The Most Badass Athlete You've Never Heard Of Is Retiring - And Getting This $12,500 Bike As A Gift

Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

"Shut up, legs!" is the battle cry of Jens Voigt, one of the world's toughest athletes.

He's scored all kinds of awesome victories, come back from horrific crashes that nearly ended his career, and inspired millions along the way. But outside the sport of cycling, many have never even heard of him.

"Shut up, legs!" is what the charismatic German, who rides for the U.S.-based Trek Factory Racing team, screams down at his human pistons as they brim with lactic acid, when all they really want to do is cease to exist.

His message is always the same: Keep attacking, keep going, keep hurting for the win - no matter the pain. And that's what's inspired so many to love him. He's a true cycling original.

Chris Graythen/Getty ImagesFans hold up a sign for Voigt during the team presentations for the USA Pro Challenge on Aug. 16, 2014, in Snowmass, Colorado.

Voigt, who turns 43 in October, will retire this Sunday at the conclusion of the US Pro Challenge, a weeklong stage race in Colorado, as The Denver Post reports.

Before he hangs up his bike, he'll try for one last victory this week as he ends his 17-year racing career. He'll likely be uttering his famous phrase, one of the most famous in all of cycling:

As befits a champion such as Voigt, his team came up with a gorgeous send-off package, including a custom bike with matching shoes and helmet. He's donning a custom jersey and shorts to let everyone know it's his last hurrah. His team-issued Madone 7 is a chrome-colored vision that took Trek artists more than a week to perfectly polish, the company said.

Trek is the largest bicycle company headquartered in the U.S. and the largest bicycle manufacture in the country, according to the company. Voigt's bike was made in Trek's Waterloo, Wisconsin, factory.

Trek provided Business Insider with the following photos of Voigt's custom bike and gear.

Trek

In an email to Business Insider, Eric Bjorling, director of brand communications for Trek, said, "Jens' team-issued Madone 7 Series is worth roughly $12,500. That would be for the team-issue spec. There may be a little variance depending on what wheel set he is riding and other odds and ends."

The coolest and most colorful details are the frame's top tube and down tube. The multicolored top tube features a variety of colors to represent his wife, six children, family dog, country, major victories, and teams.

Trek has incorporated social media into the package, encouraging fans to use the hashtag #FarewellJens to share their memories and best wishes. The brand says it has over 450,000 collective followers across social media platforms.

Trek

The really cool detail is all up and down the down tube, a tally representing Voigt's many race wins over his career. In other words, all the poor souls who challenged him and lost:

Trek/Business Insider

Here's the custom apparel and matching helmet and shoes:

Trek

On its website Trek is featuring the Jens Voigt Soundboard app, which has unforgettable samples of Voigt uttering his hilarious sayings:

Voigt is so popular with his fans there's also a dance track, "Jens' attack (shut up legs)," with his expressions sampled throughout:

As The Wall Street Journal's Jason Gay put it, "It's Voigt's suffering that clinches his popularity. Cycling fetishizes pain-the more agony a rider can withstand, the more his or her legend grows. Voigt is a beautiful sufferer, sometimes a comical one ... Stories about Voigt's grit are abundant. The time he rode two stages of the Tour of California with a broken hand. The time he crashed, destroyed his own bike and had to borrow a tiny yellow kid's bike with toe clip pedals to finish the race."

All of this will help fans remember the one and only Jens Voigt.

You can watch this week's US Pro Challenge via NBC Sports.