Each year we see riders leave the pro peloton as the progress of time begins to hit hard. For many, it’s the closing part of a long, successful career. For others, it’s a sign that injuries have taken a toll, or the sacrifices made to maintain a certain level are no longer worth it. We’ve lost some big names from the peloton this season, from sprinters to monument winners, and world champions to humble domestiques.
André Greipel is arguably the most successful rider on this list. He took 158 wins in his long career that began at T-Mobile development team Wiesenhof in 2005. Dan Martin won a pair of monuments (Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Il Lombardia) and recently talked about not being prepared to take risks in his riding anymore. That was after a gravel stage of the Giro d’Italia and Dan Martin not wanting to do anything to affect his young family.
Tony Martin finished his career in the best way possible, with a final World Championship win in the Mixed Relay TT in Flanders. That made it 8 road World Champs wins – 4x TT, 3x TTT and 1x Mixed Relay. Fans old enough to see Stephen Roche race will feel old knowing his son Nicolas Roche is retiring. Nicolas retires at the same time as cousin Dan Martin and then will be heading straight into Ireland’s version of Dancing with the Stars.
Full List of 2021 Retiring Riders
| Name | Final Team | Age |
|---|---|---|
| André Greipel | Israel Start-Up Nation | 39 |
| Dan Martin | Israel Start-Up Nation | 35 |
| Tony Martin | Team Jumbo-Visma | 36 |
| Roman Kreuziger | Gazprom – RusVelo | 35 |
| Nicolas Roche | Team DSM | 37 |
| Fabio Aru | Team Qhubeka NextHash | 31 |
| Marco Marcato | UAE-Team Emirates | 37 |
| Manuel Belletti | EOLO-Kometa | 36 |
| Jelle Vanendert | Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB | 36 |
| Brent Bookwalter | Team BikeExchange | 37 |
| Nathan Haas | Cofidis | 32 |
| Eros Capecchi | Bahrain – Victorious | 35 |
| Marcel Sieberg | Bahrain – Victorious | 39 |
| Jonas Van Genechten | B&B Hotels p/b KTM | 35 |
| Petr Vakoč | Alpecin-Fenix | 29 |
| Roy Jans | Alpecin-Fenix | 31 |
| William Bonnet | Groupama – FDJ | 39 |
| Moreno Hofland | EF Education – Nippo | 30 |
| Koen De Kort | Trek – Segafredo | 39 |
| Tomasz Marczyński | Lotto Soudal | 37 |
| Mickaël Delage | Groupama – FDJ | 36 |
| Matteo Pelucchi | Team Qhubeka NextHash | 32 |
| Michal Gołaś | INEOS Grenadiers | 37 |
| Fabio Sabatini | Cofidis | 36 |
| Sean De Bie | Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB | 30 |
| Viacheslav Kuznetsov | Gazprom – RusVelo | 32 |
| Fumiyuki Beppu | EF Education – Nippo | 38 |
| Pieter Vanspeybrouck | Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert Matériaux | 34 |
| Mitchell Docker | EF Education – Nippo | 35 |
| Kiel Reijnen | Trek – Segafredo | 35 |
| Ben Gastauer | AG2R Citroën Team | 34 |
| Rob Britton | Rally Cycling | 37 |
| Robert Power | Team Qhubeka NextHash | 26 |
| Boris Vallée | Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB | 28 |
| Frederik Backaert | B&B Hotels p/b KTM | 31 |
| Kévin Reza | B&B Hotels p/b KTM | 33 |
| Bert De Backer | B&B Hotels p/b KTM | 37 |
| Enrique Sanz | Equipo Kern Pharma | 32 |
| Andreas Schillinger | BORA – hansgrohe | 38 |
| Garikoitz Bravo | Euskaltel – Euskadi | 32 |
| Julien Duval | AG2R Citroën Team | 31 |
| Jérôme Cousin | Team TotalEnergies | 32 |
| Nikita Stalnov | Astana – Premier Tech | 30 |
| Daniel Hoelgaard | Uno-X Pro Cycling Team | 28 |
| Philipp Walsleben | Alpecin-Fenix | 34 |
| Nicola Bagioli | B&B Hotels p/b KTM | 26 |
| Scott Davies | Bahrain – Victorious | 26 |
| Ludwig De Winter | Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert Matériaux | 28 |
| Nik Gaillard | Team TotalEnergies | 25 |
| Jon Irisarri | Caja Rural – Seguros RGA | 26 |
| Nik Oronte | Rally Cycling | 31 |
| Kenny De Ketele | Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise | 36 |
| Mikel Alonso | Euskaltel – Euskadi | 25 |
| Jonas Castrique | Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB | 24 |
| Jasper De Plus | Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert Matériaux | 24 |
| Brian Kamstra | Team Novo Nordisk | 28 |
| Nik Bevilacqua | Vini Zabù | 23 |
| Oliver Behringer | Team Novo Nordisk | 25 |
