‘There's no shame in change'

Sprinting icon Marcel Kittel reveals the reasons behind his retirement – and why cycling needs to open up about the extreme pressures endured by riders

- Chris Marshall-Bell

Few bike riders in the history of the sport have been as fast as Marcel Kittel. But after racking up 14 Tour de France stage victories and 89 professional wins, his retirement in August last year, aged just 31, left many fans in a state of confused disappointment. Why was one of the greatest sprinters ever hanging up his wheels while in his prime? Now, one year on, Kittel has opened up to CW about his decision – with important insights for us all, racers and armchair critics alike.

“Most people, 99 per cent of those who’ve not been a pro, cannot understand the sport and all it involves. It is such an extreme sport in what it does to you physically and mentally,” Kittel tells me over the phone. “Pro cycling is the only sport that takes fatigue to such extremes. That’s the whole concept of the sport, but it makes it extremely difficult to handle.”

The German reminds us that the attritional nature of cycling is also its core principle. “It defines the sport. You train to get tired to become better for the next race, where the aim is to become tired later than the rest. And at the end of the race, the strongest one will be the one who is the least tired. There is no other sport like it... and it has consequences.”

The ramifications for Kittel were obvious: he wasn’t happy.

“In 2018 I counted 250 nights away from my own bed. I hadn’t had time with my family.” It was impacting his motivation. “It got to the point in 2019 where I realised everything was just repeating… [Nothing was] really new to me or challenging or what I wanted. I couldn’t reinvent experiences for myself.”