"When Peter Sagan left, many things changed" - Departing Matteo Fabbro admits to feeling lost at BORA - hasngrohe in recent years
Cycling
After four years with BORA - hansgrohe, Matteo Fabbro will ride for Polti-Kometa in 2024. Despite getting some creditable performances during his time with BORA, Fabbro admits he's looking forward to a fresh start.
"When I joined the team, Peter Sagan was the leader and we worked for him. When he left, many things changed," he explains in conversation with Italian cycling website Bici.News. "The team was revolutionized and I started to feel less and less suited to the common goal. Moreover, the last years have not been easy for me from a health point of view and gradually our paths diverged. They didn't feel like continuing and I needed fresh air. However, I would like to emphasize that I left on very good terms, so much so that our paths may cross again in the future."
5th overall at Tirreno-Adriatico in 2021 and with four Grand Tours under his belt now, Fabbro is hoping a move to the team run by Alberto Contador and Ivan Basso will refresh his career and restart his development. "Looking back, I was only given freedom once: the Tirreno-Adriatico in 2021 and then I finished fifth in the final classification. For the rest, I have always had to ride for a leader," he recalls.
"Now is the time to harvest. If I can focus my energy on the classification and the mountain stages, then I will definitely do that," concludes the 28-year-old Italian. "I will ride the Ruta del Sol and Tirreno-Adriatico and we will see the rest, depending on my form and the situation at the time. In the meantime, I'm already training and I can't wait for the start."
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling for
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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