Dan Martin, one of Ireland's best ever and most successful pro cyclists, has decided to retire from the sport after 14 full seasons and with a glittering palmarès.
He will ride the Tour of Britain, which starts on Sunday, before going on to ride Il Lombardia with his Israel Start-Up Nation team, which will be his last ever race.
The 35-year-old, a married father of two, had indicated earlier this year during the Giro that his appetite for taking risks since becoming a father was not as great as it once was.
However, within days of making those remarks he was off the front and winning a mountain stage solo. That victory, on stage 17 to Sega di Ala, came six months after he claimed 4th overall at La Vuelta and won stage 3 of that race to La Laguna Negra de Vinuesa.
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But now Martin has decided, despite being still able to produce top results on the biggest stages, to call it a day aged 35 years.
There was growing surprise in recent months that his team had not offered him a contract renewal beyond the end of this year when his current two-year deal is set to expire. However, it now seems the team wanted him to stay on, but Martin has decided to hang up his racing wheels.
His departure comes at a time when his cousin Nicolas Roche is still looking for a contract beyond the end of this year, when his current deal with Team DSM expires.
Martin was brought up in Birmingham and declared for Ireland early in his career after initially riding for Great Britain as a junior and during his first year as an U23 in 2005.
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Since then he has represented Ireland throughout his career at the Worlds and the Europeans; his last appearance in the green of Ireland coming at the recent Tokyo Olympics, which were his third Games.
His pro career began way back in 2007 when he rode for the final part of that season with Team Slipstream, a ProContinental team which went on to become Garmin-Sharp and has since morphed into the EF Education Nippo WorldTour team.
He remained with that US-registered team, under Jonathan Vaughters, for eight full seasons before leaving and joining Etixx-QuickStep for 2016 and 2017. There followed two years at UAE Team Emirates before joining his current, and final, employers for the last two years.
His first major pro win was Tour de Pologne in 2010, claiming a stage victory along the way. He claimed his first Grand Tour stage, at La Vuelta, in 2011 - winning stage 9 to La Covatilla.
Martin's biggest win came in Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2013 and during that season he also won a stage and the overall in Volta Ciclista a Catalunya as well as stage 9 of the Tour de France, to Bagnéres de Bigorre.
The following season, 2014, he was denied a consecutive win at Liège-Bastogne-Liège after crashing on the final corner, but he went on to win Il Lombardia later that year. He also won a second stage at the Tour in 2018; stage 6 to Mûr de Bretagne.
While his best Grand Tour finish was 4th at La Vuelta last year, he was 10th overall in the Giro this year and was in the top 10 in the Tour three times; 9th in 2016, 6th in 2017 and 8th in 2018.
He also finished on the podium at La Flèche Wallonne three times and as well as winning Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2014 he was 2nd in 2017. He was also 2nd in Il Lombardia in 2011, three years before winning that race.
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