Twenty-four-year-old Women’s WorldTour pro Kim Cadzow has announced she is stepping away from professional cycling.
The New Zealander, who spent the last two seasons with EF Education-Oatly, wrote in an Instagram post on Wednesday that riding her bike is “no longer my happy place”, and had begun to feel “more and more like punishment”.
A three-time national champion, Cadzow has not competed this year, and last raced in July 2025 at the Belgian one-day event Zottegem-Strijpen.
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Announcing her decision on Instagram, she wrote: “I’ve decided to step away from my professional cycling career.
“I don’t feel old enough to say I’ve retired, but I can say I won’t be returning.
“I’ve played over many situations in my head, just riding time trial, and I was so lucky to have had the opportunity to join the NZ track team for a brief stint.
“But riding my bike was no longer my happy place, and it felt everyday more and more like punishment. I love sport it’s my life and I never wanted to walk away hating it.”
Cadzow took up cycling at 19 after previously competing in triathlon. She signed her first pro contract in 2023, aged 21, spending a season with Jumbo-Visma, before joining EF in 2024.
That same year, she won a stage and the overall at the Italian race Trofeo Ponente in Rosa. She also finished sixth at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and represented New Zealand at the Paris Olympics, where she placed seventh in the individual time trial.
“Thank you to everyone who supported me and was a part of my journey. Coaches, teammates, family, friends, sponsors and NZ. Nothing compared to wearing the fern on my back,” Cadzow wrote.
“To all those young riders out there… hold your friends close and your family closer. Build a circle around you of support and lean on them, because once you are done that’s who you will have standing by your side.”
Responding to her Instagram post, Cadzow’s former team-mates and friends paid tribute to her and her career. “You achieved so much and must be so proud,” said fellow New Zealander Mikayla Harvey.
“Congratulations on your career, this decision and on always being a genuinely lovely human being” commented AG Insurance-Soudal’s Sarah Gigante. “I’m so grateful that our paths crossed.”
Paris-Roubaix winner Alison Jackson, who rode alongside Cadzow at EF, wrote: “You did some big things in that short time! Happy to know you and your silly goose side! Can’t wait to see what you get up to!”
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