Ben Swift to retire from cycling at end of 2026

Ben Swift will leave professional cycling at the end of the 2026 season, bringing his 18-year career with Netcompany Ineos to a close. The 38-year-old Briton announced his decision on Tuesday, one day before the start of the Tour of Great Britain, his home race and first professional event.

Swift has won 15 races, including three at WorldTour level. He took two stages of the Tour Down Under in 2011 and won a stage of the Tour of the Basque Country in 2014. His track career also produced a world title in the scratch event in 2012.

The rider began with Barloworld in 2007, alongside Geraint Thomas, before moving to Katusha two years later. He joined Sky in 2010 and remained there until 2016, with a two-season spell at UAE Emirates preceding his return in 2019. He will now finish with the team that has since become Netcompany Ineos.

Swift plans to race the Tour of Great Britain before competing in several events in Italy, where he spent the first six years of his career, first as an under-23 rider and then as a professional. Paris-Tours is scheduled to be his final race. He said he still enjoys training and competition and wants to end while he remains fit enough to take pleasure from racing. He has completed nine of the 10 Grand Tours he entered as a domestique.