Malori retires following 2016 horror crash
The Italian suffered neurological injuries as a result of a crash at the 2016 Tour de San Luis.
Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app.
Adriano Malori announced his retirement from professional cycling Monday, a year and a half after a serious crash left him with neurological injuries.
Malori, 29, spoke on the first rest day of the Tour de France and said his body simply cannot handle bike racing any longer in the wake of his Tour de San Luis crash in 2016.
“I’ve given everything to try and become a professional cyclist again, but this year’s results have been quite evident,” Malori said. “At the Volta ao Alentejo, I only rode 80km. In the Vuelta a Castilla y León, I barely managed to ride 30km.
“Giving it a try was the only way to know if I was ready or not. I can still ride a bike leisurely, but the racing is not something I can cope with.”
Malori then spoke about his recovery, which he called “impressive.” The Movistar rider was put into a medically induced coma after his crash, which happened when his front wheel became lodged in a crack on the road. He went over the handlebars and suffered head injuries and a broken collarbone.
“That’s the first positive conclusion I draw from this: Everyone who suffers from the same injuries I did can now know there’s someone like me who got back from his suffering, one who defied all knowledge and beat his illness,” he said. “It’s the most important side of my story. It’s about bringing hope to many people, even it I wasn’t able to come back as a top rider.”
Malori specialized in time trials. He won a TT stage at the 2014 Vuelta a España and several other races against the clock at events across the world. At the national level, Malori is a three-time Italian national TT champion. He won the under-23 TT at the 2008 UCI road worlds and was the silver medalist in the elite TT at the 2015 road worlds.
He returned to racing in September 2016 at the GP de Quebec and GP de Montreal, although he did not finish either race. He had a handful of other DNFs later that year and earlier this year before deciding bike racing was no longer something he could handle.
Malori, who hails from Parma, Italy, said the next chapter of his life is now beginning.
“Today marks the start of ‘Adriano Malori 2.0,'” he said. “I’ve already spent one month learning some cycling science, trying to work my way in the future as one who can help on that.”
