Caja Rural have finalized their 20-rider roster for 2016 and do not have room for Rinaldo Nocentini. The 38-year-old Italian veteran has described the Spanish team as his final opportunity and with the Spanish team's decision, his retirement seems imminent.

Nocentini has no team after 17 seasons in the pro peloton, the last seven with the French AG2R-La Mondiale team. Yesterday he told La Gazzetta dello Sport  thay "the only real possibility is Caja Rural."

BiciCiclismo contacted Juanma Hernandez, general manager of the Spanish team who was surprised to read the statements of the Italian. "I'm amazed. I do not understand anything. I have not even spoken with his agent. I only received his results sheet by email, like so many other riders who have been offered to me. There was no chance that we would sign him," he confirmed.

He insists that the roster "is finalized. We will not sign more riders. With 20 riders, we can handle the schedule perfectly. Only in case of injuries, we will need to add someone.

An opportunity would have come if Caja Rural-RGA had been selected for the Giro d'Italia, something that is also ruled out . "We can only propose something to him if we will ride the Giro. Then he would be an option but in no other situation," he said. The truth is that Nocentini's age - he turned 38 in September - closed the door as main sponsor Caja Rural refused to sign him. "Furthermore, we have already finalized the calendar we want to do in Italy," the manage said. Despite lacking official announcement from RCS, the team will attend Milan-San Remo, Tirreno-Adriatico and Il Lombardia, among others.

Nocentini does not throw in the towel and is in fact training in Tenerife. "I'm expecting a call, the only real possibility is Caja Rural. The deadline I have made is the end of December. Otherwise, I will stopp. But I'd hate to retire because I have decided otherwise. Other teams always been tell me that there is 'no money', but no one has ever made ​​me not even a concrete offer. I must say that Gianni Savio's Androni has been good. He said, ' Noce , I would take you right away, but I can offer only the minimum wage and that does not seem appropriate for someone like you'. I want to be the one to decide when to stop and feel I can do another year," he claimed in La Gazzetta.

Finally, he complains about the attitude of AG2R La Mondiale. "Unfortunately, I did not like the behavior of Ag2r. We have been together for nine years and I was told too late they did not want to renew my contract. I would have liked more clarity," he lamented.

His last victory was in the 2010 Tour du Haut Var and shortly thereafter he suffered a serious crash where he broke his tibia and fibula. A year earlier, he wore the yellow jersey in the Tour de France for eight days and finished 12th overall. He was second in the 2008 Paris-Nice and fourth in 2012 Tirreno-Adriatico. In 2015 he did the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a Espana and showed himself in the Ardennes with 12th places in Amstel and Fleche Wallonne.

His teams were Mapei (1999-2001), Fassa Bortolo (2002), Formaggi (2003), Acqua & Sapone (2004-2006) and Ag2r (2007-2015).

Caja Rural for 2015:

Pello Bilbao, Carlos Barbero, Hugh Carthy, Miguel Angel Benito, Hector Saez, David Arroyo, Fabrizio Ferrari, Lluis Mas, Jose Goncalves, Eduard Prades, Ángel Madrazo, Ricardo Vilela, Javier Aramendía, Sergio Pardilla and Antonio Molina (returning), Alberto Gallego (Radio Popular), Diego Rubio (Efapel), Domingo Gonçalves (Efapel), Jonathan Lastra and Jaime Rosón (Caja Rural-RGA amateur).