Today, @UranRigoberto officially announced the 2024 season is his last. For the past nine years, Rigo has been our leader and inspiration. The captain’s chair at the head of our team bus was his. Explore, presented by @wahoofitness: youtu.be/7o0-JR47T-g
"As a cyclist, I believe the time has come to say: this is the end" - Rigoberto Urán confirms retirement after 2024 season
CyclingMonday, 12 February 2024 at 10:45
Rigoberto Urán will end his professional career in cycling during the 2024 season. This year will be 'Rigo's last in the peloton, he confirmed at the end of the Tour Colombia where he was a tremendously popular figure all week.
“As a cyclist, I believe the time has come to say: this is the end. It took me a long time to come to this decision. It's something I've thought long and hard about," Urán admits. "The truth is, it's scary. Cycling has given me everything in life. For almost 23 years I got up, had breakfast and then got on my bike. I was part of a team that took me to the biggest competitions in the world. Now that is coming to an end.”
With podiums at the Olympic Games, Tour de France and Giro d'Italia - with wins in the latter two, Urán was not only a tremendously successful rider but also an inspiration to the Colombian audience. He was among the first of a new generation that began to show it's colours in the 2010's, and was a headliner as he battled for victories in the Grand Tours against the likes of Chris Froome and Vincenzo Nibali.
The 37-year old was also a strong classics rider, having in his palmarès classics such as the GP de Québec and Milano-Torino. Over his lengthy career, he's raced for outfits such as Team Sky, (currently named) Soudal - Quick-Step and lastly, EF Education-EasyPost which will the last jersey he will wear as a pro.
However, Urán is certainly not stepping away from the world of cycling as he is a superstar in Colombia, hosting the famous 'Giro de Rigo' cycling events, and also recently having his own show air in his home country 'Rigo'.
“I'm going to try to enjoy it, do my best in the races and ride every race as if it were my last." Which event will be his last? In recent months he's heavily suggested this could be the Olympic Games - where 12 years ago he came excruciatingly close to the gold medal.
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- Yes, thank you Maria. He has a fractured skull but no pain or sequels and there should be no consequences after the small bump deflates. If anything, he is more likely to get something from the radiation he received when they “investigated” for abuse, CT scan, MRI, a dozen x-rays and he will have to have a follow up scan too. But as said, all due to childbirth, if we hadn’t noticed or worried and not taken him to emergencies, he’d have had no tests at all and instead of one to check the fracture wasn’t serious he got far more :-(Mistermaumau24-11-2024
- Obviously there is the question of enormous willpower but some injuries are extremely specific. A torn meniscus for example can function pretty well during cycling whilst making it close to impossible to go up or down stairs or walk normally.Mistermaumau24-11-2024
- First of all, I hope now all is ok with your baby!. Yeah, about to not accept foreign phone number is a big problem also for me. I have economic interests in 2 countries, I think that all can be ok with my Italian number... but NO! The world is globalized but not for bureaucracies.
maria2024202424-11-2024 - First of all, calm, this is a site to share point of views, doubts, intuitions about cycling. Let's think about it: if someone tells you that he is very tired but is going to run unimportant races immediately, ignoring a world championship much further away in time that would give him the opportunity to rest, there is something very contradictory. Maybe it is fair, but as a simple spectator I (and many others) do not understand it, it does not make sense.maria2024202424-11-2024
- I think the other side has said plenty, given comments about her reputation like what Renz said above. Perhaps this is her chance to speak up against that reputation? I have no idea but her comments seem pretty human, even if each person has their own version of the story.RidesHills24-11-2024
- Give her a team built around her with no competing leaders, like Pogacar has at UAE or Vingegaard has at Visma (seeing how Roglic left), and I wonder how Vollering would do. She’s already so good, and a team dedicated to her could make her even better.RidesHills24-11-2024
- Those injuries, an ability to manage pain and push himself, probably a load of TUEs to help him get back from an awful moment, and competing that hard without the long exercise base that was the norm - no wonder he was exhausted. We’ve now had two consecutive seasons of the second place rider having an injury that interrupts training, and it shows to what level their bodies are tuned for the insane task of winning the Tour. I certainly hope both (and their teams!) are healthy next year. It would be a first, after 4 years.RidesHills24-11-2024
- Winners seem to be like this. Win or lose, it is always on to the next thing. They don’t celebrate the big win, they don’t worry about the painful loss. They move on. It’s an amazing skill. But to be able to ride (and win) while not being able to walk? That’s a level of pain management that boggles my mind. Of course they have it, given what they put their bodies through, but it’s just crazy.RidesHills24-11-2024
- Poor Demi. But she behaves the same way when riding for the national team. Bring me my tiny violin.Renz24-11-2024
- good pointsmij24-11-2024