Imanol Erviti's beautiful farewell message after 19 years in Movistar Team

Imanol Erviti experienced last Saturday in Il Lombardia his farewell as a professional cyclist after 19 years in the elite in the same structure, that of Movistar Team.

The man who has been the captain of the Navarre team for the last decade leaves at 39 years old (very close to turning 40) after having raced a multitude of times Giro d'Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a España, after having been for a time the best Spaniard in the Belgian cobbled classics (in 2016 he signed top 10 in Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix) and, above all, after having been the soul of the Spanish team.

His farewell message:

After 19 years of unforgettable professional and personal experience in the @movistar_team structure, it's time to say goodbye. I want to thank all the members of the team, from the first ones who noticed me when I was a junior, to the last ones with whom I'm sharing roads.

To past and present managers. To all the directors, doctors, masseurs, mechanics, assistants and other excellent professionals with whom I have been fortunate to work and share many days away from home in which they have been my family. And of course thanks to the many wonderful fellow riders, with whom I have been able to learn, enjoy and suffer for countless hours on the bike.

I hope I have done my bit for all of them. I do not want to forget the sponsors, big and small, who have made possible the continuity of this adventure during all this time. My best wishes for the team to continue its journey for many more years and achieve great success.

Finally, a special remembrance to those who left us and their families, always in our hearts. Life, like careers, is made up of stages, and they say that when a stage ends, new opportunities open up. Now it's time to catch our breath, a little reflection and let's go for them.

See you soon.

Article written by Juan Larra.