Rigoberto Urán signals retirement after Olympics
Colombian casually mentions his plan while visiting Atlético Nacional
Rigoberto Urán has revealed a plan to retire after the 2024 Olympics in Paris, according to reports in the Colombian press.
During a visit to the Atlético Nacional professional football club in Medellín, forward Dorlan Pabón, who started his professional career in the same year as Urán in 2006, asked him about retirement, to which Urán replied, "I'm going to give it another year, do the Olympics, then 'chao' (goodbye)."
One of the most enduring Grand Tour competitors in the current peloton, Urán first cracked the top 10 in the Giro d'Italia in 2012 and landed on the podium in 2013 behind Vincenzo Nibali and 2014 behind compatriot Nairo Quintana. He was second to Chris Froome in the 2017 Tour de France and finished in the top 10 of the Vuelta as recently as last year.
He was contemplating retirement last year when he was at the end of his contract with EF Education-EasyPost, but signed a new contract with the team, bringing his career to 18 seasons this year.
Urán is a huge personality in Colombia, and a telenovela about his life is currently playing on RCN Television, starring Juan Pablo Urrego.
"These are my last years to be on the podium. I want to keep giving my all for the podium. We'll see what we can do for the Grand Tour podiums. That is what we keep working for. That's why we keep racing for each other," he said last year.
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Laura Weislo has been with Cyclingnews since 2006 after making a switch from a career in science. As Managing Editor, she coordinates coverage for North American events and global news. As former elite-level road racer who dabbled in cyclo-cross and track, Laura has a passion for all three disciplines. When not working she likes to go camping and explore lesser traveled roads, paths and gravel tracks. Laura specialises in covering doping, anti-doping, UCI governance and performing data analysis.