Michael Mørkøv will retire from professional cycling at the end of 2024 after an illustrious career saw him become Olympic and World Champion on the track, alongside being one of the best lead-out riders of all time. The Dane announced the news this morning through trade team Astana Qazaqstan, where he has spent his final year with Mark Cavendish and played a big part in the Manxman’s record-breaking 35th Tour de France victory on stage 5. Mørkøv, 39, started his WorldTour career with Saxo Bank in 2009 and went on to ride for Katusha and multiple iterations of Patrick Lefevere’s QuickStep teams through 2018 to 2023 where he helped the likes of Elia Viviani, Sam Bennett, Fabio Jakobsen and Cavendish to multiple wins as lead-out.
He also had great success on the track, where alongside Alex Rasmussen first and then Lasse Norman Hansen later in his career, he managed three Madison world titles and Olympic Gold in the same event. “Hello, all cycling friends. I want to share with you that I have decided that this year 2024 will be my last year as a professional bike rider,” said Mørkøv in a video released by Astana.
“I'm very proud of what I've achieved as a track cyclist, as a road cyclist, being a part of the biggest races in the world, being a part of some of the biggest teams as well. Being surrounded by great teammates and I’ve made a lot of friendships during the years.” Mørkøv, known as one the most seasoned professionals in the bunch and a real hard wo.