In his own terms, better than ever and motivated - Why Domenico Pozzovivo returned to pro cycling at 43 and how he will carve his own path

When thinking of longevity in professional cycling, it is fair to quickly associate it with names such as Alejandro Valverde or the late Davide Rebellin. However, there are several others who continued cycling at the very top into their 40's and even after their retirement. Domenico Pozzovivo is one such case, making a comeback year and a half after initially retiring from cycling, and doing so in a very unique way.

He reveals in an interview with Domestique that his return to the cycling world was heavily motivated by Italian race walker Alex Schwazer, a former Olympic gold medalist - but also doping user and Michele Ferrari client - whom he began coaching now after retiring. Pozzovivo took up coaching following his retirement as one of the ways to remain active in the sport.

“Even before I’d announced my comeback, I’d often show him my training sessions to help motivate him. And he was the one who actually said to me ‘since I’ve tried to make a comeback, why don’t you give it a go too?’ We might seem like a couple of madmen, but in the end, something interesting might come of it," he said in Innsbruck this Monday where he officially returned to the peloton in the colours of Solution Tech NIPPO Rali.

In 2022, 2023 and 2024 he continued racing but without exception only found contracts from February onwards. That showed clear motivation to continue racing, despite having the odds stacked up against him in a peloton where young talents are now often the priority. The veteran continued racing but decided to end his career on his own terms at the end of 2024.

But that didn't mean he got off the bike. In fact the polar opposite can be said, as not only he continued, but he has also improved: “I’ve kept training all the while, and my performance levels have remained very high. In some respects, my numbers were surpassing what they were when I was still racing, so I said to myself, why not?”

But he is doing so in a way that is completely different. He is not only a coach but is also studying nutrition and combining both with occasional commentary work in Switzerland. The full package, Pozzovivo is in fact a part-time professional cyclist one could say, but one that remains so motivated that the obstacles don't prevent him from doing so.

“What I’ve studied over the last year-and-a-half has certainly contributed. I’ve got my weight management under control, because before that was maybe a bit of an obsession that led me to make errors that ultimately hindered my performance in training and racing".

Aside from the nutrition aspect, he also changed how he takes on training, balancing his life better which ultimately was a requirement for him to return: “On top of that, I’m managing to do less quantity but more quality in training. Before I did too much altitude and too many training camps, so I was always away from home. Now, because I’m understandably at home more with my family, I found that it wasn’t necessary to do all those altitude camps. After stopping, I realised that there was maybe a middle ground.”

Pozzovivo hence is in an unique position, but due to his history, prestige and also quality on the bike - he was also often gathering KOM's in the Alps after retirement - he found a perfect collaboration with the Italian ProTeam, which can deliver a high-quality calendar, whilst simultaneously protecting him from the extreme demands and pressure of racing in the World Tour.

“I want to strike a balance between family life and the experiences I’m gaining in things like race commentary. I’m curious to see if the fitness levels I have now can get me back in the game at a high level despite my age, which would normally be a factor working against that.”

The Tour of the Alps, a race he won in 2012 when it was still called Giro del Trentino, is his testing ground: “Above all, I want to test myself. I certainly have some doubts about my ability to stand up to five hard days immediately because I haven’t raced yet this year while the others are a bit more hardened. But we’ll go day by day, who knows, maybe we’ll start to do well when there’s a summit finish on the second day.”

However it's not a one-off. Pozzovivo will continue racing after, with an eye on the Italian national championships; and also looking to perform in the extensive Italian autumn calendar which has several races suited to his abilities. “We’ll see in June, but maybe I’ll do a stage race to prepare for the Italian championships. And August and September will certainly be intense in terms of races.”

And he will prepare for the latter in France perhaps, as he will be doing recons of the stages for TV broadcasting - his own private camp. "I’ll have to back off a bit there (in July, ed.), because I’ll be at the Tour de France as a commentator. But I’ll be doing recons of the stages, so I’ll still be able to train…”