No stone left unturned: Cyrus Monk has four days to save his pro career
Currently racing in Croatia, and following rejection from his current team, the Australian is doing everything he can to find a new squad for 2025
In late August Cyrus Monk received the news that no professional cyclist ever wants to hear, that his services would not be required for next season, and that no contract extension would be heading his way.
For many riders, this hammer-blow news would be greeted with feelings of bitterness and anger towards the team. However, Monk has been in this situation almost every year of his racing career and he wasn’t going to let one rejection from his current team, Q36.5 Pro Cycling, stop him from trying to save his career in the sport.
In one of his first races since receiving the news Monk spent 131km off the front of the peloton in the day’s breakaway at the BEMER Cyclassics, before trying to set up his teammates in the finale. It was the same situation on stage 1 of the Cro Race on Tuesday, with the 27-year-old Australian racing 115km off the front. Eat your heart out, Tadej.
Tuesday’s performance, along with a gaggle of bonus seconds picked up along the way, pushed Monk into third on GC, and while he’s unlikely to hold that position after stage 4’s GC showdown, the gutsy rider from Warragul is desperate to leave no stone unturned as he looks to save his career in what will likely be his final race of 2024.
“This is it. This is the last race of the year for me. I was down to do some of the Italian one-day races but once they settled on the riders for next year, the riders who aren’t getting renewed are finishing up this week. So this will be my last race,” Monk says with a tone of acceptance.