Team Jumbo–Visma’s rider for the women’s continental team, Pernille Mathiesen, has decided to retire from professional cycling. Her decision came in due to the various health disorders that she is facing. She took to Instagram to make her announcement:
I have decided to stop my career as a professional cyclist, after a long time not finding joy and motivation in riding my bike at professional level
She wrote:
I had a hope that it would be a period of time and that the joy and motivation would come back, but that’s not the case
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The 24-year-old had been struggling with mental heath issues as well as eating disorders. She feels that the eating disorder has kicked in because of the sport. The athletes are required to maintain a particular body image, which was becoming more and more difficult for her, as can be seen in her words:
I’ve also been struggling with mental health and an eating disorder because of the massive focus on body composition there is in the sport
The Danish rider has been a part of the dream teams of many in her tenure of 6 years of professional racing. These teams include Jumbo-Visma, Sunweb, Virtu, and Cofidis. In 2019, she finished in third place at Madrid Challenge by La Vuelta. At that time, she was riding for Sunweb, which is now known as DSM.
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While at Thüringen Tour, she finished in second place. This was followed by impressive racing at different trials, but nothing is worth more good health for the Jumbo-Visma rider. She said:
I am proud of my achievements, my results through the years, and I am really proud of this decision I took to focus on my overall health
She was a part of Sunweb’s Team for two years and had spent a year at Jumbo-Visma. At the start of 2022, she signed a contract with Team Cofidis, which was supposed to last for two years. She is thankful to the management of Cofidis for understanding and handling the situation so well:
I also want to thank Team Cofidis for their understanding and handling of this situation. I signed a 2 years contract with the team in September and breaking the contract with a great team before time hasn’t been easy
We do agree with her that nothing is worth more than happiness and internal satisfaction. Be it a career, passion, or any hobby, our own happiness comes first. She said:
It’s now time to find joy in other things in life, because nothing is worth not being happy
Also Read: The Heat Overpowered Remco Evenepoel At Tour De Sussie
Featured Image Via YouTube/ Supermambo1979
