Bob Jungels is set to walk away from the peloton at the end of the 2026 season, concluding a 15-year career as a professional cyclist that has seen him accumulate a results tally ranging from Grand Tour stage victories and overall top 10 placings to Classics wins.
The 33-year-old started out with Radioshack, and was also there as it morphed into Trek, before spending five years with QuickStep and then moving through a series of two season stints with AG2R Citroën, Bora-Hansgrohe and then finishing off at Netcompany Ineos.
"Reflecting on my career, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the teammates, team staff, family, friends and of course fans who have supported me every kilometre of the way," said Jungels as he made the announcement on social media.
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"Professional cycling has truly shaped who I am today, I am grateful for the opportunities and proud of what I have achieved on the world stage."
Jungels showed his promise early, winning a world championship title in the individual time trial as a junior in 2010 and Paris-Roubaix Espoirs in 2012.
In the senior ranks he then went on to find his way into the top ten of the overall at the Giro d'Italia in 2016 and 2017, as well as winning the youth classification, and taking a stage at the Italian Grand Tour in 2017. There were also a Monument victory, when an attack launched over the top of the the Cote de la Roche aux Faucons netted him victory at the 2018 Liège-Bastogne-Liège. The next year also delivered another big one-day win at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, but there were also challenges emerging through this period.
In 2021 Jungels was diagnosed with arterial endofibrosis, and, with the benefit of hindsight, he could see the implications of that as far back as 2018.
In the season after surgery he delivered another of his big career victories, taking out stage 9 of the Tour de France into Châtel in 2022 with a long solo. His most recent victory was at the Tour of Austria where he won stage 5 in 2025 with his trademark tactic of going it alone. That was his 27th career victory, with more than half of the wins for the rider from Luxembourg's being either national time trial or road titles.
Jungels may have just announced his plans to retire but that doesn't mean he hasn't been laying the foundations for his next path for some time. Earlier this year he went into a partnership to take over an established food wholesaler to put in place a smooth transition out of cycling.
"I am very excited about what lies ahead," said Jungels. "I am eager to apply the same discipline and passion to the next phase of my career in business."
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