Talented teenagers riders Gabriel Berg and Cormac Nisbet have given up on their dreams of racing professionally and left the Soudal Quick-Step development team, admitting the fears and pressures of the sport had left them unhappy and looking for a different life.
Fortunately both had the courage to stop racing before suffering any major problems. They were both grateful to the Soudal Quick-Step development team for supporting them during their racing career and after they made the decision to leave the team.
In recent years, as teams look for the next Tadej Pogačar or Remco Evenepoel and sign riders directly from the junior ranks, riders have dedicated their lives to racing and training at an ever younger age to pursue their dreams. For some teenagers. it has become a traumatic experience.
Berg, who hails from the Paris suburb of Montigny-le-Bretonneux, shared his emotions fears in a long interview with L'Equipe on Friday. Britain's Cormac Nisbet announced on Instagram several weeks ago that his professional dreams were over.
"I came to terms with the fact that the lifestyle I once dreamed of as a kid was no longer a future I wish to pursue - it didn’t bring me happiness," Nisbet said.
"As a result, I have decided to step away from racing at this level and subsequently have mutually agreed to step down from the Soudal Quick-Step Devo team with immediate effect.
Nisbet was third in the 2023 Junior Tour of Wales and had already raced in Europe thanks to the Zappi Racing team. His dream of racing professionally faded during the 2024 season but was able to remember the good memories of his short racing career.
"For as long as I can remember I have had one major goal in life, to become a professional cyclist. No matter what has happened outside of that goal, cycling has given me the discipline, focus and separation to pursue that. It has rewarded me in ways I didn’t know possible and challenged me to blood, scars and tears," he wrote.
"Cycling is a rollercoaster and the highs are less frequent than the lows. However, every moment - good and bad - has made me a stronger and greater person. I owe it so much. I also owe an immeasurable amount of gratitude to some incredible mentors I have had. People who have guided me through the tough points, given me opportunities and belief when most didn’t.
Nisbet thanks his family and friends, his coach and the Soudal Quick-Step Devo team for their support. He has revealed on his LinkedIn page that he is already working as a Trainee Associate Consultant at the Insider Pro business consultancy and has aspirations to become a long-distance triathlete in 2025.
"As one chapter ends I can’t wait to start a new one. Cheers cycling," he ended his message with a '❤️', an indication that he quit in time to still stay in love cycling.
Berg told L'Equipe and wrote on his Instagram page that he decided to quit the sport before the fears and pressures of the sport consumed him. He now hopes to race at a local level in 2025.
"I took the decision to stop cycling at the highest level and return to the cycling I loved, with fewer headaches, fewer constraints, and perhaps even more pleasure," Berg wrote.
"I love cycling, and turning professional was a dream of mine, but this year made me realise that it wasn’t necessarily for me due to lots of sacrifices, time away from my loved ones, repeated crashes, constant tension, little time to do anything else."
Berg told L'Equipe that seeing other riders seriously injured in crashes and how the deaths of former teammate Thomas Bouquet and Andre Drege, who he had raced against, affected him.
Berg fractured his wrist in the summer and the weeks away gave him the time to reflect on his career.
"Today it's them, it could have been me," Berg told L'Equipe. "My body is damaged and I have scars for life. Last July, during a race in Belgium, I had four falls in ten kilometres. I was a little scared."
Berg's life revolved around cycling.
"My age played a role in my decision to stop. At 18, I wasn't ready, it was too early. I didn't have the maturity to put everything aside for cycling. I didn't know how to turn my passion into a career," he said.
"I felt trapped in a routine, cycling, cycling, cycling, all the time. Apart from cycling, I didn't see anyone. I no longer had a social life. When my friends suggested going on vacation or going for a hike, I refused. These little things accumulate."
Berg's last race was the Dwars door Wingene in Belgium on July 13. He crashed before the Tour Alsace and that made him realise he needed to change his life.
"I felt ashamed because I initially saw it as a failure. I didn't immediately accept that I hadn't managed to live in that world. But I had the maturity to quit before becoming disgusted with cycling," he explained.
"The development teams do not want to miss the next nugget, the future Pogačar, the future Evenepoel. So as soon as a junior gets results, they sign him, except that we are not all like Pogačar or Remco."
"I don't regret my choices. It was a great experience. In two or three years, I might even try again. I'm still riding. I'm going to get an amateur licence again. And when I go training I still put on my Quick-Step jersey.
"I just want to tell young riders to make the most of their junior years, they're the best. And don't give up on your studies. You need something in case things go wrong, it's just a cycling career."
