Lotta Henttala has announced her retirement from professional cycling as she prepares for the birth of her second child. The 36-year-old EF Education-Oatly rider, one of Finland’s most successful cyclists, steps away after an 11-year career that included six national titles, major one-day wins, and a pioneering role in showing that motherhood and elite racing can coexist.
Turning professional in 2014, Henttala established herself as one of the top female sprinters of her generation, with victories at Gent-Wevelgem and Dwars door Vlaanderen among her highlights. She previously returned to racing in 2023 after the birth of her first child in 2022, joining EF Education-Oatly the following year and claiming three wins for the team, including her final victory at January’s Trofeo Marratxi-Felanitx in Mallorca.
“This will be my second child, and for me, I think it’s a little bit too hard to come back again with two kids. I think it’s my time to retire,” she said. “Plus, the peloton is getting so strong. I don’t know if I have that much to give to racing anymore. Maybe I would, but retiring had been in my mind a little bit, so I think this is the natural way to exit.”
Henttala has not raced since February, missing the Classics due to illness and then pregnancy. She admitted that a heavy crash in the summer of 2024 and a difficult start to 2025 had already led her to consider ending her career. “The decision was quite easy. Even before this pregnancy, retiring was in the back of my mind. This year I had a rough spring with illness, and I had a heavy crash last summer. Just bad luck. After the off-season, when I started training again, I was still thinking about that crash, and it was still mentally affecting me. But when I won Trofeo Marratxi-Felanitx in January, of course, I started thinking, ‘OK, maybe one more year after this.’ Then, I got sick and missed the Classics.”
She revealed that a conversation with former teammate Coryn Labecki helped crystallise her decision. “I spoke to Coryn before I found out I was pregnant again, and she said that if it happens, then it’s meant to be, and I was already thinking that way. That’s how I know it’s time to leave cycling.”
Beyond her victories, Henttala’s influence has been significant in Finnish cycling, a nation with few professional riders. “I’m from Finland and we’re not a very common cycling country so I hope I was a good example for all Finnish people that you can also jump from our country to being one of the best riders in the world. I hope I gave that inspiration,” she said.
For much of her career, she was the only Finnish woman in the professional peloton, but she leaves knowing that Anniina Ahtosalo of Uno-X Mobility and Wilma Aintila of Canyon SRAM zondacrypto are now representing Finland at WorldTour level.
“Beyond that, all the time I was on this team, I wanted us to always race as a team. I hope I brought that attitude to my teammates. If we want to win, we need to race together.”
Henttala joins Lizzie Deignan and Chantal van den Broek-Blaak as high-profile riders retiring from the sport due to pregnancy in 2025.
