Steve Lampier retires from cycling: 'The time has come'

British cyclist Steve Lampier has officially announced his retirement from racing, with the National Championships Road Race on October 17 his last major event.

The 37-year-old will still continue in competitive cycling though, taking on the full-time role of team manager and sports director for Saint Piran's Continental team, the last team he rode for. 

Lampier's last win came in 2019, winning the points classification on the Tour Series - an annual series of cycling criterium races held in the UK. However, the Briton claims that he has been planning for his retirement for four years now.

He said: “I actually started the transition from full time bike racer in late 2017 when (Team Principal) Ricci Pascoe and I started on the road to making Saint Piran a fully fledged pro cycling team, that could stand on its own two feet, be sustainable, and compete at the highest level we could attain.

"In 2018-2019 I ran the team at UK Elite level, whilst still racing to a very good standard, and 2019 was a very successful season for myself. That carried on in 2020, though interrupted by Covid, and we then put in place the plan to step up to Continental level.”

However, once the Cornwall based Saint Piran team moved up to Continental level at the beginning of 2021, Lampier found managing the team and riding at the same time difficult to sustain.

“The workload increased as we stepped up, the training slipped and my priorities changed. And having a young family meant that time on the bike wasn’t as freely available. I also felt in the last year that my own performances suffered and I was beating myself up, as I wanted the team to be the best and to have the best. So I felt I was losing on all fronts.

"I always intended to race as long as could, at the highest level I could. But my results have levelled off, the workload has increased, and with another baby on the way and the life-long dream of racing a pro race on home roads achieved with last month’s Tour of Britain, the time has come.”

With the team hoping to gain an invitation to the Tour de France as a ProTeam in the very near future, Steve believed that retiring offered the best opportunity for this to happen. He will now focus on the team as team manager and sports director, putting his 25 years of racing experience to use.

“I have learnt a huge amount over the years, and while I didn’t always achieve the results I wanted, I’ve always been able to predict a outcome of a race. I want to put back into the sport something of what the sport has given me, to pass on my experience to the riders and to drive this team to greater and greater heights.

 “I will always race my bike. I started in 1996 and I’ll carry on until I can physically no longer do it.”