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Pierre Rolland has introduced his retirement after the demise of his B&B Inns-KTM staff earlier this month.
The 36-year-old had raced with the Breton squad for the previous three seasons, however has now determined to name time on his profession after the staff folded resulting from a scarcity of sponsorship.
In a video message posted to Twitter on Tuesday, Rolland stated, “I might have appreciated for the journey to proceed, however destiny has determined in any other case and I am asserting that I am ending my skilled profession.
“My profession is already ‘made’ in a means, so for me, it isn’t essentially the most troublesome day,” he added, referring to the demise of B&B. “The younger folks, the workers, the mechanics, those that have not approached different groups and discover themselves on this scenario – for them it is arduous.”
Rolland turned skilled with Crédit Agricole in 2007, spending two seasons on the squad earlier than shifting on to Bbox/Europcar for seven years. These peak years noticed the most effective outcomes of his profession, together with three top-10 placings on the Tour de France and fourth total on the 2014 Giro d’Italia.
In 2011 and 2012 he captured stage wins on the Tour at mountain phases up L’Alpe d’Huez and Les Sybelles.
From 2016-18 he raced with American squad Cannondale and added one other Grand Tour stage to his palmarès, triumphing at Canazei within the closing week of the 2017 Giro.
For the previous three seasons, Rolland raced at ProTeam stage with B&B, choosing up the Tour de Savoie-Mont Blanc and a combativity prize on the Tour in 2020 and the mountain classification at this 12 months’s Critérium du Dauphiné. His final win got here on stage 6 of the 2021 Tour du Rwanda.
Final week, Rolland had hinted at the potential for retirement whereas additionally expressing sympathy for B&B boss Jérôme Pineau.
“I’ve had some contacts, and I possibly have the chance to proceed. However I even have the chance to cease,” Rolland instructed the OuestFrance (opens in new tab) newspaper, including that “a profession change” is one thing that he had already began planning.
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