Aleix Espargaro cycling career on hold has now become a tropism in his post-racing story as the veteran Spaniard has decided to retire his professional involvement in riding practice in MotoGP after an array of injuries stopped the routine in his tasks at Honda. After some sincere talks with the top Honda management, Espargaro has resolved to concentrate on his essential growth mission of working with Honda, indentifying his ambitious dual-sport project with a holiday at least until a more sensible time arrives.
It is too expensive to juggle two elite careers.
To start with, the move of Espargaro to a retirement status of full time MotoGP racing seemed smooth on paper. The veteran at once accepted two high-profile positions after ending his racing career at the end of the 2024 season with Aprilia at the Solidarity Grand Prix. One became an Honda MotoGP development rider and wildcard rider and the other was a professional cyclist on the Lidl-Trek team.
As it would be discovered shortly thereafter, trying to juggle the demands of competing at the elite level in two physically intense sports proved to have its toll. Although Espargaro had four successful wildcard spots in MotoGP in 2025, his riding routine was constantly broken because of injuries to the bicycle. Not only did these setbacks affect his fitness but also denied him a number of intended responsibilities towards Honda including a proposed race replacement role.Injuries hamper wildcard ambitions.
Yet, the point of change was halfway through the 2025 season. Espargaro was in line to fill the vacancy left by Somkiat Chantra when the Thai rider was injured and an opportunity had come to make him more valuable in the Honda rebuilding programme. Rather, he was completely disqualified after two consecutive cycling accidents.
At the reassembly of the paddock after the Hungarian Grand Prix, Espargaro emerged with three broken vertebrae which he sustained on the bicycle. The injuries had not only put him on the sidelines physically, but had also expressed doubts on the applicability of his dual-career strategy among the Honda personnel.
Honda intervention is a decisive factor.
On the Valencia Grand Prix, Espargaro came out criticizing and told the truth by stating that a very candid and essential conversation was held with Honda team manager Alberto Puig. Puig indicated that he admired Espargaro as a cyclist, but that Honda would not be able to skip his full attention.
Espargaro owned to the message being justified. And in the first, he recognized that he had overestimated the requirements of working as a MotoGP test rider, a job that entails high level of availability, physical fitness, and long-term development perspective instead of appearing irregularly. The identification was a turning point in his post-racing life.Learning to accept constraints and rediscover priorities.
Reflecting on the transition, Espargaro admitted that he was probably not good at calibrating his role. Willing to cope with the draining pace of professional racing, he thought he could handle two professional activities at once. But reality told the contrary.
Consequently, it is not a farewell but a tactical break of the Aleix Espargaro cycling career on hold. He will still be in Lidl-Trek and will be training with the team and will keep up with his cycling fitness and will not compete as a professional athlete and will not subject the team to constraints similar to those ones that sabotaged his engagements with Honda.
The increasing momentum of Honda increases the stakes.
Last of all, to the favor of Honda, the decision Espargaro made played out well when the company was on the upswing in competition. Following good second half season performance in 2025, Honda transferred out of concessions Group D to Group C, restricting the amount of private testing that could be done by its racers. These changes make the role of test riders such as Espargaro that much more pertinent as they will now have more responsibility in tightening machinery before the overall technological baggage in 2027.Espargaro will also have greater value as a source of feedback, consistency, and availability. His exposure working with various manufacturers coupled with his analytical model positions him at the core in the long-term planning of Honda.
Ultimately, the career on hiatus of Aleix Espargaro on cycling is a practical move than a failure as a person. Deciding to stick with focus in place of ambition, Espargaro has reiterated his loyalty to Honda when it needed it most in the reorientation of the MotoGP. Although his passion to ride a bike is still alive, the nearest rank is motorcycling. To Honda, such clarity may be priceless as it readies itself to a new generation and to Espargaro, it will provide a reminder of its mission outside the race grid.
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