The Belgian cyclist Greg Van Avermaet, at 37 years old, has decided to turn the page as a road cycling professional. He will leave behind a great career that includes Olympic gold, a Paris-Roubaix and a great regret for never having won the Tour of Flanders.
"My adventure with professional cycling ends after this season", in this way he announced his decision, this Wednesday, in a joint statement with his current AG2R-Citrôen team. The Belgian will get off the bike at the end of the current season and his current contract with the French team, with which he has been racing since 2021. Leaving behind a successful professional career.
“A great adventure is over and I am a little sad. This decision was very difficult to make, but when I look in the rear view mirror, I am very proud of my accomplishments. I gave my best every day”, says Van Avermaet's note.
In these 16 seasons as a professional, he has garnered a long list of honors, including a gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games in 2016, a Tirreno-Adriatico in 2016, two stages in the Tour de France in 2015 and 2016, a Paris -Roubaix in 2017. But his thorn is the Tour of Flanders, the one that has eluded him throughout his professional life. Several falls did not allow to enlarge his figure. Although he got the consolation for winning the 2020 virtual edition.
"My last victory? It's been too long! It was in Montreal in 2019," he recently recalled to Reuters. The stoppage due to the Covid pandemic is one of the explanations. “I lost almost a year. I never really went back to my normal level," said the cyclist.
Having turned professional in 2007 with the Predictor-Lotto team, Van Avermaet revealed himself the following year, at the age of 23, winning the points classification and a stage in La Vuelta a España.
His peak year was in 2017. That season he finished as number one in the UCI ranking after being the king of the classics winning in E3 Harelbeke, Gant-Wevelgem and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and the victory he longed for for any cyclist: the 'Hell of the North' ', the Paris-Roubaix. Thanks to these achievements, among others, he was recognized as the best Belgian sportsman of the year.
At the moment, it has not transpired in which race he will say goodbye. According to the specialist portal ProCyclingStats.com, he will participate in the Tour du Finistère and Boucles de l'Aulne, on May 13 and 14, respectively; the Four Days of Dunkirk, from May 16 to 21 and the Critérium du Dauphiné, on June 6. But among the world of professional road cycling it is expected to be in the Tour de France, starting on July 1.
