Disgraced rider Landis retires

Cycling: Disgraced rider Floyd Landis, the man who was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title for doping and accused Lance…

Cycling:Disgraced rider Floyd Landis, the man who was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title for doping and accused Lance Armstrong of cheating, has retired after failing to find a new team.

"I’ll always ride my bike but I'll never start on a line on a road and try to get to another line on a road faster than another guy. That's over," said Landis.

Landis won the Tour de France in 2006 with Team Phonak but failed a dope test for testosterone during the race and was stripped of the title.

He denied any wrongdoing until last May, when he admitted to doping and accused former team mate Armstrong, a seven-time Tour champion, and others of doping when they were both riding for the US Postal team.

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Landis took part in a few races in 2010 as an independent rider but failed to secure a proper contract.

Comments by the 35-year-old American drew criticism from many quarters, and Landis has now decided to turn his back on competitive racing.

“I don’t want to come across that I’m quitting because I am bitter,” he added. “I’ve spent five years trying to get to a place that I can never go back to and that’s causing more stress than it is worth. There must be more to life than this.