Current World Champion Alejandro Valverde has announced he will retire from professional cycling, but not until 2021. It was reported in a tweet by Spanish newspaper El Periodico that the veteran Spaniard will bring an end to his career after twenty years as a professional.
The tweet read 'Official: Alejandro Valverde announces to @elperiodico that he will retire as a professional cyclist in the year 2021'.
Valverde is currently one of the oldest riders in the WorldTour at 38. By the time of retirement, he will have reached the age of 40.
The Murcian-born rider is not only one of the most successful riders of his generation but also controversial as he's one of the few riders to experience success before and after 2008, the year deemed the end of the so-called 'EPO era'.
Valverde is a four-time Monument winner with all of his success coming at Liege-Bastogne-Liege. He has also won Fleche Wallonne five times, the Volta a Catalunya three times, Classica San Sebastian twice as well as one Vuelta a Espana and one World title.
He has also served a two-year doping ban following the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld the decision of WADA and the UCI to sanction Valverde for his connection to the Operation Puerto doping case in 2006.
Although Valverde disputed the ban, he was banned from competition between May 2010 and May 2012.
Currently, Valverde is preparing to make his debut at the Tour of Flanders in just over a week's time, before racing the Ardennes Classics in April. Following the one-day Classics, Valverde will then head to the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana before attempting to defend his World title in Harrogate, Yorkshire this September.