{"id":304525,"date":"2025-11-24T00:49:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T00:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/304525\/"},"modified":"2025-11-24T00:49:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T00:49:08","slug":"ive-lost-the-love-for-the-sport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/304525\/","title":{"rendered":"I\u2019ve lost the love for the sport"},"content":{"rendered":"

Another young rider has decided to retire from the professional peloton, this time 24-year-old Dutchman Lars Boven<\/a>. After two seasons in the WorldTour with Alpecin – Deceuninck, where he served as a valuable domestique for Mathieu van der Poel<\/a> and Jasper Philipsen<\/a>, Boven has chosen to end his road career far earlier than expected.In a message shared on his personal Instagram account<\/a>, Boven explained the emotional weight behind the choice. \u201cHello everyone, I\u2019ve decided to step away from professional road racing. After two years filled with setbacks I\u2019ve lost the love for the sport that you need to compete at the highest level.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that this decision was not taken recently, but he had already known for quite some time that his professional career was coming to an end soon. \u201cIn the back of my mind I\u2019ve known for quite some time already, but to actually realize I was not enjoying racing my bike anymore was really hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

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However, even if his professional road chapter now closes, Boven made clear that cycling will still play a role in his life. \u201cAs for next year, I\u2019m not sure what it\u2019ll look like. I do still love riding my bike, so I plan on doing some gravel races. But other than that I have no clue yet, which is scary but also exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boven joins other young riders that have recently retired at a similar age, such as the case of Alexandre Vinokurov Jr., who announced his retirement back in October at the age of 23<\/a>.\u00a0Boven’s (short) career<\/p>\n

Boven began his career in Visma’s development structure, where he stayed 4 seasons (2020-2023). There, he accumulated multiple wins and podiums in U23 races and minor stage races, none of them counting as professional wins.<\/p>\n

His biggest achievements were victories in the Albertina Baltyk-Karkonosze Tour (2020), the Istarsko Prolje\u0107e – Istrian Spring Trophy (2021) and the Flanders Tomorrow Tour (2022), where he also secured the overall classification win.<\/p>\n

His solid performances allowed him to ride some races for the main Jumbo Visma team in 2022 and 2023. His fourth place at the SUPER 8 Classic in 2023 (won by Mathieu van der Poel, who would become his teammate just a few months later) was arguably his best performance in a professional race.<\/p>\n

Even if that would not be enough for Visma to renew his contract, he found a new home at Alpecin – Deceuninck in 2024, marking his jump to the World Tour. He quickly adapted to the high level, accepting his role as a domestique for the team leaders while trying to take advantage of every opportunity to shine he had.<\/p>\n

His best results with Alpecin include three top 10s at the 2024 Santos Tour Down Under (3rd, 6th and 10th), where he was given the sprinter team role, a fourth place at the 2024 Figueira Champions Classic that was won by Remco Evenepoel<\/a> and another fourth place in the first stage of the Volta ao Algarve that same year.\u00a0