Scott Davis retires

Australia’s Scott Davis has announced his retirement from professional cycling and ended his career competing against his brother Allan on the Kevin Brogden Memorial Velodrome in his home town of Bundaberg in Queensland.

Now 31, Davis has been racing for 22 years and rode for Ceramiche Panaria, Tenax, T-Mobile, Fly V Australia and Astana. He recalled his success in the team pursuit at the 1997 world championships as the highlight of his career.

“Just representing Australia as a pro in ’03, ’04 and ’07 was also very special – to be a professional is an achievement as a whole,” Scott told the News Mail newspaper in Australia.

He hopes to retire with a win on the track.

“It would be nice to win the last event on the program on Saturday night, the Kevin Brogden Memorial 40-lap Scratch Race again. It was formerly known as the Fred Heidke Memorial, and I won it twice the last two times this carnival was held, in 2001 and 2002, so a hat-trick would be sweet. Allan and I have teamed up and it would be nice if one of us can win it, but as long as it is good racing, we will be happy,” he said.

Allan finished third in the road race world championships in Australia and won gold in the Commonwealth Games on the road.

Scott will live in Bundaberg his wife Jodie and two young children, Sienna, two, and Rhys, five months, but he will remain in cycling.

“It will be great to watch them growing up, but it’s going to be hard to not be riding, especially when Allan goes back overseas,” he said.

“But I’ll probably ride for fun at a few local events when I can and I will also be director sportive for Swift Carbon, a Queensland team of eight riders, including my cousin Brad Davis, and I’ll try and keep in the loop and try to get kids involved in cycling.”