Guardini retires: he beat Cavendish world champion in the 2012 Giro d’Italia

From San Vito Cadore to Vedelago, 149 kilometers, 18th stage of the 2012 Giro d’Italia, 24 May: it is not difficult to identify the best day of Andrea Guardini’s career. Veronese, 32, sprinter, that day with the Farnese-Neri jersey beat Mark Cavendish who was the reigning world champion in the sprint. An exploit that at that level he was never able to repeat even though Cavendish was not the only champion he managed to beat: at the Tour of Oman for example, the first stage of the 2015 edition, he had put Tom Boonen behind him. . Now Guardini, who in the youth categories had let a glimpse of talent also on the track, has decided to retire, after having turned professional in 2011. There were therefore 11 seasons in the group in which he wore the jerseys of the Farnese, and then of the Astana, of the UAE, of Bardiani. Finally, the Giotti Victoria, team continental, in the last two years. The victories were 43 (without considering the 1.2 and 2.2 category races), including 24 at the Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia.