On Sunday, August 18, 2024, Cesare Benedetti will end his 15-year career as a professional cyclist. With a finish in Krakow, Poland, race day number 1012 comes to an end for Benedetti. His bike computer counts 162,920 racing kilometres - that’s four laps around the globe. In an interview, the 37-year-old Polish rider talks about his 15 years in Ralph Denk's team and his new role at Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe. He reflects on his only victory in his career and why the approaching end of his career also initially triggered some fears in him.
14 years, 6 months and 10 days ago, on February 8, 2010, you pinned a race number on your jersey for the first time as a professional. What memories do you have of that day?
We were in Mallorca, and it was my first training camp with Ralph Denk's new team. As part of our stay, we rode the Mallorca Challenge races there. It was definitely cold, wet and much faster than the U23 level - a tough start to the professional business. Despite the bad weather, I fell in love with the island and have been to Mallorca countless times since then.
From the perspective of the young Cesare: what type of rider did you want to be back then?
As a kid, I watched the sprints on TV with great enthusiasm and always wanted to be a rider for a great sprinter. Later, however, I realised that I didn't really have the physical constitution to be a good lead-out rider. In the U23 level, I then developed more in the direction of a climber. As a pro, I had to reorient myself - as a solid U23 climber, you're still a long way from the top in the pro peloton.
... and which one did you actually become?
First and foremost, I was always a loyal helper. I think the team's website always said “all-rounder”. That describes my area of work quite well. The advantage: I was able to ride and experience many different races with every type of profile.
August 18, 2024 - a Sunday - your last day of racing as a professional. How does that feel?
It's emotional chaos at the moment - joy and anticipation meet melancholy - I just love this job.
Until almost two years ago, I was quite scared about the end of my career. Mentally, it was really difficult for me. Cycling has always been my life. The end of my time as a professional rider almost felt a bit like the end of my life so far. It was always clear to me that it would be the end of a certain lifestyle. But what would come next? I had few answers to quite a lot of questions.
When the team came to me with the idea of taking care of the development team in the future, it was a light at the end of the tunnel for me and helped me a lot. Originally, I didn't want to retire until 2025 - but sometimes you have to take opportunities as they come.
In 2009, your last year as an U23 rider, you were a stagiaire at Liquigas. But you didn't get a professional contract there.
I had some good results that year and my U23 team also helped me to gain experience as a stagiaire with the pros at Liquigas from August 2009. At that time, as a 23-year-old, you were still really young in a WorldTour team. Suddenly I was on the bus with my idols!
How did you end up at Ralph Denk's start-up?
My Sports Director at the time was in contact with Enrico Poitschke. Word then got around during the 2009 season that there would be a new team from 2010, a project with international riders and big goals for the future. At the World Championships in Mendrisio in September, there was a meeting with Jens Heppner, Enrico Poitschke and Ralph Denk. The project convinced me, they had a great racing calendar. That was my chance and my entry into the world of professional cycling. There are always small teams with big goals, it's almost like they come and go. But the fact that I got to join the team that lasted so long and developed into one of the top teams - for me that was great luck and chapeau to Ralph Denk.
What followed was a team meeting in Tuscany…
It was in November 2009. I was picked up in Trentino and we drove to Lucca in Tuscany. SRM had a training centre there, where we did performance tests, took team photos and tested equipment for the new season. Hendrik Werner, now coach at Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe, was also there in Tuscany at the time. Cycling is a small world.
Did you consciously opt for a small team back then and perhaps anticipate the development of the team?
The plan was ProTour (the WorldTour at the time) in three years. That took a little longer, but by 2011 we were already a ProContinental team. I just believed in this project back then.
Your possible place at Liquigas was given to a later teammate of yours…
At the time, there was talk of a young rider from Slovakia who then received a professional contract with Liquigas in 2010. This rider was Peter Sagan, who then became my teammate at BORA - hansgrohe in 2017. I will never forget the spring of 2017: Peter Sagan was the reigning World Champion and in top form. I worked for him at Tirreno-Adriatico and Milan-San Remo and we fought for big victories. With the rainbow jersey on your rear wheel, you can suffer a little longer. Thanks to Peter, I was able to overcome physical limits with mental strength. It was an incredible time!
From Team NetApp 2010 to Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe 2024. How have you experienced the team's journey?
There are only two people still on the team today who were there in 2010: Ralph Denk and me. From a small camper to three big buses. From every opportunity to be in the breakaway of the day to overall victory at the Giro d'Italia. From pasta in huge quantities to sophisticated nutrition plans. During this time, I was able to meet a lot of people - looking back, this was perhaps the most enriching experience.
Are there certain moments and cornerstones of this time that you will always remember?
Jai Hindley's Giro victory is at the top of the list. Being part of a Grand Tour victory as a helper is an honor for a rider like me.
Milan-San Remo 2017: I worked a lot and went over my limit several times. On the Poggio I had to let the peloton go. I heard on the radio that Peter Sagan had launched an attack. In the end, he came second. Nevertheless, it was very emotional for me.
At Milan-San Remo you ride for seven hours. Nothing happens at the beginning. When you arrive at the Ligurian coast, the tension slowly builds. Everything is focused on the last two climbs, the Cipressa and the Poggio. It all starts so easily in Milan and there is so much tension in the air on the Poggio, you could cut it with a knife. An emotional eruption that slowly builds up over seven hours.
The Tour of Qinghai Lake in 2014 and the Tour de San Luis in Argentina in 2012 are two races that you say you remember more than any Grand Tour. What do you remember from those races and your trips there?
Apart from Paris-Roubaix, the Tour of Flanders and Gent-Wevelgem, I've ridden every race in Europe. It's always pretty much the same: hotel, bus, race, bus, hotel.
Then you come to China or Argentina and experience so much more than just cycling races. Different cultures, landscapes that I only knew from movies and dishes at dinner that I still don't know exactly what we ate. People on the roadside who had never seen a bike race before and yet were full of enthusiasm. I am very grateful to cycling for these experiences!
15 years as a professional, 15 years in the same team – did you ever think about riding for another team?
Not really concretely. Of course you sometimes think about whether a new environment might bring new motivation and further development. I think it's easy to see negative things in a team and lose sight of the positives. You know very well what you would be leaving, you never know what you will actually get somewhere else. It's much easier to see the negative things in a team. The positive things sometimes fade into the background.
What I really appreciate in this team is the internationality. We mostly speak English among the riders, and I can speak Polish, German and Italian with some of the employees. In recent years, I have also been able to improve my Spanish a little. If you're in a team like this and you're open to learning, you don't need a language school.
The Giro d'Italia 2012 was a first for you and also for the team. An adventure?
It was the first Grand Tour for me and the team. An adventure for many in the team, but we were very well organised.
Our Sports Directors already had experience with such races, which certainly helped. RCS gave us a wild card back then, and we wanted to return the favour with an attacking riding style. Two stage podiums and several top 5 results - we did really well.
Let's stay with the Giro: May 23, 2019, the 12th stage of the tour. Are you getting goosebumps?
That was a very special day! We were at the Giro with Pascal Ackermann and Rafal Majka and my job was to work for the captains. Patxi Vila presented me with his idea the evening before that I should be in the breakaway the next day. The stage had a difficult climb, normally too difficult for me. I wasn't very convinced by his idea. But Patxi didn't care, he wanted me in the breakaway. If it didn't work out, I should just wait for our captain Rafal. But somehow I survived the climb, entered the descent only a few seconds behind the leaders, was able to close the gap there and was there in the finale. Of course, everyone in the group wanted this stage win. I just had to start at the right time - and suddenly I was a stage winner at the Giro. I was standing on the podium when my teammates rolled over the finish line in the grupetto. I jumped off the stage, we hugged each other - it was really emotional.
Is Cesare Benedetti, one of the last real Gregari, leaving the cycling stage?
I must say there are still some really good helpers in the peloton. In the younger generation, however, things are perhaps a little different. Everyone wants to get their chance, everyone wants to achieve a result at some point. That's a good thing, the sport has just developed that way. I was always able to get more out of myself as a helper than when I was the leader of the team. It was extremely motivating for me to give everything for a captain and the success of the team.
14 years in cycling and only one collarbone fracture: skills or luck?
Last year at Milan - San Remo I became a real professional cyclist and broke my collarbone for the first time. When I was working for a sprinter, I was either at the front of the peloton or my work was already done when things got hectic. Maybe that was a good combination to stay injury-free for a long time. But after so many years in the peloton, you also know those riders who often crash. I always tried to keep some distance to them.
Change of nationality: when and why?
My wife is Polish, we got married in 2013. I first thought about applying for a Polish passport in 2016. Bartosz Huzarski was my teammate for a few years. We often shared a room at the races. Bartosz had a lot of fans in Poland and over time they kind of adopted me in a way - I already spoke Polish at the time. Later, a journalist asked me whether it would be an option for me to represent Poland as a professional rider. In 2018, I applied for citizenship and took the language test. It wasn't easy to find a date for the exam, as I was constantly on the road. I was the only one from the EU at the exam. Everyone else was from Belarus or Ukraine; they were a bit surprised that an Italian was trying to get Polish citizenship. I passed the exam, it still took some time, but in 2021 I was finally able to hold my Polish passport in my hands. The UCI then changed my citizenship during the Vuelta a Burgos. So I rode three stages as an Italian and two stages as a Pole.
You are celebrating your farewell this week at the Tour de Pologne. How emotional is this week for you?
I couldn't imagine a better farewell than here in my home country. The plan was that I would ride my last race in August. The team left it up to me to decide which stage race that should be. I didn't have to think long - it had to be the Tour de Pologne. The week before the race was a rollercoaster ride of emotions. I found it hard to realise that it would really be over on Sunday. My wife and daughters are at the race every day, it's incredibly nice to share these emotions with them. Something wonderful is coming to an end and a new chapter, which I'm really looking forward to, is about to begin.
Do you really realise that there will no longer be a training schedule from Monday?
I will no longer receive a training plan from the team from Monday. From now on, I'll have my own training plan. I can't just stop doing sport. I want to stay fit in the future and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
From the coming season, you will be a Sports Director at Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe and will take the U23 riders under your wing. What excites you about this task?
It’s an adventure for me and also for the team. We will have an U23 team from 2025. I'm really looking forward to the task of working with the young riders. As an U23 rider, I had great Sports Directors. Now it's up to me to pass on experience, knowledge and values to the next generation. The human aspect is very important to me here. I want to be someone the guys trust, someone they can call at any time and who is more than just a Sports Director. We spend so much time together that it's extremely important to get on well on a personal level too.
When in your career did you decide to pursue a career as a DS? You already passed the UCI exam last winter.
That was a decision that has evolved over the years. Back in 2017, former teammates told me that I might be a good Sports Director. But I never wanted to give commands, so the DS career was initially ruled out. It was only later that I understood it wasn't about giving commands. It’s much more about communicating well, being able to listen and pursuing a common goal with the whole group. Cycling has given me so much and shaped me. It just feels right to stay connected to cycling, even after my active career.
When are your first assignments as Sports Director coming up?
It starts in September. At a race block in Italy, I will be sitting in the car for the first time and no longer on the bike. I'm looking forward to learning from Christian Pömer, a long-time companion, there. A new stage in my life, a new task and yet a familiar environment - it will be exciting!
© Anderl Hartmann / Sprintcycling / Bettiniphoto