It might only be November, but for many the preparations for the 2017 season have already begun in earnest. For a few riders, that familiar pain of returning to the bike after a brief off-season is no more as they look ahead to the next stage in their lives
While some changed their minds - step forward Alberto Contador and Joaquim Rodriguez - there were a whole host of riders who called 2016 their last in the professional ranks. Some were long-planned, and some were forced due to illness and injury. Cyclingnews has collated a list of this season's most notable retirees.
Fabian Cancellara
Turned professional: 2001
Teams: Mapei-QuickStep (2001-2002), Fassa Bortolo (2003-2005), CSC/Saxo Bank (2006-2010), Leopard-Trek (2011), RadioShack-Nissan/Trek Factory Racing (2012-2016)
Rider type: Time Triallist, Classics
Biggest results: Olympic time trial champion (2008/2016), world time trial champion (2006/2007/2009/2010), Tour of Flanders (2010/2013/2014), Paris-Roubaix (2006/2010/2013), Milan-San Remo (2008), Tour de France stage x7.
What next?: Cancellara has had plenty of time to ponder his retirement after announcing it last year. He hasn’t laid out any firm plans for but he’s likely to be kept busy as a brand ambassador for Trek Bicycles. He also hopes to do some studying but says that a full degree is not for him. His vast knowledge of the Classics will be invaluable to Trek-Segafredo and no doubt he’ll be around to offer his advice.
ADVERTISEMENT
Michael Rogers
Turned professional: 2001
Teams: Mapei-QuickStep (2001-2002), QuickStep-Davitamon (2003-2005). T-Mobile/HTC-Colombia (2006-2010), Team Sky (2011-2012), Tinkoff-Saxo (2014-2016).
Rider type: Time triallist, domestique
Biggest results: World time trial champion (2003/2004/2005), Tour de France stage (2014), Giro d’Italia stage x2 (2014), Tour of California overall (2010).
What next?: A heart problem forced Rogers to retire at the start of 2016 after just two days of racing at the Dubai Tour - he had already opted out of the Tour Down Under. In May, Rogers joined up with his former boss Bjarne Riis as the CEO of the Riis-Seier Project, which is the owner of the Virtu Pro-VéloConcept Continental team.
Jesse Sergent
Ryder Hesjedal
Jean-Christophe Peraud
Matt Goss
Frank Schleck
Christian Meier
Phil Gaimon
Xabier Zandio
Bradley Wiggins
Johan Vansummeren
Dominik Nerz
Yaroslav Popovych
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://ift.tt/2fypql7
No comments:
Post a Comment