Zwift Academy 2024 winner Kitzki retires at 21: “After the Giro Ciclistico Valle d’Aosta and the tragic death of Samuele, I decided to retire”

After turning professional thanks to his victory in the 2024 Zwift Academy, Louis Kitzki has decided to end his professional career at just 21 years old. The German rider chose to hang up his bike rather than continue racing under current conditions in which he could no longer feel safe. Kitzki took part in both the 2024 Tour of Austria and this year’s Giro Ciclistico Valle d’Aosta—races in which André Drege and Samuele Privitera sadly passed away. It was right after these events that the Alpecin–Deceuninck rider realized he no longer wanted to keep racing.

Here are his words from his final Instagram post:

“Probably not the kind of career end I had imagined…

After participating in my last race, the Giro Ciclistico Valle D’Aosta, and the associated death of Samuele Privitera, I decided to end my career as a professional cyclist.

After last year’s Tour of Austria, where another rider died, I already had serious doubts about racing and was on the verge of quitting. Nevertheless, I continued and largely suppressed what had happened. Unfortunately, after the Tour of Austria, I never became the racer I once was again. I became increasingly concerned about my safety and felt increasingly uncomfortable in races, which in the medium term meant that I was never able to reproduce in races what I had worked so hard to achieve in training. Towards the end, races were unfortunately just an annoying side effect that you had to accept if you wanted to earn money from cycling. I had completely lost the fun of racing, and the more chaotic a race became, the more brutally I broke down mentally. Unfortunately, without the mind, the body only functions poorly. What happened in the Aosta Valley was ultimately just confirmation of my decision, and I can see how well I’ve been doing since I quit. I regret that I was unable to live up to some expectations as a professional cyclist and that my collaboration with Alpecin is now coming to an end. Nevertheless, I am certain that it was the right decision to stop.

Nonetheless, I am very grateful for the opportunity I was given by my team Alpecin Deceuninck and Zwift. I was able to learn from the best cyclists in the world and got to know many nice people on the team. In addition, I was able to significantly improve my physical condition thanks to my trainer Philipp Walsleben, even though I was never really able to show it in the races. I felt that this team is very aware of its responsibility towards young athletes and I never felt pressured in any way. I always enjoyed the training and the improvement process very much and hopefully I will find the time to cycle again occasionally in the future.

Thanks to all my teammates, the entire staff, Philipp, Sander, Bart, Jens, Luuc, and Ahto! I wish you all the best and stay safe!”

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