Today, Monday 10th July, Tony Gallopin has announced that the 2023 season will be his last as a professional rider. The Frenchman has enjoyed a storied career which has seen him wear the coveted Maillot Jaune, win stages at the Tour de France and Vuelta a España as well as the Clásica San Sebastián.
Tony first joined the Trek family in 2012, and it was during this period that he earned the Basque Txapela for winning San Sebastián. He went on to race for Lotto-Soudal and AG2R before returning to the Trek fold, and will close his career at the end of the 2023 season as a Lidl-Trek rider.
“Retirement was something I had in my mind already last winter. Everything was a bit harder in training. I didn’t make the decision then, but I started to think about it. Then, after the Classics I made a lot of sacrifices and I saw that I can still physically be at a good level, but mentally it was really hard. I had a discussion with the Team and also my family and friends. The decision became quite simple. It's already been a long career so I’m ready to move on.
I still want to finish the season à bloc! Firstly, I am super happy to be here at the Tour, that was a big goal for me. I made a lot of sacrifices, and I knew that it would be for the final time. My last race will be Paris-Tours. It's my home race and always special for me to be there because as a child I would go there to watch the stars like Jacky Durant and Richard Virenque and in 2008 I won the U23 edition. That's why I want to finish there.
I’ve really enjoyed my final two years with Trek. For me, personally, 2020 and 2021 were hard seasons, on the bike and also off the bike. I was really happy to make a change and come back here, straight away it was like back to a whole family, like to come home. Also, it was a nice challenge working with a lot of young talent in the Team. Quickly, I found my position and then I really enjoyed this period. Especially this year working with Mattias [Skjelmose], who is improving a lot, racing the Tour Down Under with a young group and now racing at the Tour with guys like Mads has been a real pleasure.
I'm looking to do something different, something new. It will be a new experience because after 16 years as a professional rider you don't know what's going to happen. But, I have a lot of ideas.
This year when I left home I realized that this is my eleventh Tour de France. It’s been amazing to do all the biggest races in the world. I don’t have any regrets, but a challenge I missed out on was to win a stage in each Grand Tour – I came close in the Giro with a second place. Also, I fought a lot to win the French championship which I didn’t manage. But, at the end of the day, when I became professional I never believed that I would achieve so much so I can say I have absolutely no regrets and I can say I'm quite proud of what I did.
Thanks first of all to my family and friends that have supported me all my life and then thanks hold the teams that welcomed me. Then, thanks to Lidl-Trek that I am able to finish at a quite good level and for the support.”
