Alana Castrique will retire from professional cycling at the end of the 2026 season, bringing a 19-year association with the sport to a close.
The 27-year-old Belgian confirmed in an Instagram announcement that she will end her career on 31 December. Castrique has spent nine seasons at professional level, racing for Lotto Soudal Ladies, Cofidis Women Team and AG Insurance-Soudal.
“Imagine 19 years of cycling, including nine at the highest level,” Castrique wrote. “What luck. What an adventure. What a privilege.”
She described the decision as the closing of an important chapter rather than a departure marked by regret, thanking the clubs, teams and people who helped her progress from a young rider into the Women’s WorldTour.
Castrique began cycling with CC Armentiérois and credited the club with teaching her more than the physical and technical aspects of the sport. She highlighted respect, perseverance and humility, as well as learning how to accept defeat and find the motivation to recover from setbacks.
She also thanked Lotto for allowing her to develop at her own pace, Cofidis for the next stage of her career and AG Insurance-Soudal for giving her the opportunity to spend her final two seasons competing at the highest level.
Castrique hopes her career encouraged younger riders
Castrique’s retirement message placed particular emphasis on the example she hopes her career may have provided to younger riders.
“If, through my journey, I have inspired even one little girl to believe in her dreams, to dare to get on a bike or to tell herself that anything is possible with work and perseverance, then I will be deeply happy,” she wrote.
“I close this book with a heart full of memories, friendships that will last a lifetime and experiences that will continue to guide me through the next part of my journey.”
It was a fitting summary of a career built less around headline victories than determination, adaptability and repeated returns from difficult periods.
Castrique joined AG Insurance-Soudal ahead of the 2025 season on a two-year contract after three years with Cofidis. Her move back into a Belgian structure gave her the opportunity to contribute to a growing Women’s WorldTour team during the final phase of her career.
The original transfer and her aims for the move were covered when Castrique signed for AG Insurance-Soudal for the 2025 and 2026 seasons.
From Belgian development racing to the professional peloton
Born in Roeselare on 8 May 1999, Castrique began racing at the age of eight and developed through the Belgian club system before joining Lotto Soudal Ladies in 2018.
Her early results established her as a strong time triallist. She finished second in the Belgian junior time trial championship in 2017 and repeated that position at under-23 level the following season.
Castrique won the Belgian under-23 time trial title in 2019, one of the defining results of her development years. That season also demonstrated her ability outside individual races against the clock, with fifth place in the elite Belgian road championship.
She remained with Lotto Soudal Ladies until the end of 2021, gradually building experience in the Classics and international stage races. Her strongest national road championship result came during her final year with the team, when she finished third behind Lotte Kopecky and Julie Van de Velde.
That podium confirmed Castrique’s qualities as a powerful rouleur who could remain competitive in selective road races rather than relying solely on time trials.
Three seasons with Cofidis
Castrique joined the newly created Cofidis Women Team for its inaugural 2022 campaign and remained with the French squad for three seasons.
Her first year produced several strong one-day performances, including 20th at Paris-Roubaix Femmes. The cobbled Classic suited her combination of strength, positioning and endurance, while she also recorded second at Leiedal Koerse and remained competitive across the Belgian and French one-day calendar.
Her Paris-Roubaix result formed part of a promising opening season with Cofidis, although the following years also included injuries and interrupted periods of form.
Castrique nevertheless remained a useful and versatile presence in the team. She could work on the front, contribute in crosswinds, support faster finishers and take her own opportunities on rolling terrain.
The depth of that 2022 Cofidis project, including Castrique’s place within its original roster, was outlined when the new Cofidis women’s team confirmed its first line-up.
Belgian gravel title became a late-career highlight
Castrique’s most significant elite individual title came in 2024, when she became Belgian gravel champion.
The discipline rewarded the same qualities that had defined much of her road career. She combined sustained power with handling ability and the resilience needed for a race decided across changing surfaces.
That victory also demonstrated her capacity to adapt at a time when gravel racing was becoming an increasingly important part of the wider professional calendar.
Her 2024 season included a bronze medal with Belgium in the European mixed relay before she moved to AG Insurance-Soudal. The transfer gave Castrique another opportunity at Women’s WorldTour level and returned her to a Belgian team for the final two years of her career.
She provided experience and depth within the Belgian core of the AG Insurance-Soudal 2026 Women’s WorldTour team, particularly for one-day races and harder rolling courses.
Alana Castrique career overview
| Years | Team |
|---|---|
| 2018–2021 | Lotto Soudal Ladies |
| 2022–2024 | Cofidis Women Team |
| 2025–2026 | AG Insurance-Soudal |
Selected career results
- Second, Belgian junior time trial championship, 2017
- Second, Belgian under-23 time trial championship, 2018
- Belgian under-23 time trial champion, 2019
- Fifth, Belgian elite road championship, 2019
- Third, Belgian elite road championship, 2021
- Third, Belgian under-23 time trial championship, 2021
- 20th, Paris-Roubaix Femmes, 2022
- Seventh, Belgian elite road championship, 2022
- Belgian elite gravel champion, 2024
- Bronze medal, European mixed relay championship, 2024
A career defined by persistence
Castrique will retire without the long victory list attached to Belgium’s biggest stars, but her career still reflects an important period in the development of women’s professional cycling.
She entered the professional peloton when opportunities, race programmes and team structures were still more limited. She then progressed through the launch of the Cofidis women’s project and finished her career within an established Women’s WorldTour squad.
Her record includes a national under-23 title, an elite Belgian championship podium, a Belgian gravel title and appearances across many of the sport’s most demanding one-day races.
There was also considerable value in the work that did not appear on results sheets. Castrique spent much of her career supporting teammates, controlling races and helping position leaders during the most difficult sections of Classics and stage races.
Her own farewell reflects that broader perspective. The memories, friendships and lessons mattered as much as the placings, while the possibility of inspiring younger riders gave her career a significance beyond its results.
