168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Anna van der Breggen made a surprise announcement to retire at the height of her career and become a sports director for SD Worx women’s cycling team at the end of 2021. She will attempt to defend her gold-medal-title at the Tokyo Olympic Games next August in what will be her last 💖major target of a dazzling decade-long run as a professional cyclist. 

In an interview with Cyclingnews, Van der Breggen promised that she was not quitting women’s cycling altogether but rather moving into a position that would allow h💎er to continue to develop the sport. She intends to use h🅰er knowledge as a world-class competitor, experience in sports science and nutrition, and coaching to further women's racing and the riders on her team.

"I’m retiring, but I don’t have the feeling that I’m quitting what I’m doing in the sport," Van der Breggen told Cyclingnews in a phone interview Thursday. "It’s a nice feeling to know that I wiꦆll still work in women’s cycling and still be able to develop women’s cycling because that’s something I like to do."

Van der Bregge🦄n is one of the most successful cyclists of all time having built a successful career on her versatility as a rider - one who can win on just about any terrain. Her accolades include a gold medal in the road race and bronze medal in the time trail at the 2016 Olympic Games, road race world champion (2018),  twice overall winner of the Giro Rosa (2015 and 2017), five-time consecutive winner of Fl♈èche Wallonne (2015-2019), twice winner of Liège-Bastogne-Liège (2017-18), and winner of Amstel Gold Race (2017) and the Tour of Flanders (2018).

Van der Breggen said that her decision to retire was, in part, because she had realised that she was looking for a new challenge in her life. The idea of trying new things to stay motivated in one's career is not new for Van der Breggen. Two years ago, she told Cyclingnews that she wanted to 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:make a change to her standard road racing season by including World-Cup mountain biking into her programme. Her efforts to keep her cycling career feeling fresh and new by introducing off-road competition were met with success when she went on to 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:dominate Cape Epic with teammate Annika Langvad.

By the time she retires her professional career will have spanned nearly 10 years having turned professional in 2012 with the Belgian team Sengers. She only just turned 30, an age where many professional cyclist are just beginning to find their legs. However, Van der Breggen explained to Cyclingnews that began racing as a young ch🃏ild through the Dikken Banden Races in her hometown Hasselt, in what must feel like almost a lifetime ago.

"I haven’t thought about age," she said. "I’ve been cycling since I was seven yea♓rs old. I already made the decision that, for me, it would feel good to make my last year as a rider next year [2021]. Of course, I asked myself the questions: What’s next? What would I like to do? What talents do I have? How does the future look for me? 

"I had some things in mind that I found really interesting and that I like to do such as sports nutrition, which is a big part of cycling. I also thought about coaching the girls on the team and how to do it. I thought about the team in the way that it’s running now an♌d what needs to be done to change it for the future. 

"When the team asked if I would like to be a sports director, I initi🥃ally though no because I had different plans in mind. I wanted to do so many things and I didn’t have this in mind. The more I thought about it, though, the more I realised that there’s a lot in being a sports director that I already have experience with and that I find interesting.

"I also think that I can develop mꦿyself while also trying to make this team a better team. It’s nice to stay with this team because we're just in the beginning of this process, and there is a lot to think about and to improve. It’s nice that I know the team already and t♕hat I can help work on areas to improve from the beginning. That would be different if you went to a different team.

"If you went to a different job, not in cycling, that would mean that everything I know in cycling would be gone, and not used, to teach other riders to improve, or to share the things you know. I’m still young, yes, but it&rs🌞quo;s nice for me to still be part of the team and to stay in cycling in a different way."

Boels Do💞lmans have been the number one ranked team in the world for the past five seasons, and Van der Breggen has been a big part of that success. It is also one of the few world-class women’s teams not attached to a men’s WorldTour programme and team manager Danny Stam has a stated goal of remaining independent. 

Boels Rental and Dolmans will part ways wi🙈th the team at the end of this year making 🉐way for the team’s new title sponsor SD Worx to take over a four-year term through 2024. The team brought in American Jack Seehafer as a sports director this year, Van der Breggen will begin as a director at the end of 2021, and Chantal Van den Broeck-Blaak will retire and join the team in a similar role in 2022.

"I will be doing everything that fits with being a sports director," said Van ꩲder Breggen, who is hoping to take the designated sports director's course through the UCI in the fall-winter of 2021. "Danny is doing a lot and we have Jack, who is also doing the races, but Danny is doing most the planning and has always been directing the team. The second sport director changes sometimes, which is good but the team is ready now for the next steps. The UCI rules are changing and with the new sponsor SD Worx we need more sports directors."

Boels Dolmಞans is currently not one of the eight top-tier WorldTeams, however, Stam indicated that they will apply for that status beginning in 2021.