Michael Barry to drop down the curtain on his career after the Tour of Beijing 2012
Michael Barry of Team Sky Procycling has decided to end his professional endeavour at this year’s Tour of Beijing.
The 36-year old has been riding at the top level of sport for more than a decade now, after marking his first appearance with Team Saturn in 1999.
He stayed with the team through 2001 before accepting an offer from Team Postal in 2002 and served the team for four consecutive years.
Barry signed a three-year deal with Team T-Mobile through 2007-2009 before switching to Team Sky in 2010.
"2012 will be my last racing season. The Tour of Beijing will be my final race,” he told michaelbarry.ca. “Cycling will forever be my passion but it is time to change direction to spend more time with my family”.
“I’ve reached a period in my life where I want to grow in other directions and experience some of what I had put on hold while racing".
The cyclist is well known for his all-round abilities and has also served the British side as a domestique through several different events in the past season.
Stage victories at the Vuelta a Espana (TTT, 2004), Giro d’Italia (TTT, 2009), Tour of Missouri (stage 4, 2008), Tour de Romandie (TTT, 2009) are the major highlights of his career.
The Canadian finished second during the National Road Race Championships, which is considered as his best individual performance of the 2012 season.
He was looking good to bag an overall victory at the race but could not match the likes of Team Spider Tech cyclist, Ryan Roth.
Michael broke his elbow during the Tour of Qatar this year and fell on the same arm again at the Tour de Wallonie, which made it a pretty rough season for him.
"Over the last year, as I’ve thought of retirement and reflected on my career, this has become increasingly clear. The racing journey has been a thrill but the cycling journey will continue".
He admired David Brailsford and the whole of Team Sky's support throughout the past three years and thanked all his former teammates, coaches and competitors “for making the job satisfying and memorable”.
Tour of Beijing is scheduled between October 9-13 and the winner of the race will be awarded with a 100 UCI points. The second and the third position holders will receive 80 and 70 points respectively.
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