Status: 07/17/2021 4:34 p.m.
The most successful active German professional cyclist André Greipel will end his career after the season.
The 39-year-old announced this one day after his birthday on Saturday (July 17, 2021) in a video message on Twitter. The 21st stage of the Tour de France on Sunday will be his last tour stage, said Sprinter Greipel, who is currently under contract with the Israel Start-Up Nation team. He will end his active career at the end of 2021.
“Look to the future with a lot of joy”
“I am super happy with what I have achieved in my career. I look forward to the future with great joy because I can now do what I want and can spend a lot of time with my family,” said Greipel, who is at thanked his family, his coaches, team-mates and all those who have supported him in his long career: “Without them I would not have achieved what I did.”
Last big appearance on the Champs-Élysées
The final of the Tour de France this Sunday on the Paris Champs-Élysées is his last big appearance. Greipel knows how to win on the magnificent boulevard of the French capital: in 2015 and 2016 he achieved this feat twice in a row. The Rostock native, only known as “Gorilla” in the peloton, has already achieved four top 10 results at this year’s Grand Boucle. However, given the superiority and team support for British series winner Mark Cavendish, it seems very questionable that he can get his twelfth stage win.
Greipel had surprisingly been nominated for this year’s Tour de France, actually he had already “finished” the tour after his tenth participation last year. His contract in the Israeli Equipe would have been valid until 2022. “Of course I will not move away from cycling and stay with it in any way,” Greipel announced.
158 professional victories
158 professional victories are in the Palmarès of the sprinter who lives in Hürth, including eleven stage victories in the Tour de France between 2011 and 2016, seven stage victories in the Giro and four in the Vuelta. He also won the Tour Down Under twice.
Source: sportschau.de