World champions, Olympic medallists and a Tour de France winner – these are the riders retiring in 2025

Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli’s ‘Time to Say Goodbye’ – ‘Con te partirò’ in Italian – is one of the best-selling singles of all time. You’ve almost certainly heard it, even if it was only when he performed it to Leicester City fans in 2016, the year the team won the Premier League, remember?

For a song about the sadness of farewells, it was a dreary choice, perhaps, to soundtrack such an uplifting moment. I’ve since found it playing on loop in my head, as the cycling world bids adieu to a generation of world, Olympic, and Grand Tour champions who are retiring this year.