[Leadbelly]

https://twitter.com/Auber93Cyclisme/status/947037838629056512

Flavien retires after his most successful season. If he didn't get a pro-contract after that, then he probably was never going to get one. He's off to join the family business.

[search]

also Manuel Bongiorno retires from cycling, at age 27. He was running without a salary in 2017 but can't afford to go on like this

(gt)

A contact with a great team seemed to be able to change the fate of Bongio's career, but for technical choices the possibility of an interesting engagement did not come to fruition. "In now I'm just so sorry. I feel like I can run another 15 years, but I have to deal with reality. There are no longer the conditions to go on, I have to take my responsibilities. I do not run for the money, but I can not spend my savings to compete. I have to think about my private life and my future. In the last few seasons I have put aside my dignity, starting again without economic gratification is not easy or even right. Quitting is a tough decision, it's like you're grieving. Anyone who knows me knows what the bike is for me. It is not just a job, but a religion to be professed with dedication and love. Cycling is the most beautiful world there is, but I can not feel the flame anymore. It makes me strange to imagine myself in another area, to think of a life without a bicycle seems to me absurd ".

http://www.tuttobiciweb.it/2017/12/30/107768/intervista-francesco-manuel-bongiorno-ciclismo-fine-carriera-tuttobiciweb

[Jimmythecuckoo]

https://twitter.com/TeamSunweb/status/939428571256360962

JimmyTheCuckoo will be distraught.

I have had some time to process the news and yes I am distraught.

From the 2009 Tour when my family shared a mountain side with his, I have followed his career with great interest.

There have been a couple of times he has been close to moving out of the shadows with a big win.

The chance to win a Giro mountain stage the closest.

He will be missed in this corner of the Cambridgeshire fens, that is for sure.

[search]

another (former) Sunweb rider retired at the end of January: Ruben Zepuntke

http://www.rp-online.de/nrw/staedte/duesseldorf/duesseldorfer-tour-hoffnung-beendet-ihre-karriere-aid-1.7358363

[LukasCPH]

another (former) Sunweb rider retired at the end of January: Ruben Zepuntke

Development Team Sunweb, that is. So contrary to what's suggested in the article, he never had a chance of making the Tour team last year.

Another reminder that you need more than talent or even hard work to 'make' it in pro cycling - there's a big amount of luck involved too.

All the best for his future endeavours!

[Leadbelly]

https://www.directvelo.com/actualite/65456/julien-loubet-raccroche

Loubet retires without turning a pedal in anger for Euskadi - Murias. "Family conditions" is the reason.

[search]

Il Piccolo Principe Damiano Cunego will retire midway during the 2018 season to focus on his studies. He hopes to be able to do a last Giro and retire afterwards - but his adventure could also end with the Tour of Japan instead

http://cyclingpro.net/spaziociclismo/continental/nippo-vini-fantini-cunego-sta-arrivando-momento-smettere-vorrei-farlo-al-giro-cominciato/

The Italian Championship in June will now be the final race, after Tour de Suisse and Tour of Japan