Luciano Pagliarini (Saunier Duval) enjoying the day.(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Brazilian Luciano André Pagliarini Mendonca lost almost three minutes.(Image credit: Isabelle Duchesne)
Luciano A. Pagliarini (Scott Marcondes) took his second stage win of the tour(Image credit: Scott Marcondes)
Luciano Pagliarini has announced his retirement from cycling after failing to reach an agreement to ride for Movistar next year. The Brazilian was left without a team when his Scott-Marcondes Cesar-São José dos Campos team folded during the season and he will now take up a coaching position with the Brazilian track squad.
“It’s time to hang up my wheels,” Pagliarini told Prologo. “I very much wanted to stay on but I lost focus for many reasons. It’s the right time. It’s a transitional phase in my career but I am calm.”
After winning three stages at the Rutas de América at the start of the yea, Pagliarini skipped the Brazilian championships in June to highlight the fact that Scott-Marcondes Cesar had failed to pay its riders. The team was eventually suspended by the UCI in August.
“It was a situation that caused me a lot of weariness and disappointment,” Pagliarini said. “I returned to Brazil with great form, and this was demonstrated at the start of the season. Unfortunately, things lost their way and nothing concrete materialised. It was a shame.”
Pagliarini spent the best part of a decade racing in Europe with the Lampre, Liquigas and Saunier Duval teams, and his fast finish saw him clock up stage wins in the Tour of Murcia, Eneco Tour and the Tour of California. The 32-year-old was in talks to return to Europe with Movistar in 2011 but has instead opted to stay in Brazil.
“Even before all the speculation, I received an invitation to return to Europe,” Pagiliarini said. “Fausto Pinarello came to me and said there was interest from Movistar. They wanted a rider with my characteristics but that didn’t work out.
“I’m very calm and happy. I spent a lot of time in Europe, away from my wife, my daughter and my parents. It wasn’t easy.”
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Pagliarini has already begun working for Brazilian Cycling Federation as part of the national track squad’s selection committee, where his aim is to develop the squad in time for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Barry Ryan is Head of Features at Cyclingnews. He has covered professional cycling since 2010, reporting from the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and events from Argentina to Japan. His writing has appeared in The Independent, Procycling and Cycling Plus. He is the author of The Ascent: Sean Kelly, Stephen Roche and the Rise of Irish Cycling’s Golden Generation, published by Gill Books.
