‘This is probably my last race’ – Zdenek Stybar nears exit at Tour of Guangxi

Zdenek Stybar (Jayco-AlUla)
Zdenek Stybar (Jayco-AlUla) (Image credit: Getty Images)

It wasn’t supposed to end like this, but Zdeněk Štybar has been around this game long enough to know that a man rarely gets to choose the manner of his exit. There will be no grand send-off for the rider who made such a smooth transition from winning cyclo-cross world titles to chasing Classics victories a little over a decade ago. Barring a late, late reprieve, his final race as a professional rider on the road will be thousands of miles from home at the Tour of Guangxi. So it goes.

“It’s not easy to end your career in China, far away from your family,” Štybar told Cyclingnews in Beihai on Friday. “But on the other hand, I’m trying not to think too much about it. I’m just racing here and I’m doing what I have to do. I would still like to do some cyclo-cross races this winter, but on the road, I think that’s it.”

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Barry Ryan
Head of Features

Barry Ryan is Head of Features at Cyclingnews. He has covered professional cycling since 2010, reporting from the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and events from Argentina to Japan. His writing has appeared in The Independent, Procycling and Cycling Plus. He is the author of The Ascent: Sean Kelly, Stephen Roche and the Rise of Irish Cycling’s Golden Generation, published by Gill Books.