There are days in cycling that are as dreaded as they are inevitable. In this example, I had secretly hoped that somehow Katie Archibald would keep racing forever. But last week she announced that she’s decided it is time to move on to other things.
This made me sad in a way that few rider retirements do. I’ve worked in and around cycling for a long time, but there are relatively few riders of whom I’d describe myself as a straightforward fan. Katie is one of them. I cared about her successes. I cared about her setbacks. I cared about how things were going for her.
