Kristof Vandewalle has stopped his search for a new team and decided to put an end to his cycling career. "I still like to ride my bike but the races bored me a bit." The triple Belgian time trial champion has a degree in commercial engineering and will try to use find a new job in that area.
30-year-old Kristof Vandewalle rode for Trek in the past two seasons but his contract was not renewed. In October, Vandewalle did not know wat his future would hold but now a decision has been made.
"I still like to ride my bike but the races bored me a bit. For a long door I have kept the door open to continue as a rider, but ultimately, if I have to be honest with myself, it was just an easy solution to not to have to dwell too much on my future," Vandewalle told Sporza.
During his career, Kristof Vandewalle mainly showed himself as a specialist against the clock. In 2010 he left Topsport Vlaanderen to join the QuickStep team. Here he won two national time trial titles and he was also a driving force in the team time trial discipline in which he conquered the world championships title twice.
At Trek where he spent the last two seasons, Vandewalle secured a third Belgian time trial title. Since last year's Vuelta Vandewalle's career has been hampered by injuries after he broke a rib in the Spanish racce. In early October 2014 he was hit during a training ride and in the Giro he broke his finger and sustained a knee injury.
Vandewalle did his last race kilometres at the GP Impanis on September 19. Now he wants to make use of his degree in commercial engineering . "I am looking at vacant jobs and try to find out what opportunities I have. I'm still young, will still learn a lot and hope that something interesting will cross my path."
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