Anna Shackley becomes sports director after heart issues force early retirement

Recently retired pro Anna Shackley has taken on a new role as a sports director after ending her road career last month, aged just 22. 

The highly-rated Scot, a World Championships bronze medallist in the under-23 road race, was forced to retire early due to heart irregularities. 

On Wednesday, it was announced that Shackley will join Scotland-based Continental squad Alba Development Road Team as a sports director for the rest of this season. The now 23-year-old will also look to complete an official sports director course at the UCI headquarters in Switzerland later this year. 

"The very promising career of Anna Shackley was very sadly ended prematurely due to health issues earlier this year, however, Anna is now focussed on remaining in the sport, albeit in a different role as a Director Sportive," Alba posted on X.  

"She will be undertaking the UCI DS course in Aigle this coming October, with a view to taking up a full time position for the 2025 season. In the meantime, we are delighted to announce that Anna will join Alba as DS for the remainder of the 2024 season. 

"She brings a wealth of WorldTour experience to the team, which will be a huge benefit to the riders and compliments the development focus of the team. Welcome to the team Anna."

Last month, Shackley's team SD Worx-Protime revealed she had been diagnosed with a cardiac arrhythmia, putting an end to her career.

"We are very sorry to see Anna's cycling career end like this," Danny Stam, the team's sports director said at the time. "She was one of the bigger talents in the women's peloton. We saw in recent years that she was making good progress and we believed she could grow to the top of the world."

Shackley last raced at the European Road Championships in September 2023, where she finished second in the under-23 race. She was also runner-up at last year's Tour de l’Avenir Femmes. 

"To say I'm devastated would be a huge understatement," Shackley wrote on Instagram of her retirement. "Cycling has been my entire life for as long as I can remember and unfortunately it has come to a premature ending. 

"I had many plans and ambitions for the future and that being taken away from me has been very hard. However, I found myself lucky to have had the unique experience of being a professional in my hobby. Wee Anna would never have believed that."