Bram de Groot has decided end his professional cycling career. It had been rumored that the 34-year-old Dutchman was hanging up his bike, but it wasn’t until today that it was confirmed by Dutch news source Omroep West.
There had been hope that de Groot could count on a contract from a smaller Pro-Continental team after Rabobank decided not to renew. As it turns out, the Dutch team will have been the only team for which de Groot has ridden, since starting his career back in 1999.
De Groot has been regarded as a valuable team domestique throughout his career, spending countless miles on the front of the peloton pulling for his team captain. The Dutchman got his chance to shine on occasion, with the highlight of his career being a stage win in the Tour of Catalonia. He took his last win in 2005 at the Profronde van Midden-Zeeland, the same year he won the overall classification of the UNIQA Classics in Austria. In 2003 he also won a stage in the Tour de Mediterranean.
De Groot participated in the Tour de France six times, and was part of the Rabobank squad that led Russian Denis Menchov to his Giro d'Italia win earlier this year.