{"id":753657,"date":"2026-08-29T14:54:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T14:54:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/753657\/"},"modified":"2026-08-29T14:54:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T14:54:22","slug":"its-the-only-proposal-that-made-me-reconsider-retirement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/753657\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cIt\u2019s the only proposal that made me reconsider retirement”"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n\u201cI\u2019m not in top form. You have to know how to pick your moments and, even if I\u2019m not at my best, I\u2019m excited and highly motivated,\u201d he told AS<\/a>. His build-up to the Spanish Grand Tour was far from ideal.<\/p>\n

The Basque planned to ride the Tour de France, but an illness during the Dauphin\u00e9 forced a rethink. \u201cI was sick before going to the race and after. Later, when I was in the car with Xavi Florencio reconnoitring Tour stages, specifically stage 10, I started to feel bad again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Pello<\/p>\n

Pello Bilbao<\/p>\n

Disrupted season before Vuelta<\/p>\n

Those issues shaped his preparation and meant he had to wait until August to feel like himself again. Fifth place at the Cl\u00e1sica de San Sebasti\u00e1n restored some confidence before tackling Getxo and the Vuelta a Burgos, a race he could not finish. Now, at La Vuelta, Bilbao prefers to park the numbers and focus on enjoying his final days as a professional.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m no longer looking at numbers, or analysing how my body is. I just want to enjoy it. Many times, even without being at 100%, I managed to win a race. I hope the stars align and I can add one more,\u201d said the rider, who has 17 career victories.<\/p>\n

Bilbao announced in April that 2026 would be his final season. His definitive farewell will come at Il Lombardia, although he admits the decision to leave professional cycling was not easy.<\/p>\n

Bilbao finishes career at Il Lombardia<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt it was the right time because I\u2019ve pushed my body hard, I\u2019ve given my best, and it\u2019s increasingly difficult to keep up with this routine. I have a family at home and I\u2019d rather step away at a sweet moment, still being competitive,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

The Basque departs satisfied after a career that took him through Orbea, Euskaltel, Caja Rural, Astana, and Bahrain, as well as numerous appearances with the Spanish national team. His 2023 Tour victory, dedicated to Gino M\u00e4der, holds a special place in his memory and is, as he acknowledges, \u201cthe favourite\u201d in his palmar\u00e8s.<\/p>\n

He even had the option on the table to delay retirement. Mikel Landa\u2019s proposal to share one last project in 2027 at Euskaltel-Euskadi alongside Izagirre and Bilbao was the only one that made him waver.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the only proposal that made me reconsider retirement. It gave me quite a few headaches because, besides moving me, it was very tempting,\u201d he admitted. Now, the goal is to enjoy it and chase that last win to close the circle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cI\u2019m not in top form. You have to know how to pick your moments and, even if…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":753658,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[45237,4985,248717,158721,101,56,54,55,20998],"class_list":["post-753657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-bahrain-victorious","tag-cycling","tag-euskaltel-euskadi","tag-pello-bilbao","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-vuelta-a-espana"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/753657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=753657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/753657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/753658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=753657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=753657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=753657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}