Bradley McGee will take a director position with CSC-Saxo Bank

Brad McGee, will retire from racing at the end of this season for a new career as a team director with the CSC-Blaxo Bank team, according to a press release from the Australian cycling federation.

“A quick look back now on my cycling career and it is nothing but smiles, even the tough bits,” said McGee who started racing a bike when he was ten years old. “You just grow with it and I’m sure it will give me the strength to get through this next chapter of my life.”

He first represented Australia at the junior track cycling world championships in Perth in 1993, where he won gold in the individual pursuit. That launched a track career for McGee, who over the course of the next 16 years collected medals at every level of competition.

He claimed five Olympic medals, the most of any Australian cyclist, including a gold medal in a world record time in the team pursuit at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004. He has won five Commonwealth Games gold medals and five times been crowned World Champion. He remains the current holder of the Australian record for the 4km individual pursuit and the team pursuit.

He began his professional road career with La Francaise des Jeux in 1998 and stayed with them until this year when he signed with Team CSC-Saxo Bank.

His first professional win on the road came in the prologue of the Tour of Normandy in France in 1999 and in 2002 he broke through to claim a stage victory in the Tour de France. A year later in 2003 he won the prologue of the Tour de France and wore the leader’s yellow jersey for three days. He has also worn the leader’s jersey in both the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta Espana.

“You know I haven’t really had much of a chance to think about retiring because I’m straight into this next role,” explained McGee. “The opportunity came up and I had a choice to remain a bike rider or turn director for Riis Cycling and the Saxo Bank boys.”

FILED UNDER: Road