Coryn Labecki has announced her retirement from professional road cycling. The 31-year-old American, who won the Tour of Flanders seven years ago, has faced a challenging period since her triumphs and change in role to that of road captain.
In 2017, Labecki appeared to have all the qualities to become a prolific winner in the classics. She handled the hills well and had a powerful sprint after a tough race, leading to victories in the Trofeo Binda and the Tour of Flanders. During Flanders, she out-sprinted a 17-rider elite group, including Chantal Blaak and Lotte Kopecky.
However, in recent years, Labecki experienced personal challenges that affected her performance. Esra Tromp, team manager of EF-Oatly-Cannondale, commented at the start of the season, “Coryn has faced some physical and personal challenges over the past few years. There were some unpleasant events in her personal life that impacted her sporting performance.” One such event was the loss of her father to Covid-19 three years ago, which led her to step away from cycling for several months to spend time with her family.
Last winter, Labecki transferred from Visma-Lease a Bike to EF-Oatly-Cannondale. Just two months ago, she crowned herself American criterium champion, marking the last victory of her road cycling career. This week, EF-Oatly-Cannondale announced on Instagram that Labecki has ridden her final race as a professional at the Kreiz Breizh Elites Femmes. The farewell of the 31-year-old American – known earlier in her career as Coryn Rivera – comes as a surprise.
This news is particularly unexpected given Labecki’s statement at the end of last year that she was leaving Jumbo-Visma after two years because she wanted to win more races. The Olympics were seen as a significant goal, but she did not make the selection for the Games.
Labecki’s greatest successes date back to her time with Team Sunweb, the predecessor of dsm-firmenich PostNL. In 2017, she not only won the Tour of Flanders and Trofeo Binda but also the Ride London Classic. It is expected that she will now focus on racing criteriums in America, a discipline in which she is the reigning national champion.
“Coryn had to face several challenges both physically and personally over the past years,” Esra Tromp reiterated. The announcement was made with much positivity from teammates in an Instagram reel, hinting at her future in crit racing after achieving 20 UCI wins on the road.
