Marta Bastianelli is retiring from a 20-year professional cycling career after competing in her home stage race at the Giro d'Italia Donne.The Italian, who is a member of UAE team ADQ, said in an interview with Bici Pro that she is ready to take the next step out of racing He said he is ready to take the next step out of racing.

"I know that the Giro will be my last race and I am starting to make it happen. This is how the last race is coming up. It's been a very peaceful day. I've been making my way, always thinking about tomorrow. One day at a time," Bastianelli said. I'm going to take it one day at a time," Bastianelli said.

"This career has lasted 20 years and I am very calm. I've lived calmly from the beginning, I've always tried to be professional, and consequently it doesn't weigh me down and I don't lose sleep over it. I am ready to take this step forward."

Originally planning to retire after last season, Bastianelli put his retirement on hold and extended his contract to play one more season in 2023 with UAE team ADQ.

This season, Bastianelli made the podium at the spring classics Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Omloop van Het Hoegland, and won the opening stages of Le Samin de Damm and Festival Elsie Jacobs.

She also performed well in the Thuringian Ladies Tour and Diamond Tour, but failed to finish the Tour de Suisse, saying it may have been her last chance to see her teammates before officially retiring after the Giro d'Italia Donne.

"At the Tour de Suisse, I met the girls from the team. They were all excited, but I try not to have this experience [of retirement]," Bastianelli said.

"I am happy that this is my last year and that I will stop racing after the Giro d'Italia. Some riders, especially foreign riders, we will never see again. But the Italian riders have a chance."

Bastianelli is currently competing in the Italian road championships and will then join UAE team ADQ to compete in the Giro d'Italia Donne from June 30 to July 9 in five Italian regions: Tuscany, Emilia Romagna, Piemonte, Liguria, and Sardinia. She will compete in the Giro d'Italia Donne in Tuscany, Emilia Romagna, Piedmont, Liguria, and Sardinia.

She has a long history of competing in this event, competing nine times throughout her career, with multiple podium finishes, including a stage 9 win to Polla in 2017.

Bastianelli began racing at the highest level in 2006 and turned pro at age 19. She spent three seasons with Safi-Pasta Zara, winning the elite women's road race title at the 2007 World Championships.

In 2008, she was suspended for testing positive for the appetite suppressant fenfluramine, but her suspension was reduced to one year after an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) She returned to competition in August 2009.

Over the past 13 years, Bastianelli has competed for Phoenix Petrograd, Makipolini, Faren Let's Go Finland, Aromitalia Vaiano, Ale Cipollini, and Ale BTC Ljubljana before returning to his current UAE team ADQ She raced for a year with Virtu Cycling.

She noted how both the sport and the teams have progressed since her debut in the professional women's peloton 20 years ago, and how rapidly this progress has happened. She hopes that the next generation of riders will continue to strive for success.

"We've made it to the top, but we came from nothing," she said. The message I want to send is that we must not be ashamed of what we have accomplished."

Bastianelli became a mother in 2014 and returned to racing the same year. At the time, she was supported by Team Fiamme Azzurre, the sporting arm of the Italian police Polizia Penitenziaria, but much of her success occurred in the last season of her career.

She was the star of the spring classics, but carefully chose stage races to avoid a prolonged layoff. She won every race, including the Tour of Flanders, Ghent-Wevelgem, Ronde van Drenthe, Volgolda West Sweden, and the European Championships.

After retiring, Bastianelli said he plans to spend more time with his daughter and lead a normal life at home with his family.

"People ask me what I'm going to do the next day. My vacation is to stay home and live with my remaining family. I have the ocean nearby and I don't have to travel for who knows how many kilometers," Bastianelli said.

"In my opinion, not everyone in this environment understands normal life. I had a taste of that when I had my children. Life is not all roses and flowers."

She also hopes that UAE team ADQ will continue to progress as a team.

"Moving from Alley Cycling to my current UAE Team ADQ, this team has become like a family to me. I have grown and met new people who want to continue this important dialogue with women. I have found them very well." Hopefully they will continue to grow.

Bastianelli will compete in the elite women's road race at the Italian Championships on Sunday.

"It's really difficult. I only get to race with Fiam Azzurre once a year, so I want to have a good race. And if us fast girls don't have a chance, I will help Elena Cecchini. In any case, I want to honor the last jersey I will wear on Sunday. It's a bit strange when you think about it."