Miguel Indurain - End of Career

End of Career

Indurain took two months to consider his future, particularly the €4.5 million that Manolo Saiz was said to have offered him to transfer to the ONCE team. Negotiations foundered over which races Indurain would ride and whether Saiz would pay more. On 1 January 1997 he told 300 journalists and others in the El Toro hotel in Pamplona that he would not race again. "This is a long and deeply meditated decision, especially as physically I'm in condition to win a sixth Tour", he said. "In early 1996 I decided it was time to go, and I tried to win the Tour for the last time. When I didn't, I thought the Olympics would be the perfect way of bowing out, but what happened after the Tour of Spain made me change my mind. Every year it gets harder and I think I have spent enough time in the sport. My family are waiting." He read a 30-line statement and left without taking questions.