AusCycling celebrates the stellar career of track and road cyclist Michael Hepburn, who announced his retirement at the end of last year.
The 34-year-old represented Australia at the elite, under-23 and junior levels, highlighted by a phenomenal six world championship gold medals, two Olympic silver and Commonwealth Games gold between 2010 and 2016.
In 2012, the Ipswich Cycling Club product turned professional joining the UCI WorldTour GreenEdge program, where stayed for the entire duration of his career until his retirement in 2025.
Hepburn was a dominant force on the track between 2009 and 2016.
Hepburn announced his retirement via his Instagram on December 31, reflecting on his time as a professional cyclist.
“I first started following the Tour de France 25 years ago. Back then, it was just a distant dream watching my heroes on the other side of the world,” he wrote.
“To have now lived out that dream is something I’ll never take for granted. Although I would have liked to continue, after 14 years of racing in the World Tour I will no longer be in the professional peloton. In saying that, I feel proud & lucky to have had the time in the sport that I have, racing all the biggest races on the calendar and having represented Australia at World Championships and Olympic Games.”
Hepburn with the Team Pursuit team after winning silver at the Rio Olympics.
Born in Brisbane, Hepburn took up cycling at 14 after making the switch from triathlon. At the Australian Youth Olympic Festival in 2009, he won gold in the team pursuit. Just two weeks later, he won three gold medals at the Track National Championships and broke the junior world record in the 3000m individual pursuit.
Hepburn won the Individual Pursuit at the 2012 UCI World Championships.
From there, he had countless successes on track at UCI World Championships.
He won back-to-back individual pursuit world titles in 2012 and 2013, and four gold medals as a member of the Australian Cycling Team team pursuit squad.
Deserved Olympic selection followed at London 2012 and Rio 2016, where he won a silver medal in the team pursuit.
Hepburn at the 2016 UCI World Championships.
He also tasted success at the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games with team pursuit gold and individual pursuit bronze.
On the road, he won U23 national road race title in 2010, before taking out the elite time trial crown in 2014.
He remained a one-man team throughout his career with GreenEdge, where he was a key domestique, and raced at all three Grand Tours.
"Cycling has given me so much. I’ve travelled all around the world and have met the most incredible people. I met my wife through this sport, we’ve had two beautiful children and we live in an amazing part of the world," Hepburn said.
"While this chapter closes, my love for the sport will always remain and I hope to stay involved in the coming years."
He won the elite national time trial crown in 2014.
Gracie Elvin, AusCycling’s Athlete Liaison and Alumni Club lead, acknowledged Hepburn’s achievements throughout his career in welcoming him to the Alumni Club.
“Michael is a quiet achiever but was a key team member in many pinnacle wins on the track and the road. He carved out an important role for himself in many teams and will leave a big hole to those that counted on him to get the job done," Elvin said.
"With so much experience, we hope he joins the AusCycling Alumni Club to share what he has learned and teach the next generation there are many ways to find success in cycling, and to feel supported in his transition away from competition.”
Hepburn won back-to-back Individual Pursuit world titles in 2012 and 2013.