As his career comes to an end, Bilbao reflects on three deceased teammates: 'It really drives home the risks of our sport'

Bilbao turned pro with Euskaltel–Euskadi and moved to Caja Rural–Seguros RGA in 2014. He became a WorldTour pro in 2017 at the age of 27. While he might be called a late bloomer, he certainly blossomed. With Astana and later Bahrain, he shone at times, including two stage wins in the Giro d’Italia, one in the Tour de France, and three top-six finishes in the Giro.

This year, he said goodbye to the sport—just like Bauke Mollema— at the Tour of Lombardy. It was an emotional moment.

“As if the fact that it was my last race wasn’t enough, the kids were there on the bus too, and so many friends showed up without me even knowing... I was incredibly emotional,” he tells Marca. But he managed to overcome all those emotions: in his very last race, he finished a respectable seventh.

It was a magnificent farewell, a highlight. But Bilbao also experienced low points. And those had less to do with him personally. In 2023, he lost his teammate Gino Mäder, who crashed during the Tour de Suisse and died. But he was also with Astana when Michele Scarponi died, and in 2012, his Euskaltel teammate Victor Cabedo died after a training accident. Three devastating losses for the Basque rider.

It was very hard on the 36-year-old Spaniard. “These are moments we know can happen—that can happen to anyone—but you always hope they’ll stay as far away from you as possible. Personally, they really affected me. Losing three teammates makes you feel the risks of our sport very keenly. It was tough.”

Mäder’s dog was named Pello, after his good Basque friend. That made it especially hard for Bilbao. “It was hard to get back on the bike,” he told the NOS at the time. “I didn’t see the point in cycling anymore.” But the Tour de France was just around the corner, so he tried to turn his sadness into motivation.

And Bilbao won the tenth stage in France. “For me, it was a relief, a breath of fresh air, to be able to win a stage in the Tour—not only because of its personal significance, but also because of what it meant for the entire team. To dedicate that victory to Gino and to justify all the energy we’d put into preparing for that Tour.”

Bilbao is finally calling it quits after seventeen professional victories, eighteen Grand Tours, and a host of wonderful experiences. He competed against the greatest riders of his generation. Those were fond memories, but the Basque rider also found it difficult to hold his own against the absolute greats.

"There's not much you can do against machines like that. Often, no matter how much skill and tactical insight you bring to the table, it's hard to compete when the gaps are so wide. On the one hand, it’s inspiring to race against these phenomenal riders, because you see that the spectacle is growing and that they’ve made cycling a major sport. But you also carry the burden of knowing that it’s very difficult to compete for the win.”