49-year old Francisco Mancebo denies he is retiring after racing 143,277km in his career

At 49 years old, Spanish rider Francisco Mancebo has denied reports that he has decided to call time on his professional racing career after finishing 30th at the Tour de Kyushu, a Japanese stage race which finished on Monday.

For Mancebo,  he has been on a journey of through his professional career that began in the 20th century, back in 1998 with Spanish team Banesto, who were spearheaded by Abraham Olano and José María Jiménez, and still adjusting after the retirement of Miguel Induráin at the end of the 1996 season who had won a record-equalling five Tour de France titles with the team now known as Movistar.

From 2000 until 2005, Mancebo earned a reputation as a very consistent Grand Tour rider, earning 4 top 10 finishes at the Tour de France and the same total at his home Grand Tour, the Vuelta a España. 2004 saw his only Grand Tour podium finish, which came at the Vuelta a España where he stood on the third step alongside winner Roberto Heras and Santiago Pérez. 

It was also in 2004 Vuelta that Mancebo claimed his one and only Grand Tour stage, outsprinting Heras and Denis Menchov in an uphill finish to Ordino Arcalis, and in 2005 he became Spanish Champion.

Mancebo's career path took an unusual turn in 2006. After ending his 8 year spell with the Spanish team and joining the French team AG2R Prévoyance, the then 30 year old was excluded from that year’s Tour de France due to his alleged involvement in Operation Puerto, a Spanish police operation against the sports doping network of Doctor Eufemiano Fuentes. 

Mancebo initially announced his plans to retire and it marked the end of the Spaniard racing in the biggest competitions, as he would never ride a Grand Tour after this. 

However, the Spaniard shortly returned to racing and continued for almost another two decades until his recent outing in Japan, after spending the last seven years with the Japanese team Matrix Powertag, predominantly racing in Asia.

Mancebo’s final victory came on the opening stage of the Tour de Sahel in Mauritania at the start of this year, and according to ProCyclingStats, Mancebo will retire having completed 955 race days and a total of 143,277km.