"I'm definitely retiring with no regrets": Australian veteran hangs up his wheels at 39

Simon Clarke brought the curtain down on a professional career spanning two decades on Sunday, crossing the finish line for the final time at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race in Geelong. The 39-year-old Australian, a respected road captain and stage winner at both the Tour de France and Vuelta a España, bows out as the senior statesman of the peloton.

"Someone sent me a stat that I'm the oldest rider in the peloton this year," Clarke told AAP. "So I think that's a good stat to realise you're probably close to the end."

While Clarke built a reputation as one of the sport's most reliable domestiques and an astute on-road tactician, he leaves the sport with a palmarès that many team leaders would envy. He got seven professional wins and started in 20 Grand Tours and 33 monuments. He also represented Australia at multiple World Championships and competed at both the Rio and Paris Olympic Games.

"A lot of riders spend their whole careers supporting and they don't retire with any personal results," Clarke reflected. "Although I've spent a lot of my career supporting, I'm also really happy to have moments in my career when I could chase those results and when I did, I was able to get some good ones. They're both proud achievements. I'm definitely retiring with no regrets."

Clarke's career trajectory was not without its turbulence. His most significant triumph (the stage 5 victory at the 2022 Tour de France over the cobbles to Wallers-Arenberg) came just months after his career nearly evaporated.

Following the collapse of Team Qhubeka NextHash in late 2021, Clarke was left without a contract and close to retirement. Israel - Premier Tech offered him a lifeline, and he repaid that faith with one of the most emotional victories of that year's Tour.