One of France's best-ever sprinters, Arnaud Démare, will retire at the end of the 2025 season after 14 years as a professional, the 34-year-old announced via social media on Thursday.
Démare will ride his final race on Sunday at Paris-Tours, an event he has won twice previously, having racked up 97 pro wins, 10 Grand Tour stage victories, and a Monument win at Milan-San Remo throughout his illustrious career.
"The time has come. At the end of this season, after Paris-Tours, I will turn the page on my professional career. But what an incredible adventure…" Démare wrote on X, shared alongside pictures of him with family both as an adult and a child.
"I started cycling at 6 years old, immersed in this family passion. I didn’t think back then that this childhood dream would take me so far. I’ve been fortunate to live my dream, to win major races, and to proudly represent French cycling at the highest level."
Démare raced the majority of his career for FDJ, which became Groupama-FDJ, and will close out his professional years as an Arkéa-B&B Hotels rider, with that team's future in cycling looking likely to come to an end, too.
"Thank you Arnaud. Your career has been brilliant, reflecting the man you are – strong, moving, and respectful of your opponents and the colors you have worn," said Arkea-B&B Hotels in response to his announcement.
"We wish you the very best for the future. You will forever be red and black."
After winning the under-23 world title in Copenhagen in 2011, he kicked things off as a pro with wins at the Tour of Qatar and GP Samyn back in 2012. It wasn't until the 2017 and 2018 Tours de France that Démare finally won stages at his home Grand Tour, first ahead of Alexander Kristoff in Vittel and then a second in Pau in front of Christophe Laporte.
Before his Tour success, he'd already won 45 times as a pro, including two national road titles in 2014 and 2017. He would get to don the Tricolore a third time in 2020.
Switching between pure sprinting and the Classics in his early career saw Démare reach a high point and win Milan-San Remo in 2016 ahead of Ben Swift, and – controversial as it was after accusations of towing – his name stands among the list of winners.
However, his most dominant form actually came during the Giro d'Italia in 2020 and 2022, when he won four and three stages respectively, and took home the maglia ciclamino points classification on both occasions.
"I never imagined achieving all of this. I am proud of my journey, and deeply grateful to my family, my teams, my teammates, and all the supporters who have accompanied me," said Démare.
"The competition will always stay within me. I will continue to live for sport, for the joy, the curiosity, and the sharing. With a thousand desires in mind, ready to explore new horizons.
"The bike taught me everything: discipline, hard work, perseverance, teamwork. Thank you to all those who were part of this adventure. Thank you for everything, Arnaud Démare," he signed off.
He joins a long list of top stars from the past decade and a half who are calling or have called an end to their careers in 2025, notably Geraint Thomas, Kristoff, Caleb Ewan, Romain Bardet, Michael Woods and Rafał Majka.
Like Kristoff, whose career ended with a crash at Le Tour de Lankawi last week, Démare will hang up his wheels just shy of the 100-win mark, but he could bring his tally to 98 with one final hurrah on Sunday.
