End-of-year message from Baroncini, straight from the heart: 'It was that feeling, if only for a moment'

Filippo Baroncini (UAE Emirates-XRG) has looked back on his 2025 year in an emotional message, which he will not soon forget. The Leuven 2021 Under-23 world champion won the Baloise Belgium Tour, but most importantly, he crashed very hard at the Tour de Pologne and had to spend some time in a coma afterwards.

'A year I will remember for the rest of my life. Especially that August 6th," the 25-year-old rider began his story. Baroncini fell hard that day in the Tour de Pologne, sustaining serious injuries to his face that had to be repaired in an operation lasting no less than 11 hours. "His face was deformed," UAE CEO Mauro Gianetti said.

'You can't imagine what oral surgeon Gabriele Canzi and surgeon Davide Colistra were able to do. They did something incredible in an operation of more than 11 hours,' Gianetti said at the time. 'Medical science today has made incredible progress. Things are being done that were unthinkable just a few years ago. I don't want to go into details, but I assure you: they have done something extraordinary.'

'They were difficult times, full of ups and downs,' Baroncini now writes of them himself. 'Moments that leave a deep impression, both physically and mentally. Moments that hurt, but at the same time teach you more than any victory. They teach you that the truly beautiful things in life are the essential things: the love of your family, your girlfriend, your friends. They teach you that life itself is beautiful and must be lived to the fullest, because it could be over at any moment.'

'The biggest scare was not the pain, nor the broken bones. It was the feeling, if only for a moment, that I had left a void in my family. That was the hardest blow, the one that made me saddest. Because pain passes, wounds heal.... but the thought of hurting someone you love breaks you inside," the Italian said.

Baroncini was already at the UAE Emirates-XRG training camp and will 'just' race again in 2026. 'Today, however, there is a new rebirth. Life goes on, with immense gratitude and with a strength I perhaps didn't even know I possessed. Unfortunately, I have had to show resilience many times in my career. Perhaps too much.

'But I won't give up. Not even this time. I stand up again, silently, with a smile. Because I continue to do what I love to do. Because I still want to make a mark, and not just be the one who wears scars on his skin. Because I still have hunger, dreams and a long way to go. It can't rain forever. See you in 2026,,, with more determination than ever. Thank you to everyone who has supported me these past months, with a word, a presence, a hug. I will never forget. ❤️," the Italian concluded.