"It's great to finish at this high level" - Robert Gesink set for final ride of his career in Vuelta a Espana stage 21 ITT

A stalwart of the Team Visma | Lease a Bike setup in its various guises over the years, Robert Gesink's Grand Tour career is set to come to an end this Sunday afternoon, marking the conclusion of a near-20-year career amongst the cycling elite.

"It's great to finish at this high level and not to continue for a year too long. This is a good moment," Gesink said in quotes collected by NOS ahead of his final farewell in Madrid. "There have been a lot of 'last this' and 'last that' this past year. Yesterday was already very special. There are always a lot of quiet moments in racing, even though it was a brutally tough stage, there were still enough guys who said along the way: 'Great, congratulations.' That was nice."

Having in his younger days targeted the general classification at Grand Tours, peaking at the 2010 Tour de France where he finished in the top-5, Gesink has since modified his riding style and his position within the Team Visma | Lease a Bike team to more of a road captain and domestique role, supporting his teammates loyally over recent seasons. "My career started very much with the drive to win, to perform," the 38-year-old Dutchman recalls of his earlier days. "A race was not successful without a top ten or even a better result. That has changed. I am proud that I have gone from a rider who only had to think of himself to a team player."

Nevertheless, Father Time waits for no man and over the last couple of years, Gesink has been finding it increasingly difficult to ride at the front. "Unfortunately, it happens more and more often that in the first hour there are about eighty riders stronger, and I only come to the fore towards the end. The young men are slowly passing me more and more," he concludes. "I've become more of an enjoyer of cycling, instead of the 'must' on the bike."

Post-cycling, Gesink is already looking forward to more time with his family. "As a professional cyclist, you spend many days a year at the airport. You see all the happy families going on holiday and then I'm there with my yellow suitcase on my way to a race, sometimes without even knowing the destination," he concludes. "That's a completely different experience, which I'm looking forward to."