Frenchman not ready to retire yet
Jimmy Casper is left without a contract for 2013 but the Frenchman says he is still motivated to race and is searching for a team. Ag2r – La Mondiale has opted to not offer the 34 year old a contract renewal after one year on the team.
Up until last year, Casper has been winning races regularly but has come up dry in 2012. It’s the first year since 2000 that Casper has not won a single race during a season. His best result was two fourth place finishes on stages of the Tour de San Luis and Flèche d’Emeraude.
“I still want to ride in 2013 and am still motivated,” he said on the French cycling federations website. “I spend my weekends on the cross bike.” He went on to say he is training as if he has a team for the new year because if he were to receive a contract on the 31 December, he would accept the offer.
Casper also said a last resort would be to become a sport director in the amateur ranks or to work with Tour de France organizer ASO. However he made clear his first priority is still to ride his bike.
Casper has over 50 career victories including a Tour de France stage win in 2006. He has also taken the lanterne rouge twice in the Tour for finishing in last place on the General Classification.