Esteban Chaves has retired from pro cycling, saying that he is "very happy to close this chapter" of his life.
The 35-year-old, a former winner of Il Lombardia and multiple stage victor at the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España, announced the decision in a YouTube video published by EF Pro Cycling on Monday.
In the video, the Colombian says: "The decision is the right one."
"I am very happy. I am very proud of the sporting career I have had. I’m very happy to close this chapter in the way we are closing it. Who am I without my bike? Without the bike, I am Esteban. I am a son, I am a brother, I am a husband, I am a father. I am a human being who dreams of setting an example, who dreams of being at peace, who dreams of having a lot of contact with nature. I am a human being who learns."
Chaves spent eight seasons with Orica GreenEDGE, which became Mitchelton-Scott, during which time he won three stages at the Giro and two at the Vuelta, also finishing on the podium of both in 2016.
Since 2022, he rode for EF Education-EasyPost, for whom his last race was this year's Vuelta. His last victory was the 2023 Colombian National Championships, but his proudest moment that year was the birth of his daughter. As well as his success on the bike, Chaves was a fan favourite for his sunny personality.
"Cycling has been an indispensable and fundamental part of my life," he says in the EF film. "And it has shaped the person and character I am. What I felt the first time I rode a bicycle, I still feel now.
"I'm 35 years old, I completed my primary schooling but not much more, so you're kind of pigeonholed into the role of being a cyclist. You think you can't do anything else, that you don't know what you can learn. That's completely false."
"What will happen when the Grand Tours tart and I'm no longer there, when' its no longer my goal. What will I feel?" Chaves asks. "It's a fear that will come when the time comes, it will be faced and the feelings and everything will be seen."
He continues: "Not having a marked path, not having a route to take gives me the creeps, it terrifies me, it scares me, it excites me... I respect that.
"Now I want to experience and feel that it's ok to fail. That it's alright, that nothing happens. It was something intrinsic, it comes from me, from within. It's not because I couldn't take it anymore, it's not because of what people from outside tell me. It's something I've felt since my daughter was born."
