Before the start of each season, a number of riders end up leaving the sport. This can be through age, injury or that they’ve not found a team for the new season. There are no major stars on the list this season, nothing like say an Alberto Contador, but there are still plenty of riders of note. 4 of them are Grand Tour stage winners and at least 5 major One-Day Classics winners.
Top 3 Retirees in 2021
Michael Albasini
Albasini joined Orica Greenedge back in 2012 and stayed with them until retirement. Previously a part of the HTC, Liquigas and Phonak teams, Albasini at his peak was a decent one-week GC racer. He was also a solid puncheur, able to perform well in hilly classics like Flèche Wallonne – despite 8 top-10 finishes, he was never able to win it. 7 stage wins at the Tour de Romandie and 3 at the Tour de Suisse shows he was a fan of his home roads.
Ian Stannard
Stannard has been a part of Team Sky/Ineos since their inception in the 2010 season. During that time, he carved out a role as one of the main spring classics riders for them. His biggest wins came at Omloop het Nieuwsblad where he took the win in 2014 and then retained it infamously in 2015 against a trio of Quickstep riders. Always willing to dig deep for the team, he was a team member of 5 of Chris Froome’s grand tour wins.
Enrico Gasparotto
Another former Liquigas rider, Gasparotto has been a bit of a journeyman in the second half of his career. He turned heads in 2005 by becoming national champion and in his career year of 2008, he finished 2nd in GC at Tirreno-Adriatico. The race Gasparotto will always be linked with is Amstel Gold Race with 7 top-10 finishes. He won the 2012 and 2016 editions – the latter for non-Worldtour team Wanty-Groupe Gobert, which reignited his later career.
List of Retiring riders
| Rider | Last team | Age | Best Result(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yoann Offredo | Intermarché Wanty Gobert | 34 | 1st Tour du Picardie Stage |
| Travis McCabe | Israel Start-Up Nation | 31 | 1st Tour of Utah Stage (x4) |
| Jorge Cubero | Burgos-BH | 28 | 22nd Vuelta a Espana Stage |
| Simon Sellier | Team Total Direct Energie | 26 | 4th GC Tour du Maroc |
| Kevin Deltombe | Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise | 26 | 3rd Grand Prix Criquielion |
| Michael Albasini | Team BikeExchange | 40 | 1st GC Vuelta a Catalunya 1st GC Tour of Britain/Austria |
| Kevyn Ista | Bingoal – Wallonie Bruxelles | 36 | 1st Route Adélie de Vitré |
| Pieter Weening | Trek – Segafredo | 39 | 1st Giro d’Italia Stage (x2) 1st Tour de France Stage 1st GC Tour of Poland/Norway |
| Michael Carbel | Team Qhubeka ASSOS | 25 | 1st Dorpenomloop Rucphen |
| Franklin Six | Bingoal – Wallonie Bruxelles | 24 | 6th Dwars door de Vlaamse Ardennen |
| Axel Domont | AG2R Citroën Team | 30 | 1st Circuit Cycliste Sarthe Stage |
| Jonathan Dibben | Lotto Soudal | 26 | 1st Amgen Tour of California Stage |
| Jay Robert Thomson | Team Qhubeka ASSOS | 34 | 1st Tour de Langkawi Stage 1st South African Nat Champs |
| Enrico Gasparotto | Team Qhubeka ASSOS | 38 | 1st Amstel Gold Race (x2) |
| Benoît Jarrier | Team Arkéa Samsic | 31 | 2nd Tro-Bro Léon (x2) |
| Florian Vachon | Team Arkéa Samsic | 36 | 1st Critérium International Stage |
| Umberto Orsini | Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè | 26 | 17th Gran Premio Citta di Lugano |
| Jürgen Roelandts | Movistar Team | 35 | 1st GC Eurométropole Tour |
| Zhandos Bizhigitov | Astana – Premier Tech | 29 | 1st Tour de Korea Stage |
| Ian Stannard | INEOS Grenadiers | 33 | 1st Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (x2) |
| Clément Chevrier | AG2R Citroën Team | 28 | 1st Tour des Pays de Savoie Stage |
| Arthur Vichot | B&B Hotels p/b KTM | 32 | 1st GC Tour du Haut Var (x3) |
| Paweł Poljański | BORA – hansgrohe | 30 | 1st Carpathia Couriers Paths Stage |
| Pim Ligthart | Team Total Direct Energie | 32 | 1st Ronde van Drenthe |
| Arnaud Courteille | B&B Hotels p/b KTM | 31 | 1st GP Portugal Stage |
| Oscar Gatto | BORA – hansgrohe | 36 | 1st Dwars Door Vlaanderen 1st Giro d’Italia Stage |
| Will Clarke | Trek – Segafredo | 35 | 1st Tour Down Under Stage |
| Brian Van Goethem | Lotto Soudal | 29 | 1st Zuid Oost Drenthe Classic II |
| Nikolas Maes | Lotto Soudal | 34 | 1st GC World Ports Classic |
| Stijn Vandenbergh | AG2R Citroën Team | 36 | 1st GC Tour of Ireland |
| Ramūnas Navardauskas | DELKO | 32 | 1st GC Circuit Cycliste Sarthe (x2) 1st Tour de France Stage 1st Giro d’Italia Stage |
| Romain Le Roux | Team Arkéa Samsic | 28 | 5th La Poly Normande |
| Tom-Jelte Slagter | B&B Hotels p/b KTM | 31 | 1st GC Tour Down Under |
| Adam Hansen | Lotto Soudal | 39 | 1st Giro d’Italia Stage 1st Vuelta a Espana Stage |
| Rory Sutherland | Israel Start-Up Nation | 38 | 1st USA Pro Cycling Challenge Stage |
| Martin Bouzas | Equipo Kern Pharma | 23 | 16th GC Giro Valle d’Aosta Mont Blanc |
| Luka Pibernik | Bahrain – Victorious | 27 | 1st Eneco Tour Stage |
| Tom Leezer | Team Jumbo-Visma | 35 | 1st Tour de Langkawi Stage |
| Kris Broeckmans | B&B Hotels p/b KTM | 33 | 1st Le Samyn |
| Ryan Anderson | Rally Cycling | 33 | 2nd La Poly Normande |
| Nigel Ellsay | Rally Cycling | 26 | 2nd GC Joe Martin Stage Race |
| Christian Knees | INEOS Grenadiers | 39 | 1st GC Bayern-Rundfahrt |
| John Murphy | Rally Cycling | 36 | 1st GC Joe Martin Stage Race |
