Former world champion Rui Costa announces retirement from racing

Former world champion Rui Costa has announced his retirement from the peloton, drawing a 17-year road racing career to a close.

The Portuguese rider was out of contract at EF Education-EasyPost following a two-year stint at the US team. He turned 38 years old last month and decided to call it a career rather than possibly drop down the levels to continue racing.

He announced the news on Friday evening in a post to Instagram, stating that he was looking forward to spending more time with his family.

"Cycling made me so happy!" he wrote. "The time has come for me to retire. To enjoy the company of my loved ones, to be present in the small, great moments, and to calmly experience what was so often postponed.

"I was blessed to live my dream, to win, to fall and get back up, and to always have my guardian angel with me at every turn of the road.

"I thank all the teams that were part of this journey and the Portuguese National Team – it was an immense pride to carry our flag to the four corners of the world," he continued before thanking each of the clubs and teams he had represented during his career, including WorldTour teams Movistar, Lampre, UAE Team Emirates, Intermarché, and EF.

"To everyone who believed, cheered, helped, and was with me – from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Today I close a chapter. But the passion for two wheels... that will never end," he concluded.

Costa can look back on a career which saw him elevate himself into rare company as a road world champion. He scored victory for Portugal in 2013, outfoxing Spanish duo Joaquim Rodríguez and Alejandro Valverde on a hilly 272km course in Tuscany.

That may have been the crowning achievement of Costa's career, but he had numerous other major successes during his time in the peloton, often owing to his canny racecraft and tactical ability.

He became a Tour de Suisse specialist in the mid-2010s, taking victory at the race three years in a row between 2012 and 2014, while also grabbing a trio of podiums at fellow Swiss race, the Tour de Romandie, too.

Other big wins during his career include three stages of the Tour de France across the 2011 and 2013 editions, the 2011 Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal and several smaller stage races, including the Vuelta a la Comunidad de Madrid, 4 Jours de Dunkerque, and Volta a la Comunitat Valencia.

Costa's teams, past and present, paid tribute to him upon his retirement announcement, while UAE Team Emirates racer and compatriot João Almeida also took to Instagram to salute him.

"Thank you, Rui! Thank you for being an idol and for giving us so much!" he wrote. "I learned so much from you. You instilled values ​​in me, both for cycling and for life. You changed my mindset, and I wouldn't be the cyclist I am today if you hadn't influenced my past.

"You are much more than Rui Costa, the 2013 world champion and winner of so many races! Class is what best defines you, as well as discipline and sacrifice! I'm proud to say I had Rui Costa as a teammate and mentor. I carry with me good moments that will always feel too short! Thank you, Rui. For a new stage!"