"You’ll be missed" - Likes of Evenepoel, Van Aert and Van der Poel pay tribute to retiring Zdenek Stybar

Zdenek Stybar has officially called it a day after thirteen seasons in the World Tour peloton. The Czech rider announced the news in a post on his official Instagram account.

"That’s it… Last World Tour race of my career," says the 37-year-old with a picture of him taking a well-earned drink and rest. "Not really the way I did expect, but life would be boring if we can plan everything, right? Now is the time to sit down and think about the future."

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Clearly a well-liked figure within the peloton, many of the sport's biggest stars shared a word of thanks in reply to Stybar's post.

"Congratulations Styby," commented Wout van Aert whilst former Quick-Step teammate of Stybar and current time-trial world champion Remco Evenepoel echoed that message, saying "Congratulations Styby mate."

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Mathieu van der Poel also shared a departing message to Stybar as he gets ready for retirement. "You’ll be missed on the Zeelandbrug. See you soon mate."

The likes of Julian Alaphilippe, Matteo Trentin, Victor Campenaerts and Dries Devenyns also said farewell, as did the legendary Philippe Gilbert. "Congrats on everything Stiby, to me you’ve been so many times the key of success of the wolf pack when I was racing against you guys or with you. And I was so happy to be next to you on your best moments on the road winning Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and E3 Saxo Classic! Knowing you, you will still be successful in your business."

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