Sergio Henao has admitted that his professional cycling career is over after failing to find a WorldTour contract for 2022 after the Qhubeka-NextHash team disappeared in December.

The Colombian joined Qhubeka last year after spending two seasons with UAE Team Emirates and seven with Team Sky. The biggest win of his career came in 2017 when he won Paris-Nice, confirming his retirement from the sport five years after that victory.

"I finished my professional career in Europe," Henao told Antena 2 (open in new tab). 'I had offers, but none were attractive to me. There was no clear offer from a World Tour team.

Henao downplayed the idea of missing this season and returning to the pro peloton in 2022.

"When you take a year off from racing, it's hard to get back into the elite of world cycling; a year away weighs heavily on you. The racing, the rhythm... You lose a lot. It's hard to disappear for a season. But you always have hope at the beginning of the year. Many things can happen in a team, but nothing happens, so I have the idea that it would be impossible.

"I get a little nostalgic when I watch the races. But that's life. It was just earlier than planned."

Former Cubeca Domenico Pozzovivo recently signed with Intermarque Wantigover, while Simon Clark signed a one-year contract with Israel Premier Tech in January. Simon Clark also signed a one-year contract with Israel Premier Tech in January.

Henao emerged with the Colombia S. Pasion Continental team, winning the Vuelta a Colombia in 2010 and finishing second to Levi Leipheimer in the 2011 Tour of Utah. The following season, he joined Team Sky and stepped up to the WorldTour, finishing ninth overall in his Grand Tour debut at the Giro d'Italia; in 2013, he finished second in Flèche Wallonne and won stages at the Volta ao Algarve and the Tour of the Basque Country.

His best finish in the Tour de France was 12th in his debut in 2016, when he helped Chris Froome win the overall. Earlier that season, the UCI announced that biological passport proceedings had been initiated against Henao, but the case was dropped in May of that year after his explanation was reviewed by a panel of experts.

Team Sky had previously removed Henao from its roster in 2014 after abnormalities were detected in his blood levels. He was allowed to return to competition at that year's Tour de Suisse, but shortly after, he crashed in a time trial on stage 6, fracturing his kneecap and ending his season.

Henao was a gold medal contender in the Rio 2016 Olympic road race, but crashed on the dangerous final descent of Vista Chinesa.

Henao then helped Froome win the 2017 Tour and 2018 Giro d'Italia, but his best moment came in Paris-Nice in 2017, when he took yellow from Julian Alaphilippe on the final stage and then fought back hard on the final day against Alberto Contador He withstood and took the overall win by two seconds.

After winning his second consecutive Colombian title in 2018, Henao moved to UAE Team Emirates the following season. His highlight with this team was his 15th place overall at the 2020 Vuelta a España. Last year, he finished 21st in the Tour de France in the colors of Qhubeka-NextHash. His cousin, Sebastian Henao, left Ineos at the end of 2021 after eight seasons with the team to join Astana Kazakstan.