26-year old World Tour thrown into retirement after Lotto-Intermarché merger

Intermarché - Wanty's Tom Paquot has shared a video on social media announcing his retirement from cycling. Over the past few weeks, several young riders have stopped their careers in what is a very worrying trend for the sport. Paquot, a World Tour rider for several years now, is moving away from the sport at only the tender age of 26, still with the prime of his career ahead many believed.

In a recent interview with La Dernière Heure, Paquot had said that "in May, I reached an agreement with the team management to continue. But unfortunately, the contract was never sent to me. By July 15th, I realized it wasn't going to happen". His future with the Belgian team was already certain to be over for quite a while now, but the 26-year old hoped to find a new home to continue his career. That will not happen, and as we reach the end of November, the conditions to continue in pro cycling are simply not there. 

Paquot's interview in late October already had a very worrying tone, of a rider who not only saw his future slip away due to the 'end' of his team, but was also not being able to find a new contract in the sport. By the end of October many teams already knew of his situation, but in the month that followed this didn't change, and within a week the World Tour teams will already begin having their first true training camps in Spain with their 2026 lineups. Whilst there is time on paper for Paquot to still find a team, he opted to call an end to his career.

A classics specialist, he proved to be very promising in 2021 riding to the second-division Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB team, finishing third at the Tour du Doubs and performing in several one-day races throughout the Belgian and French calendar. The Rocourt-native has ridden seven monuments and one Vuelta a España throughout this career and was already a very experienced pro, with 70 race days this season despite not having started any Grand Tour. The news come almost at the very same time as the team announced officially the departure of Biniam Girmay, who for months had been rumoured to be leaving the Belgian structure also amidst the merger.