November 09, 2012 – Late last week Alberta’s Jamie Sparling announced his retirement after 14 years in cycling to pursue a career with a finance firm in Victoria, BC.  The colourful Calgary native has spent the last two seasons racing for the UCI Continental team Raleigh in the UK, which recently announced the signing of Sparling’s roommate Rob Britton.

Sparling has been a fixture on the Western Canadian cycling scene over the years, establishing a reputation as a hard working breakaway rider. His attacking style took him to wins at the Mount Hood Cycling Classic, and saw him feature in all-day escapes at the Tour de Beauce, and wear the most aggressive rider jersey at the Tour of Britain.

He achieved a career highlight this year with an impressive second place finish at the Rutland-Melton Circle Classic, the only single day UCI Pro race in the United Kingdom.

Sparling was also well known for an enthusiastic and quirky personality that always made for entertaining interviews as well as his electronic music mixes… and for drinking A LOT of coffee.

Pedal Magazine joins the cycling community at wishing Sparling all the best in his future endeavours!