Upon receiving the news that his Acqua & Sapone team was not invited to the 2012 Giro d'Italia, Stefano Garzelli issued the following press release:
"I am saddened and disappointed by this news and at this point I have decided to seriously consider the idea of ending my career here.
When the money has the upper hand over sporting merit, and over someone who has been a protagonist for 15 years of joys, sweat and pain, putting on a show for the fans, but also for the organizers, and none of this is taken into account it means that it's time to stop neglecting my family.
In a month my wife will make me a father for the fourth time and without important goals to be achieved, where can I find the motivation to train, go to camp and spend time away from them when, in the end, you find yourself without the possibility of trying to achieve those results for which you have made so many sacrifices?
I know that for a few years I haven't been competitive in the general classification, but in recent editions I have always made a mark, winning an important stage as in 2010 or winning the two green jerseys in 2009 and 2011. This last Giro made me incredibly happy and proud because I exceeded all my personal expectations, and on a course that was harder than I ever raced in an edition of the Giro. A pity not to have won the Gardeccia stage but I'm sure that stage will be long remembered.
Acqua & Sapone is not just me. We have a group of young riders, Betancur at the head, which I would like to teach on the road how to win a race one day, a race fascinating and hard like the Giro. But, this unfortunately I will not be able to do.
I'd like to try to win my tenth stage in the Giro, but this will no longer be possible. In the end I think I'm the only rider who has won a jersey in every special edition of the Giro d'Italia: pink jersey in the Giro del Giubileo (Jubilee Giro, 2000), green jersey in the Giro del Centenario (100th Giro Anniversary, 2009) and another green jersey in the Giro dell'Unità d'Italia (150th anniversary of Italian Unification, 2011)."
Photo: Stefano Garzelli, Stage 16, 2010 Giro d'Italia
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