Men’s Riders Retiring Before the 2021 Season

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

RiderLast teamAgeBest Result(s)
Yoann OffredoIntermarché Wanty Gobert341st Tour du Picardie Stage
Travis McCabeIsrael Start-Up Nation311st Tour of Utah Stage (x4)
Jorge CuberoBurgos-BH2822nd Vuelta a Espana Stage
Simon SellierTeam Total Direct Energie264th GC Tour du Maroc
Kevin DeltombeSport Vlaanderen – Baloise263rd Grand Prix Criquielion
Michael AlbasiniTeam BikeExchange401st GC Vuelta a Catalunya
1st GC Tour of Britain/Austria
Kevyn IstaBingoal – Wallonie Bruxelles361st Route Adélie de Vitré
Pieter WeeningTrek – Segafredo391st Giro d’Italia Stage (x2)
1st Tour de France Stage
1st GC Tour of Poland/Norway
Michael CarbelTeam Qhubeka ASSOS251st Dorpenomloop Rucphen
Franklin SixBingoal – Wallonie Bruxelles246th Dwars door de Vlaamse Ardennen
Axel DomontAG2R Citroën Team301st Circuit Cycliste Sarthe Stage
Jonathan DibbenLotto Soudal261st Amgen Tour of California Stage
Jay Robert ThomsonTeam Qhubeka ASSOS341st Tour de Langkawi Stage
1st South African Nat Champs
Enrico GasparottoTeam Qhubeka ASSOS381st Amstel Gold Race (x2)
Benoît JarrierTeam Arkéa Samsic312nd Tro-Bro Léon (x2)
Florian VachonTeam Arkéa Samsic361st Critérium International Stage
Umberto OrsiniBardiani-CSF-Faizanè2617th Gran Premio Citta di Lugano
Jürgen RoelandtsMovistar Team351st GC Eurométropole Tour
Zhandos Bizhigitov Astana – Premier Tech291st Tour de Korea Stage
Ian StannardINEOS Grenadiers331st Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (x2)
Clément ChevrierAG2R Citroën Team281st Tour des Pays de Savoie Stage
Arthur VichotB&B Hotels p/b KTM321st GC Tour du Haut Var (x3)
Paweł PoljańskiBORA – hansgrohe301st Carpathia Couriers Paths Stage
Pim LigthartTeam Total Direct Energie321st Ronde van Drenthe
Arnaud Courteille B&B Hotels p/b KTM311st GP Portugal Stage
Oscar GattoBORA – hansgrohe361st Dwars Door Vlaanderen
1st Giro d’Italia Stage
Will ClarkeTrek – Segafredo351st Tour Down Under Stage
Brian Van Goethem Lotto Soudal291st Zuid Oost Drenthe Classic II
Nikolas Maes Lotto Soudal341st GC World Ports Classic
Stijn Vandenbergh AG2R Citroën Team361st GC Tour of Ireland
Ramūnas Navardauskas DELKO321st GC Circuit Cycliste Sarthe (x2)
1st Tour de France Stage
1st Giro d’Italia Stage
Romain Le Roux Team Arkéa Samsic285th La Poly Normande
Tom-Jelte Slagter B&B Hotels p/b KTM311st GC Tour Down Under
Adam Hansen Lotto Soudal391st Giro d’Italia Stage
1st Vuelta a Espana Stage
Rory Sutherland Israel Start-Up Nation381st USA Pro Cycling Challenge Stage
Martin Bouzas Equipo Kern Pharma2316th GC Giro Valle d’Aosta Mont Blanc
Luka Pibernik Bahrain – Victorious271st Eneco Tour Stage
Tom Leezer Team Jumbo-Visma351st Tour de Langkawi Stage
Kris Broeckmans B&B Hotels p/b KTM331st Le Samyn
Ryan Anderson Rally Cycling332nd La Poly Normande
Nigel Ellsay Rally Cycling262nd GC Joe Martin Stage Race
Christian Knees INEOS Grenadiers391st GC Bayern-Rundfahrt
John Murphy Rally Cycling361st GC Joe Martin Stage Race