Alexandr Kolobnev has not competed since the Tour of the Basque Country. The Russian rider does not exclude the possibility that he will end his career.

Katusha has confirmed to BiciCiclismo that Kolobnev has decided to "stop his career for a while" to recover from an injury and focus on his studies and that the team agrees with that decision.

Runner-up at the 2007 and 2009 Worlds and Olympic bronze medallist in 2008, the Katusha rider has decided to out his career on hold. Hampered by an injury in the Basque country, Kolobnev wants to recover physically and then decide whether he will return or not. He does not rule anything out.

"We can not exclude any possibility," he admitted in an interview with  R-Sport sports portal RIA Novosti in mid-May. "It depends on how I feel when I get back to training. Then I will make a decision but I will not force the situation."

Kolobnev suffered a fracture in his foot as a result of the crash in the Basque Country. 

"At first it seemed that the crash was not so serious. I was able to finish the stage and even complete three more, but judging by the results of the last examination and evolution, the injury was serious," he said.

Kolobnev has a diploma in Management of institutions and sports organizations from the University Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona and will now focus on his studies. T​the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro can be a stimulus for him as revealed in the interview, but for now, he will spend two months without racing. Denia.

Kolobnev has been riding for Acqua & Sapone / Domina Vacanze (2002-2004), Rabobank (2005-2006), CSC / Saxo Bank (2007-2009) and Katusha (2010-2015). In addition to his Worlds and Olympic medals, he was second in Liege (2007) and San Sebastian (2009), third in Lombardy (2009) and Montreal (2012), national champion in 2004 and 2010, winner of a stage of Paris -Nice (2007) and winner of Strade Bianche (2007).

In the 2011 Tour de France he tested positive for the diuretic hydrochlorothiazide, a masking agent that can hide the presence of performance enhancing drugs. He was subsequently pulled from the Tour by his team and his results for that stage were annulled. Despite his B sample also testing positive he only received a fine from the Russian cycling federation. However this was later appealed by the UCI to CAS, although he was subsequently cleared of any charges on 29 February 2012. Kolobnev rejoined Team Katusha in March 2012.