Marcel Kittel met un terme à sa carrière

Après avoir rompu son contrat avec l’équipe Katusha – Alpecin, Marcel Kittel avait laissé entendre qu’il reviendrait dans les pelotons en 2020. Finalement, le coureur allemand de 31 ans a décidé de mettre un terme à sa carrière : « La douleur définit le sport et le monde dans lequel tu vis. J’ai perdu toute la motivation de me faire mal sur un vélo. J’avais trop peu de place pour ma famille, mes amis. En plus de cela, il y avait cette fatigue permanente et la routine. J’ai réalisé de plus en plus que cela pesait sur ma qualité de vie. En tant que cycliste, vous êtes sur la route 200 jours par an, je ne souhaite donc pas voir mon fils grandir sur Skype. »

Dans sa carrière, il a notamment remporté 14 étapes sur le Tour de France, 4 étapes sur le Giro, une étape sur la Vuelta et le championnat du monde du contre-la-montre par équipes 2016.

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Dear friends, fans and companions, I would like to tell you all today that I am ending my career as a pro cyclist. I have thought long and hard about this decision and discussed it with my closest friends and my family. This decision process has not been a quick one, but has taken place over a longer time: During my nearly 20 year sports career there have been not only incredible successes but also difficult times. I have always been one to openly question and reflect when such things happen, so that I can learn and become better. That, together with the people around me, has made me the successful athlete that I now am, but this method has also taught to leave my old ways and learn new ones. I know that there is much more than just sport, for example my own future family. Recently the thought on this future without cycling has grown, as has the awareness of the sacrifices that such a beautiful but also very difficult sport like cycling brings with it. The biggest question of the last few months was: Can I and do I want to continue to make the sacrifices needed to be a world-class athlete? And my answer is: No, I do not want that any more, because I have always found the limitations on a top athlete as an increasing loss of quality of life. That is why I have a very happy and proud that at this point in my life I can make the decision to follow my heart in a new direction. At this point I would like to thank all the people who have supported me in my career: my former teammates, my trainers, my friends, and my family, but above all my fans for the incredible support in the last few years. I look forward to the future with much anticipation. Yours, Marcel

Une publication partagée par Marcel Kittel (@marcelkittel) le 23 Août 2019 à 7 :47 PDT