Michael Woods, stage winner on the Tour de France in 2023, announced this Monday, August 18 that he would retire after the season. A decision mainly motivated by the quantity of sacrifices necessary to maintain itself at the highest level.
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot or Jonas Vingegaard’s wife recently discussed the expensive sacrifices required by a career as a professional cyclist. Michael Woods, a runner in the World Tour peloton for almost 10 years, spoke of these same reasons when he announced his retirement this Monday, August 18.
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The very controversial Canadian team Israel-Prime Tech explained on his blog that he would retire at the end of the season. Very sensitive to the question of the dangerousness of professional cycling, he first takes up this same speech. “The consequences on my health have been considerable,” he explains, recalling that each runner of the peloton falls on average 2 times a year, at ever wilder speeds.
“Each aspect of my life has been scrutinized”
Finally, if that has played, the determining factor in stopping his professional career seems to have been the time spent away from his family. “Being a father, in particular, showed me how much one of the best cyclists in the world and being a good father are incompatible,” said the one who won the legendary stage of Puy-de-Dôme on the Tour de France 2023.
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“For the past five years, I have been avoiding kissing my children when I go to find them at school, to limit the risks of falling ill before a race. It is strange. Very often, I sleep in another room, separated from my family, to optimize my sleep. Each aspect of my life has been scrutinized and analyzed to maximize my performances by bicycle”, he explains, assuming that he no longer wants this life of “luxury”.
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Even if he is said to be “incredibly proud” and specifies not regreting anything, he prefers to withdraw after 11 years as a professional and two as an amateur. Former half-distance runner and national record holder on the mile and the 3,000 meters, Woods nevertheless swears “to explore new horizons in endurance sports” and promises “grandiose projects” to followers.
