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How old is too old to be a professional cyclist?Jens Voigt Hour Record 21 - Jens with bike on shoulder (©Maxime Schmid)

How old is too old to be a professional cyclist?

Five pros who’ve raced well into their 40s
by Mat Brett
Fri, Nov 06, 2015 12:25
6

Italian rider Davide Rebellin has this week announced that at the age of 44 he has signed with CCC-Sprandi-Polkowice for another season. It will be his 24th year as a professional rider. That got us to thinking: just how old can a pro racer be these days?

Here are five pros who have raced well into their 40s.

1. Davide Rebellin

rebellin.jpg

​Rebellin turned 44 years old back in August. It’s over a decade since he won Amstel Gold, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège in the same season, and next year will be the 20th anniversary of his sole Giro d’Italia stage win. Of course, the two-year sabbatical he had after testing positive for EPO after winning Olympic silver in Beijing may have put a new spring in his step.

2. Chris Horner

Vuelta 2013 Stage 19 Horner Podium (© Unipublic-Graham Watson)

© Unipublic-Graham Watson

US rider Chris Horner is just a couple of months younger than Davide Rebellin (above); he’s 44 too. Horner won the Vuelta a España in 2013 at the age of 41, becoming the oldest ever winner of a grand tour. He is reportedly hoping to continue racing next year with American UCI Continental team Airgas-Safeway, although no deal is yet in place.

3. Jens Voigt

Jens Voigt Hour Record 23 - Jens portrait (©Maxime Schmid)

©Maxime Schmid

German rider Jens Voigt, everyone’s favourite super-domestique, finally retired at the end of the 2014 race season, just days short of his 43rd birthday. Voigt competed at the very highest level until the end of his career, competing in the Tour de France for the 17th consecutive year in his final season of racing. He signed off by taking the World Hour Record on the track.

4. Matteo Tosatto

Ritiro Tinkoff - Saxo Gran Canaria.jpg

The oldest rider on a UCI WorldTeam in 2015 was Matteo Tosatto of Tinkoff-Saxo. He finished the season aged 41 having raced both the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France. Tosatto first raced the Tour way back in 1997 and he won a stage of the Giro d’Italia in 2001. He will continue riding for Tinkoff-Saxo in 2016.

“One year more or one year less doesn't make much of a difference physically, it's your head that dictates your state,” said Tosatto after renewing his contract.

5. Lex Nederlof 

Lex Nederlof 99.jpg

All of this lot (above) are young whippersnappers compared to Lex Nederlof of the UCI Continental CCN Cycling Team  based in Laos. How old? 49. Nederlof was born in 1966, a month before the England football team won the World Cup.

What do you reckon? Are you getting better with age? Or is your cycling ability tailing off?

Mat Brett

Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.

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6 comments

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CXR94Di2 | 8 years ago
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Their age has nothing to do with it. It is the competition the older fellas are up against. It just so happens that 40 something is about the age where the riders ability and recovery decline more noticeably. These retired pro riders are still at the peak of physical fitness for a 40 +. I am sure there are senior series competition where they can achieve the euphoria of winning again.

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rise2thechallenge | 8 years ago
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Inspiring and I hope to see me. Defiently far from Cringworthy. But more inspiring. As a exercise scientist who trains Pro Athletes I see more Athletes peaking in there late 30's and 40's. (Not all but more than you would think) If you are good enough you are good enough it's that simple and a number shouldn't dictate what you should or shouldn't do. Being in your 40's is so extreamly young nowadays with more pro Athletes not just holding there own but excelling in there 40's and 50's. Ned overend won the USA National Fatboy championships last year at 60. Should he quit because he reaches a certain number? Of course not, it's up to everyone else to beat him and if they can't or he is still in the top percenticle and still enjoys it then he should keep going. The whole point of a Pro Athlete is tyo be the best and compete against the best whether you are in your 20's and 30 or in your 50's and 60's. If you leave a sport even though you are still excelling because you reach a number and make way for someone who isn't good enough then you are not competing against the best. My Father plays top grade basketball and is still one of the best players in our team at 61, should he quit because he reaches a number? No, he because we would be worse of without him as he is a gun and we love having him and it should be encourged more. All these Pro Athletes in the 40's and 50's look younger and inspire others that everyone peaks at different ages. Surfer Kelly Slater proves that every year at 44 by looking in his 20's and winning comps on a regular basis. All the Athletes above are a inspiration and make the sport stronger and better for it because they are still one of the best and until someone proves them otherwise they should keep going. I do say though if you are not good enough and not up to the proffesional standard then you should get pushed out and that's whether you are 20 or 55 because you should have to earn that spot and earn to keep it.  Btw great site 1

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Fish_n_Chips | 8 years ago
2 likes

I still ride like a kid but don't feel 39 till I see white stubble lol.

 

Life is too short, better ride!

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Fish_n_Chips | 8 years ago
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I still ride like a kid but don't feel 39 till I see white stubble lol.

 

Life is too short, better ride!

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Judge dreadful | 8 years ago
0 likes

If you're in you're 40's and still trying to give the big one, you need to rethink you're priorities. It's cringeworthingly sad. Give up you're too old, nobody listens to Techno etc.etc.etc.

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apidya | 8 years ago
2 likes

No mention of Malcolm Elliott? Racing at 49/50? Not World Tour admittedly, but still.

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