Paolo Bettini has said that he plans to retire after the 2008 season, which will conclude with defenses of both his Olympic and World titles. The latter takes place on home soil in Varese, though I'm not sure where that is in comparison to his casa. If successful, he will take the rainbow jersey into retirement with him, which he says earns him the right to wear it every day for the rest of his life, along with gold loafers and cap. Or maybe I translated that wrong. Anyway, he plans to go out in style, at least in terms of his palmares, and if he does, there will be little debate about who was the preeminent one-day rider of this era.
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