Aleix Espargaró has retired from professional cycling. His adventure has lasted less than a year in the Lidl-Trek structure (he was under contract in the development team). He will not ride a professional cycling race again in order to focus 100% on his work as a Honda test rider.
Espargaró rode with Lidk-Trek in a couple of Gravel races and then a couple of professional races. In the Tour of Austria (2.1) he was able to complete the first two stages in 85th and 70th positions before having to abandon in the third stage due to a crash. His last race was the Circuito de Getxo (1.1), where he finished 57th. There will be no more.
The Catalan explained that during the season he received a clear message from Honda about the need to focus on his work as a test rider. According to him, “Alberto Puig told me that he understood my passion for bikes very well, but that this is Honda and I had to be more focused. He was absolutely right, and I was probably wrong.”
In announcing that he will no longer compete in professional cycling, Espargaró summed up his situation with the Lidl-Trek structure: “I’m not going to race as a professional, I’m just going to train with them.”
Bitter farewell
During his cycling experience, a fall led to injuries that he described in a straightforward manner: “I came home with three broken vertebrae from the bike.”
He also noted that he was unable to combine his MotoGP activity with cycling: “I didn’t know how to calibrate my role as a tester. I thought I could be in both worlds, but I wasn’t.”
Aleix Espargaró will be back on his motorcycles from now on.
It’s not goodbye to cycling
He added that his recent commitments prevented him from training normally: “The last two months I’ve hardly been able to get on a bike; I’ve been living in Malaysia testing”.
Espargaró confirmed that he will maintain his presence in the cycling team, although without competing: “Next year I will continue in the team, but I will not race as a professional; I will only train with them and I will be more focused on Honda.”
Finally, he indicated the request he received from the Japanese brand regarding his dedication for next year: “They asked me to focus much more on testing work next year.”
So, in short, Aleix Espargaró will not return to racing as a professional, but that does not mean that he will abandon the bike or the Lidl-Trek team because, as he himself has said, he will continue to train with them.