Time to do something else
Former MTB world champion Roland Green has decided to retire at the age of 31. Green, who won his...
Former MTB world champion Roland Green has decided to retire at the age of 31. Green, who won his world titles in 2001 and 2002 believes he's lost the desire to give it 100 per cent, saying, "after world's I just wasn't feeling right. You have to give it 100 per cent when you're racing, and I wasn't - so I decided I shouldn't be doing it anymore." Cyclingnews' Les Clarke found out why this was the case.
The Canadian rider had come back from a six-month drugs suspension retroactively imposed in March 2005 and was racing with the Kona team, where he was enjoying himself, "I was happy to ride with Kona. It was where I started racing pro - they're Canadian, and they have a different attitude to racing - I had lots of fun. It was also cool to race with some teammates I hadn't raced with in a while." Green said the team was very understanding of his decision and respected the fact that "an athlete's wishes come first".
Green's late-season results were beginning to reflect the fact he was enjoying his racing again. "It was starting to come together near the end of the season - at the NORBA final I felt like I could win it, but I missed a couple of feeds and had some cramping problems. Then I thought I could have a good world's, but after double flatting it didn't quite work out." It was after this world's race, however, that Green decided his time as a pro was finished. "So many things weren't clicking, and now there are other things I want to do," he said
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