Thibaut Pinot to retire at the end of the year

Frenchman's departure leaves a hole in the sport and Tom Davidson's heart

-  Tom Davidson

“With Thibaut Pinot, it was something else,” said GroupamaFDJ manager Marc Madiot at the end of a long interview to mark the announcement that Pinot will retire at the end of this year published on team’s website last week. The Frenchman’s team manager gets it. He always has.

“For many people, Thibaut represents romantic cycling,” Madiot said. “He is seen as someone who is fragile, who has anxieties, fears, but when you scratch deep enough, he is actually one of the riders who goes the furthest into suffering. He hangs on.”

Now, at 32 years old, the Frenchman has decided to let go. At the end of this season, Pinot will turn his final pedal strokes as a professional cyclist. “I’m ready for real life,” he told L’Équipe last week, looking forward to a new chapter at home, at peace in nature.

Over the last 12 years, Pinot has harnessed public emotion like no other rider. We’ve felt heartache in his despair and basked in the joy of his success. When misfortune has struck, we’ve shared his sorrow, safe in the hope that, one day soon, his smile will return.

Last year’s Tour of the Alps provided a microcosm of what it’s like to follow Pinot’s career. Having gone almost three years without a win, the Frenchman broke free on stage four of the race and tore alone towards the day’s summit finish in Austria.