"It's harder than I thought" - Aleix Espargaró considers leaving cycling and focusing on MotoGP

Aleix Espargaró's first season as a professional cyclist has been far from easy. The former Moto GP rider, who still appears sporadically in motorsport competition, was injured in his debut race with Lidl-Trek, during the third stage of Tour of Austria.

In his return, a month later, he was able to finish the Circuito de Getxo in a modest 57th place, but he suffered physical problems again that are preventing him from performing also on motorcycles. For this reason, in statements to the media during the recent Catalunya 2025 GP, Aleix Espargaró said that he is considering quitting the bike.

The Spanish Lidl-Trek rider began by saying that the goal is to return at the next edition of the Japan Cup, that is, in just over a month (October 19). There he hopes to be fully recovered from his vertebrae problem.

"I will race the Japan Cup next month. I hope to be fully recovered, we'll see how the race goes. But I have to say that it's been more complicated than I had thought. Combining the calendars of cycling and Moto GP is very difficult," Aleix Espargaró began.

Espargaró's arrival at Lidl-Trek last winter generated a lot of controversy. Many fans claimed that he was not ready to compete professionally on the bike, especially since he had focused his entire career on motorsport.

The U.S. team nevertheless gave him a chance to get on the bike. But he didn't quite give up Moto GP. He wanted to combine both, and in the end, as expected, it is taking its toll on him both physically and mentally:

"I train many hours on the bike and travel a lot. It's very demanding, not only physically speaking. I'm pushing my body to the limit mentally as well," confessed Aleix Espargaró.

Finally came the great revelation of Aleix Espargaró. The objective of the rider / pilot is to focus on motorcycles, specifically at Honda. This would lead to a departure from Lidl-Trek at the end of the current season, to give himself entirely to the Moto GP team in 2026. However, the decision has not yet been made.

"We're looking to see what happens next year, if it's still as difficult. I've always said that Honda (in Moto GP) is my priority. But well, I haven't decided anything yet," concluded Aleix Espargaró's statements at the last GP of Catalunya.