Vincenzo Nibali has announced that he will retire from professional cycling after the 2022 season. The Sicilian native made the announcement after stage 5 of the Giro d'Italia concluded in his native Messina.

Appearing on RAI's "Processo alla Tappa" program, Nibali explained that he had reached the decision to retire before the start of this Giro.

"I have been waiting for this stage for many, many years. This stage is where I started riding and training.

"Let's end this today. We have done so much for so long, but now is the time."

"I will never forget leaving home when I was 15. I think I've given so much to cycling and now it's time to give back time to all the people who sacrificed for me."

Nibali entered this Giro with a free role on the Astana-Cazakstan team and was over two minutes behind the GC favorites on stage 4 on Mount Etna He was eliminated from overall contention after losing more than two minutes to the GC frontrunners on stage 4 on Mount Etna.

There was a certain symmetry. Nibali first climbed Mt. Etna when he was 10 years old and had to be towed in his mother's car due to fatigue. His talent as a cyclist led him to leave his native Sicily, first to race for the Mastromarco Club in Tuscany and later to his current home in Lugano.

This year's Giro route offered Nibali the opportunity to return home to his native Messina, where the 37-year-old said goodbye in front of his ardent tifosi and in front of his parents.

"I'm very emotional. It's not often that I get to ride in my hometown of Messina in the Giro d'Italia. It's also not often that I come to Messina or Sicily, so it's always special when I come back," Nibali said.

"I have a lot of memories and a lot to look back on in my career. There were good times and bad times, and there were times when injuries affected the outcome of my career. It was all unbelievable."

Nibali intends to compete in the Giro d'Italia and probably the Tour de France as well. Il Lombardia will likely be the last race of his long career. After Astana lost team leader Miguel Angel Lopez to a thigh injury, Nibali will honor the team and fly the Italian flag one last time on the Corsa Rosa.

"Yesterday's race in Etna was a tough day for the Astana team and for myself. I paid a high price, but I will make up for it in the rest of the Giro," Nibali said.

"I want to enjoy this Giro. I suffered yesterday but I am not in bad shape. I will see how the race goes and decide whether I want to go for the stage win or stay on GC."

Nibali retires as one of only seven riders in history to win three Grand Tours: the 2010 Vuelta a España, the 2013 and 2016 Giro, and the 2014 Tour de France.

He also won monumental victories at Il Lombardia in 2015 and 2017, and Milan-San Remo in 2018, clearing solo on the Poggio and holding off the rest of the field on the Via Roma.

Nibali perhaps reached his pinnacle with a crushing victory at the 2014 Tour, but his most dramatic win came at the 2016 Giro.

After struggling in the first two and a half weeks, Nibali turned the race around with consecutive long-distance attacks in the final two Alpine stages to take the pink jersey on the final day.

In addition to his groundbreaking feat, Nibali's career has been remarkable for its consistency: six consecutive podium finishes at the Giro between 2010 and 2019, two at the Tour and three at the Vuelta.

Throughout his career, Nibali was the standard-bearer of Italian cycling and the country's hope in both Grand Tours and Classics, but he endured disappointment in Maria Azzurra. He finished fourth at the 2013 Florence World Championships after a fall, and fell just short of gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Nibali began his career with Fassa Bortolo in 2005 and has since worked for Liquigas, Astana, Bahrain-Merida, and Trek-Segafredo. He returned to Astana-Kazakhstan on a one-year contract before the 2022 campaign, but declined to confirm publicly whether this would be the final season of his career.

Instead, Nibali's announcement came when Giro visited his hometown.

When the iconic Giro of the 21st century departs, the long goodbye will continue across the peninsula to Verona.