Diego Ulissi is the last Italian to have won a stage in Oman and remains one of the most applauded athletes by the present public. The Tuscan from Team XDS Astana started his season in Spain, but always returns gladly to Omani land where he has collected many placings throughout his career, like yesterday's fifth place at the top of Yitti Hills. Every year Diego sets himself new challenges, tries to improve, and above all wants to contribute to a sparkling team that believes strongly in him.

Last year Diego decided to change everything, after 15 years with Lampre and then UAE Team, he arrived in the Kazakh squad that bet everything on his experience. At the beginning of the season, the points issue was not to be underestimated, the team risked losing its World Tour license, but at a certain point something clicked. The first athletes started winning, one after another, stages, a pink jersey at the Giro, single races, placings, a 2025 to frame. But what exactly happened? "Last year I had the goal of helping the younger riders find the right motivations to have a good year, we had to save ourselves at all costs. In the end, it was just a mental issue, they always had talent, but somehow they needed to be spurred on. It happened to me too to have less brilliant moments, but you must be able to manage and overcome them. Finally, they managed to materialize the season they had in their legs and logically when you see a teammate performing well, that positive pride also emerges that pushes you to improve, to do better than him," Diego explains to us, providing a clear vision of a group where pushing each other is an additional engine to do well. It's the so-called healthy competition that saw Italian riders at the center of the game, Diego tried to motivate his teammates, gave advice, but above all made them believe in themselves.

Diego remains the symbol of that cycling built on respect, with hierarchies that are not restrictive but rather the key role of the experienced rider who offers himself as a mentor to the younger one. "Today's riders are really different from us, it's the mentality that has changed, often the younger ones are curious to know about when I turned professional, and then I start telling anecdotes that almost seem absurd. For example, it was quite something to find yourself next to great champions like Petacchi or Gilbert, there was fear of approaching for the risk of making a mistake and causing them to fall; today, instead, there are no more rules, hierarchies have been totally forgotten." Diego continues, echoing what Matteo Trentin had told us in the interview published in the January issue of Tuttobici - it's a different cycling made of hungry young riders who want to win everything immediately. Two weeks ago, on the occasion of his debut in Spain, Ulissi joked on Instagram about his 17th season as a professional, a number that is felt, but which he often tends to forget. However, when he looks back at the road he has traveled, the people he has met, he realizes how much time has passed. From a young dreamer, Diego has become an experienced rider who has not stopped setting goals. "17 years ago it was just me and my wife, we've been through a lot, and now I have 4 people waiting for me at home, I often think about it and so I realize how much I've grown," he tells us, joking. He is at the threshold of cycling's legal age, yet continues to be victorious.

Since 2010, Ulissi has won at least one race per season, it's not a goal, it's something that comes automatically and testifies to his consistency. The pink jersey at the Giro is an example, pursued many times in past years and instead arrived when no one expected it, especially himself. It's the beauty of those small surprises for those long-dreamed goals, for the milestones, for the satisfactions that Diego continues to move forward. Many of his peers have already hung up their bikes, have said enough too soon or because they had truly reached the end of the line, he is well aware of this and knows that one day his moment will also come. We know exactly what to ask Diego, yet we hesitate to ask that so automatic question because listening to him talk about his passion, one would want it to never end. We say it all in one breath, sinning of pride, but well knowing it's the right time to ask: Have you ever thought about retirement? The Tuscan looks at us with a smile, he wanted it, expected it, and responds in the most sincere way possible. "Years pass for everyone, I can no longer do the numbers I did when I was 25, but it's something physiological. However, I believe that at a certain point in one's career, the desire emerges to prove, especially to oneself, that one is capable of achieving results. I can train well, follow the right nutrition, I'm happy to be an important element in the team and above all I'm having fun. So I wonder why I should stop. But then I start thinking about everything I'm leaving behind and the perspective changes. I have reflected many times about my retirement, I would like to go on forever, but it's not possible, I'm starting to feel the distance from my family, I have to decide year by year. I would like to be competitive until the end, retire because I chose to do so, not because I can't go much further. I don't know exactly when it will happen, not very soon, but only when I feel ready."