Originally Posted by
Jughed
Great career!! Love watching the brothers race.
But.
The timing seems odd. I recall watching a very recent video with him were he was discussing repeating at the Giro or winning another GT.
I'm always the skeptic. Other sports - surprise retirements are not always organic.
True. Given the abruptness of the announcement, that thought has to occur to most people who've followed racing for a while.
Still, it wouldn't be surprising if he's been teetering on the edge of quitting for a long time. Tom Dumoulin and Marcel Kittel are a couple of top pros whose comparatively early recent retirements came as a surprise to at least some fans.
And the level in the sport has only gotten higher since those guys quit. The relentless mental and physical demands on pros these days are insane.
I guess there might be some revelation coming about Simon's retirement. But sometimes the explanation is the simple truth.
When Chris Froome had his horrific crash (not his recent horrific crash; the first one) while warming up before the start of a Tour stage, some people were posting on the CyclingNews forum that it was faked, that the team had figured out that he'd have been popped for doping if he hadn't withdrawn from the race.
If so, his performance since has been Oscar-worthy.