Belgian Jurgen Laurentz is retiring at the end of this season after 17 years as a professional with Lotto, BMC, and for the past two years, Movistar, the Spanish WorldTour team.

After winning the Belgian road race title in 2008, Laurentz went on to win seven races, including stage and overall victories at the Eurometropole Tour in 2012 and stage wins at the Tour de Luxembourg and Tour de Pollogne, his last victory coming in 2018 at the It was a stage win at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana.

He also finished third in the 2013 Tour of Flanders behind Fabian Cancellara and Peter Sagan, and third in Milan-San Remo in 2016 after losing a group sprint to Arnaud Demare and Ben Swift.

Laurents was scheduled to compete in this Sunday's Tour de Flanders (his 10th) and next week's Driederage Brugge des Pannees, but a shoulder injury from a crash at the Bink Bank Tour earlier this month has already put an end to his season, and his 35-year-old career.

"It was a tough decision--especially since cycling has always been a big part of my life. I started cycling when I was 12 years old, so in total I have had 24 seasons," he said in a statement released on the Movistar team website on Thursday. But due to various circumstances and injuries, I have not been able to compete at the highest level, or at the level I would like to." I know I still have what it takes to compete in World Tour races, but training and racing in pain day in and day out is incredibly hard, both physically and mentally."[9

Laurents thanked his family, friends, teammates, and staff and said he is proud of what he has accomplished in his career.

"I raced with the most successful and best team, ran a beautiful race, and competed at the highest level. I won the national jersey as my first professional victory and I was on the podium in some of my favorite classic races like Flanders and Milan-San Remo. To finish in the top five and top ten at the World Championships and Olympics, respectively, is a result I can be proud of."

Full text of Jürgen Laurenz's retirement statement:

"As the season comes to an end, I am officially announcing my retirement from professional cycling at the end of this year; suffering from a shoulder injury from a fall at the BinckBankTour, I will unfortunately not race anymore this season.

"It was a hard decision - especially since cycling has always been a big part of my life. I started cycling when I was 12 years old, so that makes a total of 24 seasons. But due to various circumstances and injuries, I have not been able to compete at the highest level or at the level I want to. I still have what it takes to compete in World Tour races, but it is incredibly hard physically and mentally to train and race in pain day in and day out."

"Still, I am proud of what I have accomplished in my career. I am proud of what I have achieved in my career. I raced on the best and most successful teams, ran beautiful races, and competed at the highest level. I won the national jersey as my first professional victory and also made the podium at some of my favorite classics like Flanders and Milan-San Remo. Finishing in the top 5 and top 10 at the World Championships and Olympics, respectively, is a result to be proud of.

"My family, friends, teammates, staff (like family and friends), fans, and race organizers ...... I especially want to thank my wife Agnes for always being there for me, and my parents and sister for 24 years of being a cyclist. I hope to spend more time with them and my son, Arton.

"I also look forward to what comes next and the beginning of a new (professional) chapter. I am extremely grateful for all the support and am very excited to see what the future holds."