INEOS's Ben Swift will retire after the Tour of Britain and 18 seasons as a pro: 'I want to finish on my own terms'

Ben Swift (Netcompany-Ineos) is riding his final Tour of Britain this week. He confirmed on Tuesday September 1 that he will retire at the end of the 2026 season. The Rotherham-born rider, now 38, made the announcement in a video posted on the Netcompany INEOS Instagram. On Wednesday September 1 he lines up for his last appearance at the Lloyds Tour of Britain.

Swift was clear that the decision was his to make, not one forced on him by fading form. "Yeah, so this is it. I've decided to retire," he said on Instagram. "It's been 18 great years, I never really in my wildest dreams thought I'd have such a long career and a successful career along the way. Having grown up as a kid, it was just a dream. It was always something that I never really thought would happen, but I never saw myself doing anything else," said Swift.

He was equally direct about the timing. "I still love riding my bike. I love the training, I love the racing, and I think I decided to finish this year because I still feel like I'm at a high enough level to enjoy the racing," Swift said.

Swift called the Tour of Britain "obviously my home race" and said it was "only right" to return there one last time. "It was my first, technically, professional race," he said. "I think it'll be my 11th or 12th time riding this race, but it's just so nice to be racing in front of your home crowds on your home soil."

His farewell season continues beyond Britain, with a return to Italy, where he lived and raced during his early years as an under-23 and neo-pro, before a final appearance at Paris-Tours. "I want to finish kind of on my own terms, on a high, enjoy my racing, and just make the most of it, you know?" he said.

Swift turned professional with Team Katusha in 2009, before moving to Sky Procycling a year later and spending all but two seasons (2017-2018, at UAE Team Emirates) with the British team throughout its various iterations. Along the way he became world scratch race champion on the track in 2012, was British road race champion in 2019 and 2021, and finished on the Milan-San Remo podium twice, taking second in 2016 and third in 2014.

He also won stage races including the Tour of California, Tour de Romandie, Tour Down Under and Tour of Poland earlier in his career, before settling into a long-serving role as road captain and mentor to younger teammates. As recently as last month, he added a Commonwealth Games points race gold alongside Isle of Man teammate Matthew Bostock.

Swift rides his last Tour of Britain this week. You can preview the race here.