No contract for Zdenek Stybar at the end of the year despite return to form - "I definitely want to keep racing"

Zdenek Stybar will be one of the few riders that will not stay with Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team at the end of the season, giving closure to a long chapter of collaboration between the two.

"I have been told that I cannot re-sign," Stybar said in an interview after the Tour of Leuven where he finished in second place. "I definitely want to keep racing because it just wasn't good enough in the past two years. Is there any interest? That is a question mark given my age and the health problems. I have had. In that sense, this second place is not unimportant".

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Stybar has had a very difficult season, however has this past week showed his first signs of good form, with strong performance in Leuven, but also an aggressive stance at the Tour de Pologne where he almost took a stage win. However the decision from within the Belgian team is already taken, and the 36-year old will be looking for a new team into 2023.

Stybar has raced with Quick-Step since 2011 and has become a pillar of it's classics lineup. Having wins at the BinkBank Tour, E3 Saxo Bank Classic, Strade Bianche and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad to name a few, Stybar has become one of the most successful classics riders of the last decade. With the Belgian team's depth, he also played a role in many other wins at the very highest level, against the very best classics riders in the world.

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“I will end the season with a maximum of forty racing days on the counter, which is not enough," he said, as he looks to race some more classics until the end of the year in search of his first win in over two and a half years. Several teams will likely be interested, specially taking into consideration his history and will to get back to cyclocross this winter.

"That's why I want to ride more crosses next winter. Still, the road remains my main goal because I haven't reached some goals there yet. But if no team shows up later, then so be it," he concluded.

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