Louis Kitzki:
Probably not the kind of career end I had
imagined..
After participating in my last race, the Giro Ciclistico Valle
D'Aosta, and the associated death of Samuele Privitera,
decided to end my career as a professional cyclist.
After last year's Tour of Austria, where another rider died, I1
already had serious doubts about racing and was on the
verge of quitting. Nevertheless, I continued and largely
suppressed what had happened. Unfortunately, after the
Tour of Austria, I never became the racer 1 once was
again. became increasingly concerned about my safety
and felt increasingly uncomfortable in races, which in the
medium term meant that was never able to reproduce in
races what I had worked so hard to achieve in training.
Towards the end, races were unfortunately just an
annoying side effect that you had to accept if you wanted
to earn money from cycling. I had completely lost the fun
of racing, and the more chaotic a race became, the more
brutally I broke down mentally. Unfortunately, without the
mind, the body only functions poorly. What happened in
the Aosta Valley was ultimately just confirmation of my
decision, and I can see how well l've been doing since I
quit. I regret that I was unable to live up to some
expectations as a professional cyclist and that my
collaboration with Alpecin is now coming to an end.
Nevertheless, I am certain that it was the right decision to
stop.
Nonetheless, Iam very grateful for the opportunity I was
given by my team Alpecin Deceuninck and Zwift. I was
able to learn from the best cyclists in the world and got to
know many nice people on the team. In addition, I was
able to significantly improve my physical condition thanks
to my trainer Philipp Walsleben, even though was never
really able to show it in the races. I felt that this team is
very aware of its responsibility towards young athletes
and I never felt pressured in any way. I always enjoyed the
training and the improvement process very much and
hopefully I will find the time to cycle again occasionally in
the future.
Thanks to all my teammates, the entire staff, Philipp,
Sander, Bart, Jens, Luuc, and Ahto! I wish you all the best
and stay safe!
