‘The downs were too frequent’ - Orins retires at 24 after two seasons as a professional

Robin Orins has ended his professional career at 24, announcing the decision on Instagram on Thursday evening.

The Belgian signed his first professional contract with Lotto-Intermarché for 2025 after two years with the team’s development squad, and rode fewer than fifteen months of racing before stopping.

“It’s time to turn a page, filled with emotions, memories and lessons, both positive and negative. A page that shaped me into who I’m today,” Orins wrote. “It ends earlier than expected, but without regrets.”

His difficulties began after the 2024 World Championships in Zürich, at the end of what had been a strong season. He did not make his Lotto-Intermarché debut until the Tour de Wallonie the following June, having spent much of the year away from racing with panic attacks, loss of appetite and exhaustion.

“The lights just went out. Everything made me tired,” he said last summer.

Orins does not revisit the detail in his announcement.

“Things changed quickly. I won’t retell that part of my story, but it brought me to a very dark place and made me realise there is more to life than cycling,” he wrote. “After months of rebuilding myself, I got back on my feet. But I realised how much energy it had taken and how difficult it was to find the old Robin again. No matter how badly I wanted it, the downs were too frequent.”

He set out this year intending something different, and it did not come.

“This year, I wanted to return happy instead of unhappy. I wanted to enjoy the bike, the people around me, the suffering and, above all, feel fulfilled again. But things didn’t turn out as hoped. No matter how hard I worked, my body said no. Now my head and heart are saying no too.”

The season brought further setbacks regardless. Orins was hit by a car while training in Spain in February, taking ten days off the bike and missing the Vuelta a Murcia, and injured a knee in the collision. His last race was in June.

He describes the decision as a relief.

“Honestly, this feels like a breath of fresh air. There is more to life than cycling, and I want to discover that with my girlfriend, friends, parents and family,” he wrote.

Orins, from Heestert near Kortrijk, has ridden since he was six. He came through Acrog-Pauwels Sauzen and Elevate p/b Home Solution-Soenens before joining Lotto’s development team in 2023, and was a prolific winner as a junior.

“There is nothing more beautiful than turning your hobby into your profession. I proudly signed my first professional contract with Lotto-Intermarché, never thinking it would also be my last,” he wrote.

“Cycling will always have a place in my heart. Every scar, trophy, tear and smile has its story. This is not the end of my sporting ambitions.”