It is a story as long as it wanted to be, but yesterday, in the city of Rome the story came to an end. Maybe not a complete end, but the announcement that Antonio Cairoli would retire at the final round of this years magnificent MXGP championship is pretty much the end of those World Motocross Championship battles that the Sicilian has fought since 2004, when he burst onto the GP scene with some scintillating rides.

Nobody really knew who this kid was, this little awkward looking Sicilian teenager from a small island where it seemed not too many motocross people came from. In fact, most of the leading Italian riders from the past came from the north, Michele Rinaldi from Parma, Alessio Chiodi from Salo and Andrea Bartolini from Imola, and David Philippaets from Pietrasanta, all within a few hours of Milan.

In a season that crowned Ben Townley as the World MX2 champion, and with names like Tyla Rattray, James Dobb and Marc De Reuver, this kid on a De Carli Yamaha stood out. This Sicilian kid looked a little special. He won for the first time at the famous Namur circuit in Belgium, the perfect place to begin his legacy, and no doubt a memory Cairoli holds close to his heart.

We all wondered if he could maybe win a World title or two, because he seemed to have the talent to do that. His first championship came in 2005, against my countryman Andrew McFarlane. It was a torrid affair, with the Aussie having the upper hand mid-season, but Cairoli slowly wore McFarlane down and won with a 49-point lead in the points.

A year later and this time Cairoli was up against the flashy Frenchman, Christophe Pourcel. These two raced hard, didn’t seem to get on and really pushed each other to new levels. The title came down to the final round in France, and while the Sicilian knew he had little chance of making up the points gap to Pourcel, he went 1-1 and finished just 18 points off his second World title.

A year later and Cairoli would collect his second title, beating Tommy Searle by 150 points, with names like Tyla Rattray and Pourcel also in his wake.

With Stefan Everts now retired, the sport needed a new hero to lead the GP riders into a new era and Cairoli was ready to step up to the plate, but a knee injury in 2008, while trailing Rattray by a margin of points meant we had to wait for the new king to arrive.

Sure enough, in the 2009 season we had the coronation and King Cairoli was born. From that moment on, it was clear that little kid from Sicily had grown into a man, and his domination of Grand Prix motocross would run for a decade. Championships were added in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 seeing him close up on our previous King, Stefan Everts in GP wins and World titles.

Cairoli also led Europe into its take-over of the Motocross des Nations, as he finished 1-1 at that very famous Nations at Lommel in 2012. Without Cairoli at the front, the Europeans might still be fighting the Americans in the trenches. Taking the level of the sport in Europe to new hights Cairoli was pure character. His race craft, his determination and his friendly nature made him a star Worldwide. The American’s loved him, the Aussies loved him, and the Italians adored him. Very quickly the name Antonio Cairoli was on the lips of every Italian household as his popularity reached fever pitch.

When he lost his championship in that wild and wacky 2015 season, the season it was all about Cairoli vs Villopotos, it seemed as though age was catching up. Injuries started building, and while the Sicilian continued to fight, you could tell his body wasn’t holding up. Many of us wrote him off, myself included and I know now, writing Antonio Cairoli off is the biggest mistake you can make.

In 2016 it was MXGP rookie Tim Gajser who took the title and again, seeing Cairoli win another World title seemed difficult, but as he always did, he clinched his teeth, fought the pain and went on to win the 2017 World MXGP championship at the Assen circuit in Holland, right in the backyard of Jeffrey Herlings. Once again, a World champion, his 9^th World title. Yes, many of us got egg on our face that day and Tony didn’t mind telling us how little we knew about the sport, and he was right.

Of course, MXGP, with the new age rule meant that fresh young riders were arriving one after the other, and as each teenager moved into the 450 class, Antonio Cairoli took another breath, worked a little harder and bit down on his mouth guard and showed us what a champion he is.

In 2018 we had one of the great championship battles between Herlings and Cairoli. The Dutchman now considered the fastest man on the planet, but Cairoli wasn’t having any of it. The locked handlebars, crashed into each other and put MXGP into another orbit. We had already slayed Team USA over and over again, but the level of the sport in Europe continued to rise. These young kids, Gajser and Herlings knew if they wanted to be a World champion, they had to fight the man, and the man for the last decade was Antonio Cairoli. Their battles would be long, hard and all three would pick up major injuries and a spill litres and litres of blood.

Sure enough, both Gajser and Herlings are now four-time World champions, in the peak of their careers, and riding better than ever, but still, the soon to be 36-year-old isn’t handing them anything. Despite his body not willing to go through the pain anymore, his mind is strong and his determination just a powerful as it was back in 2004 when he battled the likes of Townley and Rattray as a little kid in his Grand Prix infancy. It seems a lifetime ago, but the memories of that introduction are etched into my mind, never to be deleted.

The 2021 MXGP championship is long but over, and we just know, just as he did in Turkey a couple of weeks ago, he will not give in. Giving in isn’t in Antonio Cairoli’s vocabulary. In fact, this retirement announcement might just be the extra motivation for the greatest rider of this era to take it up a notch, find some youth and win his 10^th World title. I don’t think that would surprise anyone, and I think the whole motocross World would celebrate like never before if it happens.

Will he get to that magical number of 101 GP wins, or his 10^th World championship? It doesn’t really matter and never did for Antonio Cairoli. He fought his own battles, did it on his terms and will end his career very satisfied with his achievements.

He might have one goal that he is yet to reach, and that would be holding the Chamberlain trophy high above his head with thousands of Italian fans singing their national anthem. I for one hope that happens in Mantova on September 26, because like he has done for us hundreds of times, our sport will glow like never before and we will all be a little richer having been there to witness it.

For us, the fans, we are all a lot sadder today, as we know what we have seen over the last 18 years has been special, and the idea it all ends on November 10 at the Mantova circuit is something we can look forward to in celebration of this amazing athlete, but it will also be a day tears will be shed by many of us, me included.

Thanks for the memories champ.

 Ray Archer image