'We've had some struggles' - Ryan Gibbons explains retirement decision

Ryan Gibbons wore a broad smile after he descended from the podium in Bama, where he had been feted as the most combative rider of stage 3 of the Tour of Guangxi. Freed from domestique duties by the abandon of Mattias Skjelmose, the Lidl-Trek rider took the opportunity to enjoy a foray off the front in his final race as a professional.

“I’m just going to leave everything out there and enjoy every pedal stroke,” Gibbons told Domestique as he contemplated his last days in the peloton.

Gibbons’ announcement of his retirement just days after his 31st birthday in August came as something of a surprise. But unlike many who hang up their wheels at a relatively early age, the decision was neither down to a lack of contract opportunities nor to burnout.

“Don’t get me wrong, cycling is a lot more taxing and difficult than when I first started, but the main reason is definitely personal,” Gibbons said. 

“Cycling is a predominantly European sport, though it’s ironic that I’m saying that and my last race is in China. But being a non-European, it is hard. You’ve got to move your whole life to a foreign country and a foreign culture. 

“My wife and I had a baby at the end of last year and that just changed everything. We’ve had some struggles, and I just had to put the family first. Not having a support structure of family and friends around you was taking its toll. I thought the best thing for me and my family was to move back home.”

Gibbons has been based in Girona throughout a professional career that took in spells at Dimension Data, UAE Team Emirates and Lidl-Trek, but he was never a full-time employee at any of his teams. Even a WorldTour cyclist is essentially a member of the gig economy, and so each year, Gibbons was effectively starting all over again in Spain, and obtaining visas to race outside of the European Union was a repeated bureaucratic ordeal.

While Gibbons had the resources to manage the ongoing administrative burden, he outlined that it remains a severe barrier to African riders hoping to make the breakthrough in Europe. Indeed, the retirements of Gibbons and Louis Meintjes leaves mountain bike world champion Alan Hatherly (Jayco-Alula) as South Africa’s lone WorldTour professional.

“I think all the teams I’ve ridden for, you’re self-employed. If you’re employed by a company, it’s different, you get working visas and that’s different, but in cycling it’s quite uncommon,” Gibbons said.

“I’ve been in Europe for ten years and it’s still a yearly struggle. I couldn’t go to Canada or to the Tour of Britain, because to get a visa from inside Europe for those countries, I needed a six-month lead-in, and I needed to go to Madrid to those embassies with proof of residency to demonstrate why I was applying from Spain. 

“Small things like that add cost and stress all the time. Fortunately, I’m in a position where I can afford it, but for youngsters starting out, they probably don’t have the tools and financial means to navigate it.”

Gibbons was part of a wave of South African riders who tried their luck in Europe a decade or so ago as part of the MTN-Qhubeka squad, and he would turn professional in Doug Ryder’s setup in 2017, by which point Dimension Data was the title sponsor. Starting out in a South African team had pros and cons. 

“I had a lot more support and the culture was quite familiar and a lot more understanding of my circumstances,” Gibbons said. “But I still believe that the team somewhat hindered me. I started really well, but we also had superstars at the time. Things could have been different but I’m also to blame for many things, with my naivety and maybe my immaturity was the cause of that.”

Gibbons made a fast start to his career, winning the Tour de Langkawi within weeks of turning professional in 2017, and he would claim ten victories in total, including a brace of African titles in 2021. But despite those successes and despite building a fine reputation during his time at UAE, Gibbons believes he never quite reached his potential.

“It was definitely special for me to win one of my first races as a professional, and that really opened my eyes to what was possible, but I don’t think I ever really reached my true, full potential,” Gibbons said. “If you look at my numbers or talk to my directors, coaches or fellow teammates, most of them, even big champions, would say I had more potential than I delivered, but that’s on me and it is what it is. 

“I’m a South African boy and being away from home was tougher than I thought it would be. I’d come out super motivated for periods, but it was hard to keep that level all year round. Still, I loved every second of it, so no regrets.”

No regrets and, in the short term, no firm plans either, but that’s probably no harm after an almost a decade on the treadmill. Restarting life in South Africa is Gibbons’ immediate priority, but it’s hard to imagine cycling will play no part in it in the future.

“No doubt I’ll have itchy feet by December,” he smiled. “I think it would be unwise not to leverage my experience and networks in cycling. My future may be in the sport, it may not be, but in the meantime, I’m just going to enjoy taking it easy.”