Former right-hand woman for Vollering, Wiebes, Kopecky and more retires from professional cycling at age 34
Cycling
Pro cycling has lost one of its veterans in the women's peloton. Elena Cecchini is ending her career in the sport after many years of having supported some of the world's very best riders.
The Italian rider, married to former pro rider Elia Viviani, has been a long-standing member of the women's peloton. She is part of the peloton since 2011 but her time near the top began in 2014 when she became Italian national champion on the road.
She would go on to conquer this title on two more occasions; whilst she would then also win the time trial on two occasions - with a Mediterranean Games title added into the mix. Her final win as a pro was back in 2019, her penultimate years with Canyon//SRAM Racing in which she raced from 2016 to 2020.
From 2021 onwards she opened a new path in her career, as a domestique in what has arguable become the most successful team in modern women's cycling's: Team SD Worx - ProTime,
Cecchini's role would change, but instead of taking victories, she helped build on the many dozens of triumphs from riders such as Demi Vollering, Lorena Wiebes, Lotte Kopecky, Anna van der Breggen and more. Cecchini is in fact the one who's been part of the team for the longest amount of time as a rider.
Elena Cecchini racing for SD Worx
Tributes to Elena Cecchini
As a teammate and friend to many of the world's best, there was no shortage of tributes to the Italian. "Cheers to a wonderful career, and all the best for your next chapter," Demi Vollering wrote. "You were often my roommate, and I’ve shared both good times and bad with you; we’ve laughed so much, cried, and had deep conversations late into the night. Thank you for everything you’ve done and for the woman you are".
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Former European Champion Mischa Bredewold was equally thankful for the years spent alongside Cecchini: "From the bottom of my heart: you are one of the most special teammates there is. You are so loyal, and I have learned so much from you".
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A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
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- how it is "We’ve taken another big step forward for next year" he just lost in lombardia to a 20 year old, and two 30+ year olds. and not even top 10 for WCRR.abstractengineer19-10-2026
- This is similar to Lebron. first he said i need to consult my family , my daughter, need respectable money blah blah blah and then dont care about family , dont care about money, only onion rings, am off to Philly, very very far from family. Off season should be with family more, no?abstractengineer19-10-2026
- I hope he comes back strong for a proper battle with Tadejmij19-10-2026
- congrats to a great career and good retirement.mij19-10-2026
- Any artificial product should be reported.Any team that doesn't should be stripped of wins and fined.I know that this level of transparency does not and will never exist.All anyone can do is continue to test riders on a regular and surprise basis.If the test comes back clean then all any of us can assume is the rider is clean.
Brucegel19-10-2026 - Also, it's supposed to be hard to gain an advantage from drafting off Remco because he is so aero.Hills3319-10-2026
- How would stats back it up? You realise tactics involved could mean Vine saved his legs for a faster finish? Some riders can choose to go all out and fade later in the ride, others can hold steady state the whole way, and others can have a reserved start and power up later in the ride. You can't judge just by the stats unless you have power data to be able to prove Vine is riding faster even though he is putting out the same or less power (suggesting drafting). I'm sure the stats prove that Vine didn't cheat because UCI would monitor the stats to make sure this exact scenario doesn't happen (and disqualify them for drafting if the stats proved it).Pogboom19-10-2026
- Only one person would say such a thing here. Sorry to burst your bubble but I’m afraid that window of opportunity has now closed. You can beat some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time but you can’t beat all of the people all of the time.Jumpyjohn19-10-2026
- Both prizes are actually pathetic, almost amateur like, not even covering the cost of participatingJumpyjohn19-10-2026
- It depends on how you define doping and you would do well to give your definition so we can see how against it you are. If you consider the use (as a hypothetical example) of a new beneficial artificial product unknown to anti-doping agencies ok without considering asking them if it would constitute doping if you told them about it then we’re never going to agree on who could be or couldn’t be doping and according to what threshold, moral, statistical, legal, comparative. In football even financial doping is now consideredJumpyjohn19-10-2026
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