Seasoned pro or not, Ulissi moved to tears by pink jersey: "I’ve had a beautiful career"

In a fiercely contested stage, Ulissi fought his way into a strong breakaway along with his teammate Lorenzo Fortunato. Initially, Fortunato seemed to be in the best position to take the pink jersey, but as the race unfolded, things ultimately turned in Ulissi’s favor. After some tense moments post-finish, he finally received confirmation that he would be wearing the maglia rosa.

The pink jersey was a welcome reward for Ulissi, who had narrowly missed out on the stage win. “We started with the goal of going for the stage,” Tuttobiciweb quoted the new race leader after the finish. “I had to try to get into the right breakaway. We thought today could be the day, and I must say all my teammates did an amazing job. Plapp was superior today and deserved the win, but I’m really happy with how it all went.”

In the final, Ulissi had to dig deep to fight for pink, helped by the support of the crowd. “People on the side of the road were shouting that I had to go full gas. That’s when I realized how close I was and that I had a shot at the pink jersey. So in the finale, I could only think about giving it everything, even though I was exhausted.”

It was an intense finale for Ulissi, who got very little information from the team car. “I could barely hear the radio, hardly anything. I think it was also the team’s decision not to tell me about the time gaps. And it was the right decision. Even though I’m an experienced rider, I might’ve gotten distracted or mentally blocked if I had been thinking too much about the jersey. They knew I was there, that I was fighting for pink, so they just told me to go all out. And that was it.”

When Ulissi finally got the confirmation after the finish, he was overcome with joy. Though the seasoned rider has experienced a lot in his career, the pink jersey clearly moved him deeply. “I’m not someone who gets very emotional, but when I saw the pink jersey with the XDS Astana logo, I got excited. I admit it. I’m almost 36 years old, and in moments like this, you reflect on your whole career. And I’ve had a beautiful career, I’ve had great satisfaction, and I’ve come through difficult times.”

“Then I thought about my family,” Ulissi continued. “In these sixteen years with Arianna, I’ve built a wonderful family. We have three daughters. Lia, Anna, and Viola. I thought about my parents, my grandparents, all the sacrifices they’ve made since I was a little boy to help me become a cyclist, to get me started on this path. I thought about all of that while wearing the pink jersey, and I was deeply moved.”