François Parisien retires from the professional peloton
Canada’s François Parisien announced his retirement from professional cycling after nearly two decades of racing on the international stage. He will begin a new career as a coach for PowerWatts International, an indoor cycling training facility based in Montreal.
“Time has come for me to announce that 2013 was my last year as a professional cyclist,” Parisien said in a press release on Friday. “After 18 years dedicated to my cycling career, after winning a WorldTour race, after six participations in the world championships, the Commonwealth Games and many other international races, I have reached my goals. I’m proud of what I have done and I know I did it in a noble way. Today I need to fulfill new ambitions.”
Parisien started his professional career with the U.S.-based development team TIAA-Cref before joining Steve Bauer’s Planet Energy turned SpiderTech presented by C10 for five seasons. He spent his final year with ProTeam Argos-Shimano and competed on the WorldTour circuit in North America, Europe and Asia. He had hoped to compete in his first Grand Tour this year and was the first reserve for the Vuelta a España.
This year, he won Stage 5 of the WorldTour’s Volta Cyclista a Catalunya. He is a former national road champion, won the overall title at the Tour of Elk Grove, and won stages at the Vuelta a Cuba and Vuelta Mexico Telmex. Other top results included top-10 places at US Air Force Cycling Classic, Tour de Beauce and Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec. He placed fourth at the Tre Valli Varesine, where his fellow countryman David Veilleux (Europcar) won. Veilleux announced his retirement from the sport in September and said goodbye to his fans at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec and Montréal.
“Soon after my mid-season pause, during my return to Europe, I started to seriously think about the possibility to retire and began to talk to my family about it,” Parisien said. “It was only two weeks before the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec and Montréal that my conclusions became clear in my mind. However, it was important for me to wait until the end of the season before making a final and public decision.”
Parisien spent much of the winter months training in the PowerWatts International facility before joining Argos-Shimano at a pre-season training camp. He will begin working at the facility in January.
“This association will give me the opportunity to keep racing for pleasure in local races, and keep me in contact with many athletes from all levels and help them to reach their own objectives.”
He concluded his retirement statement with a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has supported him as a professional cyclist.
“Finally, I would like to take this time to acknowledge all the persons who supported me all these years,” he said. “Thanks to my family, my girlfriend, my friends, my coaches, my sponsor, especially SpiderTech. Without you, I would have had much greater challenges on my road to athletic excellence. Thank you to all the people who supported me, wrote to me, encouraged me on the side of the road, carried me when I was in pain, fixed me when I was hurt. With your help I was able to complete an awesome career. I will try everything I can to give back to others the same way you did with me. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to have invested and believed in me.”
