"The time has come": French sprinter star with nearly 100 pro victories will say goodbye to peloton this weekend

French cycling is preparing to say goodbye to one of its greatest riders of recent decades. Arnaud Démare, the country's most prolific sprinter in the 21st century, announced on Thursday through his social networks that he will hang up his bike after racing the Paris-Tours classic this Sunday.

At 34 years of age and with 97 professional victories behind him, the Arkéa - B&B Hotels team rider will close a career marked by consistency, sprint power and an enviable collection of titles.

"The time has come. At the end of this season, after Paris-Tours, I will turn the page on my professional career," Démare wrote on his X account (formerly Twitter). "I have been lucky enough to live my dream, to win big races and proudly represent French cycling at the highest level."

Since his professional debut in 2011 with the FDJ structure (now Groupama - FDJ), Démare has reaped emblematic triumphs. His most memorable victory came in 2016 at Milano-Sanremo, one of the most prestigious classics on the international calendar that has been marked a controversy and a mystery that remains unexplained to this day.

He also conquered two stages in the Tour de France (2017 and 2018) and was crowned eight times in the Giro d'Italia, where he also won the cicclamino jersey for the best sprinter twice (2020 and 2022).

Triple French champion (2014, 2017 and 2020), his name has been inscribed among the greats of national cycling. With 97 victories, Démare is currently the third active cyclist with the most wins, behind only Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar (107) and Norway's Alexander Kristoff (98), who also recently announced his retirement.

The end of his career comes in a complicated context. After his controversial departure from the Groupama-FDJ team in 2023, where he rode for twelve seasons, Démare joined the Arkéa-B&B Hotels team, led by Emmanuel Hubert.

His farewell to Marc Madiot's formation was marked by internal tensions. "I'm really disappointed, especially when I think of everything I contributed to that team," he said at the time.

In his new team, however, he has not been able to shine as in the past. This past season was the first in his professional career without victories, in a team that is also going through a serious institutional and financial crisis, with the latent risk of disappearance at the end of the year.

Démare will be looking for a dignified farewell this Sunday in Paris-Tours, a race he knows well and in which he has already won twice, in 2021 and 2022. It would be the finishing touch to reach 98 victories, a symbolic number that, although it does not round the coveted figure of 100, consolidates his legacy as one of the best sprinters in the world of his generation.