"I don’t want my career to just fizzle": Australian legend announces reitrement at the end of the 2026 season

Lidl-Trek rider Amanda Spratt has announced that she will retire from professional racing at the end of the 2026 season, bringing to a close a career spanning more than 15 years at the top level of women’s cycling.

Despite announcing her retirement plans, Spratt stressed that her motivation remains high heading into 2026. “I am still motivated and still training hard ahead of the 2026 season. I don’t want my career to just fizzle, I want to keep putting the effort in,” she said in an official statement shared by Lidl-Trek.

“I am still really motivated and I still love what I do, so I want to go out on a good note. Of course, I would love to win a race, I haven’t done that in a long time [stage 2 of the Tour Down Under 2020], but mostly, I would just love, over the next year, to be a really valued team member and contribute to some big results for my teammates.”

She also highlighted her enthusiasm for the direction of her current team. “I think we have built an exciting group and we have a really good short and longer term vision which is something really excites me.”

Spratt is expected to begin her final season in the peloton on January 17 at the Women’s Tour Down Under, her home race, while the rest of her 2026 programme has yet to be confirmed.

Explaining her decision to announce her retirement well in advance, Spratt said: "To be honest, it’s not super clear if there was a particular point where I thought I don’t want to do this anymore because it’s actually the opposite."

“I still really love racing and I love training, I like the process of working towards goals and training towards goals. I love racing with my teammates, being around them, but I’ve been doing this for 20 plus years now overseas professionally and I like the idea of being able to finish on my own terms and being able to choose where my finish line is.”

She added that sharing her final season publicly was very important to her. “The reason I want to announce it already is that I think it’s going to be quite special to share my final season with so many people that have supported me both near and far, rather than just get to the end and then announcing that I’m stopping and maybe then I don’t get the chance to share it with so many people.”

Reflecting on the longevity of her career, Spratt pointed to the evolution of women’s cycling during her time in the peloton. “I think that’s one thing that I’m really grateful for about my career, the longevity that I’ve had. I mean, I’ve been over in Europe since I was 17, 18 and been on the circuit for over 20 years.”

“If I look at the development of the sport as a whole, I’ve almost crossed, I think, three generations now and I’m teammates with 18 year olds who teach me things as well as me teaching them things and I think that being a part of the evolution and development of the sport is something quite special, and something I’m definitely proud of.”

Spratt also highlighted the passion that has sustained her career from its earliest years. “I think the first years I was racing, I wasn’t making any money. I was just doing it purely for the love of the sport, and I think that’s what has helped me stay in the sport for so long.”

“I love talking about it. I love the people, the tactics, the racing, the training, as I mentioned. So I think that’s something I’m definitely proud of too,” she concluded.