(Reuters) – French cyclist Thibaut Pinot will retire from professional cycling after the 2023 season, the 32-year-old announced on Thursday.
Pinot finished third in the 2014 edition of the Tour De France and won the young rider classification the same year.
“I’m really motivated to win as much as possible, to finish as high as possible, I’m going to do everything I can,” he told French newspaper L’Equipe.
“I’m also announcing my retirement early to free myself from this weight and to have fun for all these last times.”
Pinot was in a position to win the Tour De France in 2019 but had to abandon the contest two days before the final parade at Champs Elysee after injuring his thigh.
He won three Tour stages over the course of his career and in 2018 was the overall winner of Giro di Lombardia – an event where he will compete for the last time in October.
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
