Rohan Dennis elaborates on decision to retire- “At some point you feel satisfied and happy with what you have achieved"

The announcement of Rohan Dennis' retirement from professional cycling after the end of this season came as a surprise to many. The Australian recently revealed that this decision has been a long time coming, indicating a shift in priorities away from his sporting career.

In a short conversation with WielerFlits, he opened up about his decision and shared some insights about his final season's objectives. He starts, “At some point you feel satisfied and happy with what you have achieved. Then you notice that the drive is no longer really there and then the regularity in your performance disappears. That feeling crept up on me more and more. And I don't want to be someone who has a contract and receives a salary.”

He was relieved about revealing the news to his fans and his team. “It was something I wanted to get rid of. I didn't want to keep it to myself anymore and get it out there so I could get on with the rest of the season. I no longer wanted to defend myself when people asked if I wanted to continue for another year. Now I don't have to lie about that anymore. Now I can just say: no, I'm done with it."

He didn't make the decision to retire on a whim, instead, he took a considerable amount of time to reflect on it before finally announcing it. “At the end of last year I knew this was the time. I don't want to be part of a sport where I'm just platoon filling, or where I'm just getting a salary. I want to stop at a time when I can still play a significant role, and not leave with a bad feeling.”

When questioned about the impact of his recent good performances on his retirement decision, he dismissed any correlation. “I would have loved to have won my very last Tour Down Under. I was happy with my stage victory. A lot of time has passed since my last victory in a road race. I gave everything there and hoped for the best, but I was not the best rider there.”

The World Championship time trial is the ultimate goal he has set for himself this year, and he sees it as a fitting finale to his career in cycling. “The World Championship is 100% my goal. It is the last world title that I can potentially win. I'm going to do everything for that. There are other achievements I want to go for this season, like week-long rounds and the time trials that go into it,” concluded the Jumbo Visma rider.