American Phil Gaimon has called an end to his professional cycling career at age 30 after not succeeding in finding a WorldTour contract for the 2017 season.
Gaimon raced for Slipstream Sports in 2014 and 2016, racing with Garmin-Sharp and Cannondale-Drapac those years, but when his best bet to continue on next season with Dimension Data did not materialize, he decided to quit rather than take a role as big fish in a smaller team.
"I went to Tour of Alberta with the feeling it might be my last race," Gaimon told Cyclingnews. "I had offers from Continental teams that were honestly for more money than I'd ever made from cycling. But I looked at all these young, fast kids, and they are me when I was 23. I could take the offer, but it would be a job for me and it would be a dream for them. It wouldn't feel right taking those spots. I don't want to be the highest paid guy on a small team. That would feel gross."
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Gaimon made his professional debut with Jelly Belly in 2009, rather late in the cycling world at the age of 23. He held the record for the Mount Washington hill climb before he began to turn out some strong results in races, including a second place overall in Tour of Taiwan in 2010, the overall victory in the Redlands Classic in 2012 and 2015 and second overall in the Tour de San Luis in 2014.
After returning from a year at the Continental level with Optum, Gaimon realized he'd reached the limit of his abilities in Europe this year.
"I went to Optum with a pretty big fire to get back to Europe and prove myself. My mission was always to get to the WorldTour, and I had to do it twice. I think I gave everything of myself to get there. Once I was there, my ceiling was reached. I'm good, but I'm not that good," Gaimon said.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
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