Michael Albasini to retire in 2020
Albasini to retire after 2020 Tour de Suisse, which will be his 16th start at the race.
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Swiss veteran Michael Albasini has announced his retirement.
The 38-year-old has been in the pro peloton since 2003, and has raced with Australian team Mitchelton-Scott since the team formed in 2012. It was announced Thursday that his last race will be on home soil at the 2020 Tour de Suisse.
“It’s great to finish your career in a race that you really like as a rider,” Albasini said in the team’s press release. “It’s a race I’ve always had a good relationship with, it’s a home race and for any rider, it is great to be able to finish at home.”
Albasini has raced the Tour de Suisse 15 times in his career, and his 16th appearance will be his last. He has won three stages of the race along the way.
“This season it was getting harder to find motivation and to keep motivated,” he said. “It cost me, in time, more and more energy, and often in the second-half of the season it’s different. Like this, I have my finish line, and this is the best way to finish.”
Along with stage wins at various one-week races and victories in one-day events, Albasini won the Tour of Britain in 2010 and Volta Ciclista a Catalunya in 2012.
“Alba was a founding member and the first year, with Volta Catalunya for starters, he had some big wins and helped put this team on the board,” said Mitchelton-Scott Sports Director Matt White. “Ever since then he has been a heavy contributor, on and off the bike, to the development of the culture of this team.”
