Former points racing world champion John Dibben has retired as a professional cycling rider at the age of 26.

The British rider began his career on the track before switching to the road in 2017 with Team Sky, falling to the British national circuit in 2019 with Madison Genesis and returning to the World Tour this year with Lotto Soudal.

Without a contract extension for 2021, Dibben decided to end his career and revealed it on the PodCrash podcast (opens in new tab) hosted by former track teammates Callum Skinner and Phil Hindes.

"I'm retiring, I mean retiring at the end of this year," he said.

"Yes, I'm retiring, but in a way I'm just quitting the race. It's not like a normal retirement, where you do one job in one place, get a present bought for you, and then go on vacation for the rest of your life.

Dibben cited a world title as the highlight of his career. At the 2016 Track World Championships in London, with speed that Alex Dowsett described on Friday as "one of the most incredible things I've seen in cycling to date," he caught and leaped over the late-attacking Benjamin Thomas to win the points in front of his home crowd in an Olympic year He won the race.

Despite winning a silver medal at the World Championships as part of Great Britain's Team Pursuit quartet, Dieben was not selected for the Rio Olympics after breaking his elbow shortly after.

Dibben then took to the road full time with Sky, winning the Tour of California time trial in his first year. His second season with Sky did not go so well and he dropped to the continental level in 2019, but jumped back up to the top level with Lotto Soudal.

After a season interrupted by a pandemic, he competed in his first and only Grand Tour at the Giro d'Italia, knowing by the end that it would be his last as a professional. With only a short time trial in Milan remaining, the 26-year-old bid farewell on the final stage in Sestriere

. We were just about to finish the stage and we knew we had made the time cut. [In the last few minutes, as I rode through the snowy mountains in the sunset, I thought, "This must be my last race, because tomorrow will be over in a flash." It was probably one of the few moments I ever had on a motorcycle.

As for the future, Dibben has no concrete plans, but is considering staying in cycling and perhaps coaching, while thinking about what he wants to do in the long run.

"Finding a summit that I enjoy, that's my first criteria. I don't want to work just to pay the bills, I want to do something I enjoy."