38-year-old Dutchman, Jos van Emden has announced that this will be the final year of his professional career, bringing down the curtain on a 15-year spell in the World Tour peloton.
"All these years, I have been able to live my childhood dream," says the Jumbo-Visma rider to his team's official website. "I am very proud of everything I have achieved and happy with the life I was able to live so far. It has been a great adventure, and I have enjoyed every day. During my career in the sport, this team and I, as a rider, have developed tremendously. I have enjoyed being able to be so professional in my sport. I have never lost the fun of riding: The love of the sport, the bike and the adventure have always come first. At 38, my retirement feels like the end of my youth.”
Van Emden's career has been one full of highlights, including winning a stage of the Giro d'Italia back in 2017, one of 14 professional wins that most recently included a shock victory in the individual time-trial at the Dutch National Championships in June of this year.
"Jos has had a wonderful career,” adds long-time Mathieu Heijboer recalls. "He has been a constant in the team all these years. In 2015, when things were going very badly for the team, he was one of the driving forces behind our project to take time trialling to the next level. And with success. To this day, he continues to be a tremendous asset to all our leaders."
"The development of the team has been excellent to experience. The team made me better, and I made the team better. It felt like a family I have enjoyed being a part of all these years," van Emden, a faithful servant of Jumbo-Visma set-up since 2008. "In that sense, it is exciting to take the next step now, but it had to happen at some point. Been there, done that. Symbolically it is very nice for me to say goodbye in the red, white and blue as reigning Dutch time trial champion.”
All great things must come to an end at some point 🥹 @josvanemden retires at the end of the season. Thank you for the memories, Jos 🙌 @RichardPlugge: "We will miss Jos as a rider. He is still performing at a high level." @m_heijboer: "He has been a constant all this time."
