At the end of the year, Robert Förster (UnitedHealthcare) will end  his long and successful career. The German has confirmed the news in an interview with radsport-news.com. In his heydays, Förster was  one of the fastest riders in the field and won among three stages of the Giro d'Italia (2006-07) and a stage of the Vuelta a Espana (2006). Overall, he achieved more than 30 victories in UCI races.

The reason for his decision is the changed racing calendar of his team."UnitedHealthcare is withdrawing from Europe. Thus, the possibility would have been for me only to race in America. And at nearly 38 years of age that was not an option for me," the sprinter explained his choice to hang up the bike after 15 years as a professional.

Förster turned professional in 2001 at the former Team Nürnberger team and in 2002 he moved the to Gerolsteiner where he celebrated his greatest successes. After a two-year stint with Team Milram, Förster moved to the US pro continental taeam Unitedhealthcare. Here he achieved another six wins, including stages at the Tour de Langkawi and the Tour of Qinghai Lake.

In early 2013 Förster already thought about retirement after a nasty training crash. He was out of competition for months and underwent several operations for his injured leg. However, he fought his way back. However, he has failed to win a race in the past two yearse. For his team, he was indispensable as ane experienced mentor for the young sprinters. Förster refued to say something concrete about his plans after the time as a professional cyclist. "There is certainly somewhat on the table," he said.