Having considered prolonging his career at the new Rompoot team, Karsten Kroon has made up his mind. Tomorrow he will end his career at the Japan Cup.

Dutchman Karsten Kroon has decided to end his professional career. Tomorrow the 38-year-old will do his last race in Japan. He didn't win a lot but he has a stage win in the Tour de France on his palmares.

Kroon made his professional debut in 1999 at the Dutch Rabobank team. He rode for that outfit until 20015 when he joined Bjarne Rii's CSC resr. After a brief stint at BMC, he returned to Riis in 2011, joining the Saxo-Tinkoff team.

"Tomorrow I will race for the last time in my life, the Japan Cup. Everything comes to an end and that's the beauty of life," he wrote on Twitter. "I feel fortunate for all the friends I've made, all the adventures, all the suffering and all the joy. It has been one hell of a ride!"

In 2002 Kroon won the eighth stage of the Tour de France. He never managed to win a big classic but in 2009 he got close. He finished  in the Amstel Gold Race behind Sergey Ivanov.