Damiano Caruso has bid farewell to the Giro d'Italia: "It's been a beautiful love story with a happy ending". At 38 years old, the Ragusa champion is closing his adventure in the pink race after nine participations. At the end of the season he will hang up his bike, but will remain in the world of cycling: he will move to the team car, still with Bahrain-Victorious, which welcomed him in 2019.

He crossed the finish line in Rome with the smile of someone who knows he has written a beautiful page of personal history. Not for the standings, not for a placement to defend (ninth), but for the meaning of those kilometers: the last of his story at the Giro d'Italia. Nine participations, the first in 2012, five times in the top 10, a second-place finish in 2021 behind Bernal which remains the highest point of a career built with consistency, tactical intelligence and that rare ability to always be in the right place at the right time. No second thoughts, he will close at the end of the season.

At the start of the final stage, Caruso didn't hide his emotion: "I want to stop. I'm enjoying every single moment of this day and these three weeks, which have been more than positive for us. It's been a beautiful experience that I will carry with me forever. Not just this Giro, but all the Giros I've participated in". And on why not continue for another year, he explains: "I want to end this story, I want it to end like a beautiful love story with a happy ending. I don't want to reach the point of hating the bike, or of not living it with the same passion with which I'm living it now".

The relationship between Caruso and the pink race has been something more than a simple participation. Second in 2021, fourth in 2023, fifth in 2025, eighth in 2015, ninth in 2026: the placements tell the story of a rider who always found his best dimension at the Giro. "Yes, it was the race I cared about most and where I always managed to express myself well. If in nine Giros I finished in the top 10 five times, it means this feeling wasn't just a coincidence. There's something inside, something special."

The mind has traveled back in these days. To the young years at Mastromarco in Tuscany, to battles at table football with Vincenzo Nibali, to seasons away from Sicily chasing the dream, to all the sacrifices of being far from home. "I've retraced my entire career and realized how quickly time passes. It's incredible. It's been a beautiful journey."

A journey that also led him to discover Italy by pedaling: "That's true, the people especially: finding the public along the road, hearing your name, racing your own roads, traveling Italy from south to north... it's something magical". Only one regret, confessed with a bittersweet smile, and it seems almost incredible just to think about it: "The only downside is that I never raced a Giro d'Italia in Sicily". Yes, that's exactly right.

Damiano Caruso leaves the Giro with the serenity of someone who has honored every kilometer. The second place in 2021, the only stage victory at Alpe Motta in the same year, the breakaways, the work for the captains, the days as a protagonist: everything comes together in a balance sheet that needs no regrets. "If I look back, I see a lot of road traveled. And I'm happy to have traveled it".

Now the final seasonal objectives, then he'll close at the Giro di Lombardia. But the love story with the Giro, that will remain.