Tony Gallopin will retire at the end of the 2023 season after a 16-year career in the professional peloton. Lidl-Trek made the announcement about the 35-year-old French rider on the first rest day of the 2023 Tour de France.
Gallopin is currently racing in his 11th appearance at his home Grand Tour, helping his teammate Mads Pedersen to a victory on stage 8 in Limoges.
“Retirement was something I had in my mind already last winter. Everything was a bit harder in training. I didn’t make the decision then, but I started to think about it,” said Gallopin in a press release. “Then, after the Classics I made a lot of sacrifices and I saw that I can still physically be at a good level, but mentally it was really hard.
“I had a discussion with the Team and also my family and friends. The decision became quite simple. It's already been a long career so I’m ready to move on. I'm looking to do something different, something new. It will be a new experience because, after 16 years as a professional rider, you don't know what's going to happen. But, I have a lot of ideas.”
Gallopin’s 16 years as a professional have seen him wear the yellow jersey at the Tour de France on Bastille Day in 2014 and win a stage at the same Tour on stage 11 into Oyonnax. Alongside this, he won solo at the 2013 Clásica San Sebastián and on stage 7 of the 2018 Vuelta a España.
He started his career at Auber 93 in 2008 before joining Cofidis two years later. Since then he has ridden for RadioShack (2012-2013), Lotto Soudal (2014-2017), AG2R La Mondiale (2018-2021) and Lidl-Trek (2022-2023), where he will finish his time in professional cycling.
“I’ve really enjoyed my final two years with Trek. For me, personally, 2020 and 2021 were hard seasons, on the bike and also off the bike,” said Gallopin. “I was really happy to make a change and come back here, straight away it was like back to a whole family, like to come home.
“Also, it was a nice challenge working with a lot of young talent in the Team. Quickly, I found my position and then I really enjoyed this period. Especially this year working with Mattias [Skjelmose], who is improving a lot, racing the Tour Down Under with a young group and now racing at the Tour with guys like Mads [Pedersen] has been a real pleasure.”
Along with the likes of Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Gallopin is another one of the French riders ever-present the last decade in the Tour peloton to call 2023 a final pro season. Pinot is completing his 10th Tour de France.
Gallopin was certainly content with his palmares over the years, despite missing out on the Grand Tour grand slam.
“This year when I left home I realized that this is my eleventh Tour de France. It’s been amazing to do all the biggest races in the world,” he said. “I don’t have any regrets, but a challenge I missed out on was to win a stage in each Grand Tour – I came close in the Giro with a second place.
“Also, I fought a lot to win the French championship which I didn’t manage. But, at the end of the day, when I became professional I never believed that I would achieve so much so I can say I have absolutely no regrets and I can say I’m quite proud of what I did.”
Gallopin will finish his career at Paris-Tours in October. “It’s my home race and always special for me to be there because as a child I would go there to watch the stars like Jacky Durant and Richard Virenque and in 2008 I won the U23 edition,” Gallopin said. “That’s why I want to finish there.”
