Alex Dowsett: Two-time Giro d’Italia stage winner retires from professional road racing with immediate effect

Alex Dowsett has announced he has retired from professional cycling on the road in pursuit of other challenges in the sport. Dowsett, who has rode for Trek-Livestrong, Team Sky, Movistar, Katusha-Alpecin and Israel Start-Up Nation, originally wanted to race on for another two seasons but has changed his mind. Ad “I’m going to step out of the WorldTour, step out of pro cycling from now,” he said on his YouTube channel.

Tour de France'Everything we love would be forgotten about' – Should Van Aert go for yellow?24/07/2022 AT 19:39 “I think what’s changed is this year I’ve gone through a period where the want to win something bigger than I’ve previously won or be better than I’ve previously been has wavered. “I’ve been more in a state of actually being happy with what I’ve achieved and being content with my work, and my achievements and success and application.” Dowsett is a six-time British time trial champion, gold medallist at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow 2014 and held the UCI Hour record in 2015 before Bradley Wiggins beat his time. The two-time Giro d’Italia stage winner wasn’t able to shed too much light on what his plans are for 2023 but is excited about his next chapter in cycling.

“My future is still going to be on two wheels,” said Dowsett. “Once I’ve got a real solid plan of what I’m doing I will tell you what it is. “The bones of what we have in for next year it’s really filling me with excitement." Dowsett suffers from haemophilia, a condition which results in people bleeding for longer after injury, leading to increased risk of bleeding inside joints or the brain.