Thomas De Gendt participated in his final big pre-season press conference with his Lotto Dstny teammates, as the 37-year-old Belgian is decided to stop racing at the professional level after 2024 season. But that might not be the absolute end of 'Breakaway King's career as De Gendt confirms there are still races he would like to ride and see before he hangs up his bike for good.
"I would prefer to skip the Tour," he surprises. "It's a big battle every year to get into that selection. I don't feel like trying that at all. After all, you have to train very specifically for that. If you are ultimately not chosen, you will be left with a fitness peak that is of no use to you. After all, there is no replacement rate during that period. You are then in good shape, but without any competitions."
"I would really like to win another stage there. That's actually my big goal for this year. I will even fully train for that in July and August. If it worked, I would have managed to win two stages in each Grand Tour. That would be a nice number to end with."
While 2024 will be De Gendt's final year in the professional bunch, he would still like to discover some of the more exotic races at the Continental circuit in the future: "I would like to ride a number of Asian races. A Tour of Taiwan, for example. Or a Tour of Japan. Raymond Kreder, an ex-teammate of mine, is with a Japanese team. He only says good things about it."
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