Kim Cadzow departure from professional cycling has come at just 24, with the EF Education-Oatly rider saying the bike no longer brought her joy.
The former New Zealand double national champion announced she has left the sport immediately. Her decision ends a rapid rise that began when she switched from triathlon to cycling at 19. Within a few seasons, she had reached the Women’s WorldTour and represented New Zealand at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Kim Cadzow departure follows loss of enjoyment
Cadzow shared the decision in an emotional Instagram post. She wrote that she had decided to step away from her professional cycling career. She added that she did not feel old enough to call it retirement, but said she would not return.
The New Zealander explained that she had considered several ways to continue. Those options included racing only time trials and joining the New Zealand track programme for a brief spell. Neither route changed her conclusion. She said riding had stopped being her “happy place” and increasingly felt like “punishment”.
Cadzow said sport remains central to her life. She also made clear that she wanted to leave before resentment replaced her love for it. Her announcement adds another prominent example to the wider debate around wellbeing, pressure, and sustainability in elite women’s cycling.
A fast climb from triathlon to the WorldTour
Cadzow’s professional path moved quickly. After taking up cycling at 19, she earned a WorldTour contract with Jumbo-Visma for the 2023 season. That move placed her inside one of the sport’s most structured environments and alongside riders she had admired, including Marianne Vos.
She later said that environment did not suit her. Cadzow described her first WorldTour experience as highly calculated and “robotic”. She acknowledged that many riders thrive in such systems. For her, the constant control around training and eating created strain rather than stability.
Her move to EF Education-Oatly brought a better fit. Cadzow found a more comfortable setting and a stronger group dynamic. She affectionately described the team as a “bunch of misfitted people”. The change helped bring the best results of her short professional road career.
At EF, Cadzow won a stage and the overall title at the Trofeo Ponente in Rosa. She also finished sixth at Liège-Bastogne-Liège and successfully defended her New Zealand national time trial title. Those performances confirmed her as one of New Zealand’s brightest road prospects.
Olympic time trial among career highlights
Cadzow also delivered on one of cycling’s biggest stages. She finished seventh in the individual time trial at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. That ride came after her swift transition into the discipline and underlined the level she had reached before turning 25.
Despite those results, Cadzow has chosen to stop before reaching what many riders consider their physical peak years. Her decision reflects the gap that can exist between performance and personal wellbeing. It also shows how quickly success can become unsustainable when the daily experience changes.
In her farewell message, Cadzow thanked coaches, teammates, family, friends, sponsors, and New Zealand. She said wearing the fern had meant more than anything else in her career.
She also addressed younger riders facing the pressures of high-level sport. Cadzow urged them to keep friends close, lean on family, and build a strong circle of support. She said those people remain when racing ends.