Louis Kitzki retires at only 21: "Affected by the tragedy of Samuel Privitera"

The cycling world reflects on the reasons that led Louis Kitzki, a 21-year-old German rider on the Alpecin-Deceuninck development team, to choose to quit racing. In a lengthy post on his own social channels, the rider born Jan. 20, 2004, in fact placed the emphasis on the dangerousness of certain situations, also in light of the recent tragedy that occurred at the Giro della Valle d’Aosta, with the death of Samuele Privitera at only 19 years old following a crash in the race.

“It is probably not how I imagined ending my career – Kitzki began -After my participaiton in the’last race, the Giro della Valle d’Aosta, in which Samuele Privitera tragically passed away, I decided to end my career as a professional cyclist. Already after the Tour of Austria last year, where another rider (André Drege, ed.) died, I had serious doubts about continuing to race and was on the verge of quitting. However, I had decided to continue, keeping it all in”.

“Unfortunately, after that race, I never went back to being the runner I used to be – he added. I felt more and more worried about my safety and less and less comfortable in races, which led to not expressing in races what I had built up so hard in training. Racing had become an annoying side effect that had to be accepted if one wanted to make money from cycling”.

“What happened in the Aosta Valley was ultimately just a confirmation of what I was feeling, and I can say that since I have not been racing I am much better. I regret that I was not able to meet expectations as a professional cyclist and that my partnership with Alpecin is now coming to an end. However, I am sure that quitting was the right decision”.