-law Antonio, who previously worked in a flower shop, passed on the passion. He always took care of the greenery but lately, I like doing everything myself, from turning the plants so they get sun from every side and don't curve, to pruning. At the moment, I'm battling with the pittosporum, it's giving me some problems because it's delicate, it gets hit by these damn insects that dry out the plants."

So when he grows up, Salvatore Puccio will be a nurseryman?
"No, this love for plants will remain a hobby. I've enrolled in the UCI course to become a sports director. I want to stay in the group, I would very much like to be in the team car, even for another team. From the sports directors I've had in my career, I'll be inspired by Matteo Tosatto, someone with great charisma who involves you, motivates you and transmits grit, and Dario David Cioni, who is much calmer. Ideally, I think I can become a middle ground..."

Looking back at your life as a domestique, do you have any regrets? Maybe in some occasions you could have been less generous and more selfish...
"No, I have no regrets. I'm absolutely happy with my career. Fatigue aside, I would do everything again from zero."

from tuttoBICI October issue