Brian Holm retires as sport director at Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl
The 59-year-old Dane worked his last race with the so-called 'Wolfpack' at the recent Tour of Luxembourg.
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Brian Holm, the Danish ex-pro and sport director, is retiring from Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl.
The 59-year-old worked his last race behind the team car with the so-called “Wolfpack” at the recent Tour of Luxembourg.
“To do the last race with the team, to be honest, is a bit strange. I’ve been with the team 10 years, and a sport director for 23,” Holm said in a team video. “To stop it, to be honest, it’s a bit scary.”
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Holm said he’s worked the past few seasons to shore up his pension in his home country of Denmark, including an ongoing stint in Copenhagen politics, and said he’s ready for the next step in his life.
“I think I am going to miss it. Being in the team car in the middle of the battle is the best day of my life,” he said. “The feeling and excitement you cannot buy in any money in life.
“I’ve been very, very blessed, and very, very lucky,” Holm said. “I worked with the best champions in cycling.”
Holm raced from 1986 to 1998, and then transitioned into a sport director’s role, first at High Road and then Quick-Step. In his autobiography in 2002, he admitted to using EPO during his time on Team Telekom in the 1990s, but vowed to help cycling learn from its mistakes as he worked as a sport director.
Brian Holm 🇩🇰 …. pic.twitter.com/VVTLv4eMb2
— classicretro (@classicretro) July 1, 2022
Among many pros and staffers, he cited his relationship with Quick-Step team boss Patrick Lefevere, sprinter ace Mark Cavendish and with fellow ex-pro Davide Bramati, whom he called the “best sport director I ever worked with.”
Holm, who battled back from cancer in 2004, said he never would have time for people who were “grumpy” and said the near-death experience made him to always look at the bright side of life.
“There are a lot of good memories, good times, bad times,” Holm said. “Cycling, it’s like a family. There are fights, but you have to fight to move forward. And if you’re falling, you always know someone is there to grab you.”
Holm said he will continue as a politician in Denmark, as well as working with Danish Eurosport and as a rider agent starting next season.
“To work in cycling is passion,” he said. “If you don’t have the passion for it, you won’t last very long. I will always be a member of the ‘Wolfpack.'”