Julian Dean to retire in January

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38-year-old Julian Dean has announced his imminent retirement. The Orica GreenEdge sprinter will compete in the New Zealand national championships in Christchurch on January 13 as the last race of his 17-year career. He will transition to team management for the WorldTour squad following the event.

Dean’s career has been cut short by injury – a broken leg sustained in the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya in his first ride back from a broken shoulder led to the decision to call an end to his time as a professional cyclist.

“It is not the way I had envisaged finishing my career. I thought hard about another season. Green Edge were great to offer me another chance to ride but it is the right time, and the team has an opportunity to begin a new career in team management,” Dean said in a press release.

“Orica GreenEDGE was fortunate to have the experience of Julian for his final competitive year in what has been an outstanding career,” said Orica GreenEdge manager Shayne Bannan.

“In 2013 Julian will have a role in the Team as a Assistant Sport Director-Mentor. We are excited that Julian has accepted this role and believe that he will provide another level of professionalism to the way that we can service riders in the Orica GreenEDGE Team.”

Dean has competed in 20 Grand Tours throughout his career, which started in the US with Mercury in 1998 and included stints with US Postal, CSC, Crédit Agricole and Garmin before his time with GreenEdge. He denied having any knowledge of the doping culture that was underway at the US Postal team at the time.

He competed in four Olympics and one Commonwealth Games, winning a medal on the track in the team pursuit in Victoria in 1994.

The highlight of Dean’s career was a stage win in the 2011 Tour de France and a stage win in 2008 Giro d’Italia.

He will compete in the Sun Tour before heading into the sunset in his home country’s championships.