Earlier this year, Alex Dowsett might have hoped to compete on the World Tour for two more seasons. But now that his contract with Israel Premier Tech is coming to an end, the British rider has decided to put an end to his career and focus on what comes next instead of playing the contract waiting game.

"I'm going to step away from the World Tour, or rather from professional cycling," he said. A few months ago I said I wanted to ride for a couple more years. It's worth talking about what has changed since then."

"This year I'm at a point in my life where I'm somewhat shaken up about wanting to win something bigger than I won before, or be a better athlete than I was before, and I'm happy with what I've accomplished, happy with my world, my accomplishments, my success, and happy with my participation on the World Tour. It is a great time to stop this chapter of your life and move on. It's my decision and nothing is forcing me to do it."

Dowsett, who turned pro with Team Sky in 2011, won two Giro d'Italia stages, six British TT titles, and briefly held the world hour record in 2015, is already sensing a shift in the trend toward signing younger riders at age 33 and is already had to tackle the stressful situation of a late contract search in the pandemic year of 2020.

"Earlier this year, my manager and I tested the waters for a couple more years about my future in pro cycling. I've been thinking about it for a few years now," Dowsett said. After making that call, I'm even more excited about the future."

Dowsett has been relentless in pursuing his goals outside of the World Tour, and at the end of last year he re-took the world hour record, although he fell short of Victor Kampenaerts' record of 55.089 km. The rider said he always enjoys giving advice to others on how to go faster, but not so much if those people beat him.

"I look forward to actually helping more people get faster with some of the business plans we have.

Dowsett did not reveal exactly what his plans are beyond 2023, but said: "My future is still on two wheels. This is not retirement from cycling. This is not a retirement from cycling, it's a retirement from the World Tour.

However, there is one thing he was very clear about.

However, he was very clear about one thing: he would not be making the transition from the World Tour to professional gravel racing.

"It's very arrogant to sit here and say I'm going to be a professional gravel racer now just because I've never raced gravel. I'm fascinated by gravel, but what right do I have to say I'm going to be a pro gravel racer now?"