W 2016 roku zawodową karierę skończyło ponad 80 kolarzy z zespołów WorldTour i ProContinental.
Zestawienie zawodowców, którzy odwiesili rower na kołku po poprzednim sezonie przygotował portal Cafe Roubaix. Najmłodszym z nich jest 24-letni Jef Van Meirhaeghe, który swój ostatni sezon zakończył w Topsport Vlaanderen. Najstarszym Matteo Tosatto, którego kariera zakończyła się w wieku 42 lat w barwach Tinkoff. Wśród tych, którzy postanowili wziąć rozbrat z kolarstwem są również Polacy – Sylwester Szmyd (38 lat, CCC Sprandi Polkowice), Tomasz Kiendyś (39 lat, CCC Sprandi Polkowice) i Bartosz Huzarski (36 lat, Bora-Argon 18).
Dzisiaj do peletonu byłych już zawodowców dołączył Gerald Ciolek. Niemiec jest w bardzo dobrym wieku dla kolarza – 30 lat – ale nie zdołał znaleźć ekipy na kolejny sezon po tym jak Stolting Service Group postanowiło odejść z kolarstwa. W 2016 roku zwycięzca Mediolan-Sanremo z 2013 roku był w kiepskiej formie i najlepszym wynikiem było piąte miejsce w mistrzostwach Niemiec.
Podobnie odejście Stolting Service Group zmusiło do końca kariery Linusa Gerdemanna. Niemiec w 2007 roku wygrał etap Tour de France, a później triumfował w klasyfikacjach generalnych m.in. Skoda Tour de Luxembourg, Deutschland Tour czy Bayern-Rundfahrt. W poprzednim sezonie nieźle pojechał w Vuelta Castilla y Leon, ale poza tym nie błyszczał.
Zawodowcy, którzy odeszli z kolarstwa po sezonie 2016 mogliby razem obsadzić bardzo mocny wyścig lub kilka znakomitych drużyn. Wśród 82 nazwisk są m.in. Fabian Cancellara (siedem monumentów, cztery tytuły mistrza świata na czas), Matthew Goss (Mediolan-San Remo, GP Ouest France-Plouay, etapy Giro d’Italia), Ryder Hesjedal (Giro d’Italia, dwa etapy Vuelta a Espana), Gianni Meersman (po dwa etapy Vuelta a Espana, Tour de Romandie i Volta Ciclista a Catalunya), Jean-Christophe Peraud (drugie miejsce w Tour de France, dwa zwycięstwa w Criterium International), Jarosław Popowycz (Volta a Catalunya, etap Tour de France, trzecie miejsce w Giro d’Italia), Michael Rogers (trzy tytuły mistrza świata na czas, etapy Giro d’Italia i Tour de France), Joaquim Rodriguez (9 etapów Vuelta a Espana, 2 razy Il Lombardia, La Fleche Wallone, czołowa trójka wszystkich Wielkich Tourów), Frank Schleck (Tour de Suisse, Amstel Gold Race, trzecie miejsce w Tour de France) czy Johan Vansummeren (Paryż-Roubaix, Tour de Pologne).
| Name | Age | Team | Best result of the season |
| Marcel Aregger | 26 | IAM Cycling | 14th in Tour des Fjords stage 1 |
| Marco Bandiera | 31 | Androni Giocattoli | 11th in Tour of Qinghai Lake stage 1 |
| Yanto Barker | 36 | ONE Pro Cycling | 7th in Vuelta a la Rioja |
| Jean-Marc Bideau | 32 | Fortuneo-Vital Concept | 16th in Tour of Utah stage 6 |
| Jack Bobridge | 27 | Trek-Segafredo | Won National RR Championships |
| Graeme Brown | 37 | Drapac | 7th in Tour de Langkawi stage 2 |
| Otavio Bulgarelli | 32 | Funvic Soul Cycles | 42nd at the National RR Championships |
| Matthew Busche | 31 | UnitedHealthcare | 9th in Winston Salem Classic |
| Fabian Cancellara | 35 | Trek-Segafredo | Olympic ITT Champion |
| Sébastien Chavanel | 33 | FDJ | 17th in Paris-Camembert |
| Gerald Ciolek | 30 | Stölting Service Group | 5th at the National RR Championships |
| Francesco Chicchi | 35 | Androni Giocattoli | Won Boucles de la Mayenne stage 1 |
| Jérôme Coppel | 30 | IAM Cycling | Won Etoile de Bessèges |
| Mario Costa | 31 | Lampre-Merida | 6th in Tour of Hainan stage 8 |
| Marc De Maar | 32 | Roompot-Oranje | 31st in Vuelta a la Comunitat Valenciana stage 5 |
| Kevin De Mesmaeker | 25 | Novo Nordisk | 32nd in Japan Cup |
| Tiziano Dall’Antonia | 33 | Androni Giocattoli | 11th at the National RR Championships |
| Gert Dockx | 28 | Lotto-Soudal | 7th in Tour of Turkey stage 3 |
| Boris Dron | 28 | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | 9th in Etoile de Bessèges stage 3 |
| Leonardo Duque | 36 | Delmo Marseille | Won Tour of Taihu Lake |
| Caleb Fairly | 29 | Giant-Alpecin | 17th in Criterium International stage 1 |
| Pierrick Fedrigo | 37 | Fortuneo-Vital Concept | 4th in Quatre Jours de Dunkerque |
| Murilo Fischer | 37 | FDJ | 57th in Gent-Wevelgem |
| Phil Gaimon | 30 | Cannondale | 11th in Criterium International |
| Linus Gerdemann | 34 | Stölting Service Group | 8th in Vuelta a Castilla y Leon stage 2 |
| Tomas Gil | 39 | Willier-Southeast | 18th at National RR Championships |
| James Glasspool | 25 | Novo Nordisk | 5th in Tour de Filipinas stage 4 |
| Matthew Goss | 29 | ONE Pro Cycling | 9th in Tour de Langkawi stage 8 |
| Patrick Gretsch | 29 | AG2R | 2nd in Circuit de la Sarthe stage 3 |
| Sander Helven | 26 | Topsport Vlaanderen | 17th in Le Samyn |
| Ryder Hesjedal | 35 | Trek-Segafredo | 4th in Tour of Alberta stage 4 |
| Johnny Hoogerland | 33 | Roompot-Oranje | 21st in Putte-Kapellen |
| Yauheni Hutarovich | 32 | Fortuneo-Vital Concept | Won Tropicale Amissa Bongo stage 7 |
| Bartosz Huzarski | 36 | Bora-Argon 18 | 6th in Tour de France stage 5 |
| Grischa Janorschke | 29 | Team Roth | 14th in Tour of Turkey stage 5 |
| Cheng Ji | 29 | Giant-Alpecin | 72nd in Tour of Qatar stage 1 |
| Carter Jones | 27 | Giant-Alpecin | 52nd in Dubai Tour stage 4 |
| Tomasz Kiendys | 39 | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | Won Dookola Mazowsza stage 3 |
| Alexander Kolobnev | 35 | Gazprom-RusVelo | 10th in Giro della Toscana |
| Thomas Koep | 26 | Stölting Service Group | 34th in Grote Prijs Jan Scherens |
| Christophe Laborie | 30 | Delko Marseille | 6th in Tour of Turkey stage 5 |
| Nicolas Lefrançois | 29 | Novo Nordisk | 38th in Tour d’Azerbaidjan stage 2 |
| Ralf Matzka | 27 | Bora-Argon 18 | 19th in Le Samyn |
| Gianni Meersman | 31 | Etixx-QuickStep | Winner of Vuelta a España stages 2 and 5 |
| Christian Meier | 27 | Orica-BikeExchange | 10th in Sun Tour stage 1 |
| Travis Meyer | 27 | Drapac | 43rd in Circuit de la Sarthe stage 2 |
| Sebastien Minard | 34 | AG2R | 10th in Tro-Bro Leon |
| Alberto Nardin | 26 | Androni Giocattoli | 6th in Tour of Qinghai Lake stage 3 |
| Dominik Nerz | 27 | Bora-Argon 18 | 7th in Criterium International |
| Jean-Christophe Peraud | 39 | AG2R | 3rd in Etoile de Bessèges stage 5 |
| Adam Phelan | 25 | Drapac | 5th in Volta a Portugal stage 9 |
| Bruno Pires | 35 | Team Roth | 7th in Tour d’Azerbaidjan |
| Yaroslav Popovych | 36 | Trek-Segafredo | 72nd in Tirreno-Adriatico stage 6 |
| Daniele Ratto | 27 | Androni Giocattoli | 3rd in Vuelta de Madrid |
| Kai Reus | 31 | Roompot-Oranje | 40th in Etoile de Bessèges stage 3 |
| Vicente Reynes | 35 | IAM Cycling | 7th in Paris-Nice stage 5 |
| Joaquim Rodriguez | 37 | Katusha | 2nd in Tour de France stage 19 |
| Michael Rogers | 36 | Tinkoff | 97th in Dubai Tour stage 1 |
| Mirko Selvaggi | 31 | Androni Giocattoli | 7th in Tour du Limousin stage 4 |
| Jesse Sergent | 28 | AG2R | 6th at the National ITT Championships |
| Frank Schleck | 36 | Trek-Segafredo | 3rd at the National RR Championships |
| Alexander Serov | 33 | Gazprom-RusVelo | 20th in Route du Sud stage 3 |
| Bernard Sulzberger | 33 | Drapac | 7th in Tour of Iran stage 1 |
| Sylwester Szmyd | 38 | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | 12th in Tour of Turkey stage 2 |
| Mirko Tedeschi | 28 | Wilier-Southeast | 13th in Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen |
| Maarten Tjallingii | 39 | LottoNL-Jumbo | 9th in Giro d’Italia stage 9 |
| Matteo Tosatto | 42 | Tinkoff | 4 th in Giro d’Italia stage 11 |
| Pablo Urtasun | 36 | Funvic Soul Cycles | 25th in Tour of Turkey stage 4 |
| Jef Van Meirhaeghe | 24 | Topsport Vlaanderen | 26th in Tour of Qatar stage 2 |
| Johan Vansummeren | 35 | AG2R | 46th in Tour of Qatar stage 3 |
| Tom Veelers | 32 | Giant-Alpecin | 4th in Criterium International stage 1 |
| Peter Velits | 31 | BMC | 18th in Tour La Provence stage 3 |
| Antonio Viola | 25 | Nippo-Vini Fantini | 10th in Tour de Korea stage 3 |
| Paul Voss | 30 | Bora-Argon 18 | Won Rad am Ring |
| Fabian Wegmann | 36 | Stölting Service Group | 8th in Criterium International stage 1 |
| Lieuwe Westra | 34 | Astana | Won Driedaagse De Panne-Koksijde |
| Bradley White | 34 | UnitedHealthcare | 54th in Philadelphia Cycling Classic |
| Marcel Wyss | 30 | IAM Cycling | 8th in Tour de l’Ain |
| Xabier Zandio | 39 | Sky | 3rd in Tour of California stage 5 |
| Oliver Zaugg | 35 | IAM Cycling | 11th in Tour de Wallonie stage 3 |
| Andrea Zordan | 25 | Team Roth | 70th in Tour of Qinghai Lake stage 5 |
