"Many people told him: ‘You are old’... Some attitudes I found inhumane" - Elia Viviani's partner Elena Cecchini hits out at treatment of former INEOS sprinter

Elia Viviani's career prospects looked very concerning a few weeks ago as he continued to search for a career-extending contract after his INEOS Grenadiers departure. Having finally found a home at Lotto though, the Italian's partner, Team SD Worx - Protime star Elena Cecchini has now hit out harshly at the treatment Viviani has received.

Despite the relief at having secured his immediate future, Cecchini recalls how difficult Viviani found the last few weeks and months of uncertainty. "The fact that he wasn't ready to stop, not because he was afraid of what comes after the sports career. Elia also had many opportunities off the bike. But the truth is that he loves cycling, he likes to ride his bike and he loves the bike. In these months of waiting, in which it was difficult to know what would happen," she says in conversation with Bici.Pro. "I saw him every morning living the routine of an athlete : breakfast, bike and training."

A proven force on both the road and on the Track, Viviani did at least have something to fall back on if his World Tour career would been forced into an early conclusion. "Certainly the track saved him, because he was able to stay focused on a goal. These goals to be achieved did not give him the chance to throw in the towel and say: ‘OK, that's enough, I don't feel like waiting any longer’. For my part, I always believed that he would then find a place," Cecchini says. "In cycling nowadays there is a tendency to incentivise multi-disciplines is fundamental in my opinion. In the last two years Elia has worked hard for the Paris Olympics, even sacrificing the road. In the Olympic appointment he showed that he can still have his say. Despite this, many teams have snubbed what he has done."

And it's this perceived lack of respect that has really frustrated Cecchini. "What I saw, through this experience, was that many people told him: ‘You are old’. Others that the sprinter wasn't needed," she recalls. "In modern cycling, especially in men's cycling, everyone is concentrating on looking for general classification riders. Then there are so many 25 or 26 year old riders and to think of a rider ten years older they think he is decrepit. On a sporting level the gap is there, but then there are many other components in sport: experience, motivation, the desire to still work hard and sacrifice. Some attitudes I found inhumane."

Cecchini insists though, that there is no ill-will towards the INEOS Grenadiers from Viviani. "Elia trained until the 31st of December in an INEOS jersey. Despite everything it is a team he loves. He never had any adverse feelings," she explains. "To see him ride in a Lotto jersey was fantastic. Although since January 1st he has been training in the national team jersey, which has given him a lot of motivation."

As for Viviani's racing programme for 2025, Cecchini is unsure. "I know he is talking to the team about his calendar and there is a question mark. Obviously he would love to race Milano-Sanremo, he misses Italian races," she concludes. "He's done a few in recent years, so he'll try to be there. It would be nice to finish my race and wait for him at the finish."