Former Tour de France winners, World Champions... - The 28 World Tour riders retiring in 2025
Cycling
The 2025 season sees plenty of top riders and former stars hanging up their wheels and this includes former Grand Tour winners, World Champions and many of the 2010's best sprinters. It is a list of 28 World Tour riders and 17 ProTeam riders, thus far, who have confirmed they are ending their careers.
The biggest 'star' hanging up his wheels this season perhaps is Geraint Thomas, winner of the 2018 season, long-standing member of INEOS Grenadiers and influential figure for over a decade now in the peloton. He ended his career at the Tour of Britain at home in Wales, an ideal finale. Other GC riders such as Romain Bardet, Rafal Majka, Louis Meintjes have Michael Woods also raced for the final time as pros this season.
In the field of the classics specialists Rui Costa is retiring, the only former rainbow jersey to do it this year - although several silver and bronze medalists are also in this position. What is most notable is the list of sprinters retiring this year, struggling to keep up with the pace of the new generation who specialize in multiple terrains, not just the sprints. It is a golden list of fast men, many of which marked and dominated races in the 2010's.
Alexander Kristoff, Elia Viviani, Giacomo Nizzolo, Caleb Ewan, Arnaud Démare (and his memorable leadout Dan McLay) all retired at the end of the year. Combined, these men have over 350 pro wins...

Geraint Thomas has last raced at the Tour of Britain. @SWpix.com
World Tour riders retiring
| Name | Team | Age | |
| 1 | BOUCHARD Geoffrey | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | 33y + 274d |
| 2 | JANSSENS Jimmy | Alpecin - Deceuninck | 36y + 215d |
| 3 | MEINTJES Louis | Intermarché - Wanty | 33y + 313d |
| 4 | PEREZ Anthony | Cofidis | 34y + 253d |
| 5 | FRAILE Omar | INEOS Grenadiers | 35y + 167d |
| 6 | MCLAY Daniel | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 33y + 362d |
| 7 | DECLERCQ Tim | Lidl - Trek | 36y + 285d |
| 8 | THOMAS Geraint | INEOS Grenadiers | 39y + 220d |
| 9 | DE MARCHI Alessandro | Team Jayco AlUla | 39y + 226d |
| 10 | DELAPLACE Anthony | Arkéa - B&B Hotels | 36y + 111d |
| 11 | VAN DER SANDE Tosh | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 35y + 33d |
| 12 | MAJKA Rafał | UAE Team Emirates - XRG | 36y + 110d |
| 13 | SERRY Pieter | Soudal Quick-Step | 37y + 40d |
| 14 | PETIT Adrien | Intermarché - Wanty | 35y + 96d |
| 15 | PUCCIO Salvatore | INEOS Grenadiers | 36y + 122d |
| 16 | COSTA Rui | EF Education - EasyPost | 39y + 87d |
| 17 | DÉMARE Arnaud | Arkéa - B&B Hotels | 34y + 127d |
| 18 | CASTROVIEJO Jonathan | INEOS Grenadiers | 38y + 248d |
| 19 | KOCH Jonas | Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe | 32y + 189d |
| 20 | PETILLI Simone | Intermarché - Wanty | 32y + 241d |
| 21 | PETERS Nans | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | 31y + 294d |
| 22 | GESBERT Élie | Arkéa - B&B Hotels | 30y + 183d |
| 23 | GIBBONS Ryan | Lidl - Trek | 31y + 140d |
| 24 | SCHELLING Ide | XDS Astana Team | 27y + 328d |
| 25 | FINÉ Eddy | Cofidis | 27y + 219d |
| 26 | BARDET Romain | Team Picnic PostNL | 34y + 218d |
| 27 | EWAN Caleb | INEOS Grenadiers | 30y + 299d |
| 28 | VAN DEN BERG Lars | Groupama - FDJ | 26y + 249d |

Victory number 97 for Alexander Kristoff at this year's Vuelta a Andalucia. The Norwegian looked to reach 100, but ended his career at 98. @Sirotti
ProTeam riders retiring
| Name | Team | Age | |
| 1 | LATOUR Pierre | Team TotalEnergies | 32y + 80d |
| 2 | SBARAGLI Kristian | Team Solution Tech - Vini Fantini | 35y + 237d |
| 3 | KRIEGER Alexander | Tudor Pro Cycling Team | 34y + 33d |
| 4 | BRAMBILLA Gianluca | Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | 38y + 131d |
| 5 | SOUPE Geoffrey | Team TotalEnergies | 37y + 284d |
| 6 | NIZZOLO Giacomo | Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | 36y + 335d |
| 7 | KRISTOFF Alexander | Uno-X Mobility | 38y + 179d |
| 8 | VIVIANI Elia | Lotto | 36y + 327d |
| 9 | VLIEGEN Loïc | Wagner Bazin WB | 32y + 11d |
| 10 | WOODS Michael | Israel - Premier Tech | 39y + 80d |
| 11 | COLMAN Alex | Team Flanders - Baloise | 27y + 162d |
| 12 | BALDACCINI Davide | Team Solution Tech - Vini Fantini | 27y + 223d |
| 13 | MARTIN David | Burgos Burpellet BH | 26y + 315d |
| 14 | DEJAEGHER Jasper | Team Flanders - Baloise | 24y + 342d |
| 15 | ZUBELDIA Unai | Euskaltel - Euskadi | 22y + 177d |
| 16 | BUDDING Martijn | Unibet Tietema Rockets | 30y + 19d |
| 17 | DE LA PARTE Víctor | Euskaltel - Euskadi | 38y + 258d |

Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
claps 1visitors 1
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- Tis beyond your comprehension fine sir so best not to look on with blind eyes to THE GOATS greatness.
Brucegel09-11-2026 - McNulty winning was beneficial in ensuring the rainbow jersey would not remain winless
Front24209-11-2026 - Eccelente! That's 7 riders in total in Red Bull who come from the devo team, 8 if you include Lipo
Rafionain-Glas09-11-2026 - again, nothing is going to be resolved. it is a discussion board. I simply said I didn't see how MS impeded LBs sprint. the UCI doesn't care about my thoughts, and I am really not that emotionally invested in it.mij09-11-2026
- provoke change, lol. this is a discussion board. nothing is going to change by what I say here. just commenting that it didn't look like MS impeded Brand. beyond that not trying to go too deep.mij09-11-2026
- as excellent as maga rednecks chloe dygert (and quinn simmons)?Ketterechts09-11-2026
- so what i understand is: i left a comment calling out the endless author CVs for being an unnecessary flex of expertise, and you responded by lecturing me (and others) on discrimination and value systems. hats off to you. you definitely lost me!Ketterechts09-11-2026
- I just love the flood of Americans into the top ranks of world cycling. In addition to being studs on the bike, they all seem to be excellent emissaries for our country.Occam09-11-2026
- ANATOMY OF A G.O.A.T. EDDY MERCKX about TADEJ POGAČAR: Merckx: “He has revived a style of cycling that we had almost forgotten. He is now better than me.” Key statements by Merckx about Pogačar in 2026: - Acknowledging his superiority: This time, Merckx openly admitted, without any subsequent backtracking or reservations, that Pogačar had surpassed him and was now above him. This contrasts with 2024, when he quickly softened his remarks about Pogačar being faster. - The possibility of a historic triple (Giro, Tour and Vuelta): During the July Tour de France (where Pogi claimed his fifth title), Merckx stated that Pogi was the only cyclist in history capable of winning all three Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a España) in a single season, provided the conditions were right and he had sufficient team support. - Lack of serious competition: Merckx emphasised that Pogačar has no real rivals in the mountains since 2024, thanks to his extraordinary climbing ability and the fact that he continues to improve despite still being under 28 (he turned 28 in autumn 2026). - Praise for his racing style: Merckx highlighted how Pogačar is bringing back the aggressive, uncompromising spirit of cycling's golden era, when races were not merely about calculated stages and tactical conservatism, but about attacking from long distances. PS: This is not "boring" ... this is called making real history, not only statistical history. Capish?PogiSloFans09-11-2026
- It’s off-season mate, I’m bored and fed up with the mediocrity of people unwilling to provoke change when they admit things aren’t right. What have you done lately to make anyone realise you won’t put up with things? What conversation, are you dictating to me which part of the incident I have to be interested in or telling me other parts are taboo? That’s what I guess the UCI would really like, let them moan, let it blow over for them pass on to the next thing, let’s keep the status quo, let’s try our best not reviewing or revealing anything about decision-making just like every time before, they’re used to it by now so we can take the risk they’ll never give us grief.Jumpyjohn09-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment







