Cycling:Former Tour de France champion Jan Ullrich
announced his retirement from competitive cycling today.
The 33-year-old German, who won the sport's most prestigious
race in 1997, said at a presentation in Hamburg he would work as an
adviser to the small Austrian Volksbank team.
"I will continue my involvement in cycling, but I'm ending my
active career as a professional cyclist," Ullrich said. "I will
continue as an adviser at the Volksbank team."
He added: "I couldn't live without cycling. It's my passion
and my life."
Ullrich was withdrawn from the T-Mobile team just before last
year's Tour de France after being linked with a massive doping
investigation in Spain.
He was suspended and then dropped by his team despite his
insistence that he was not involved in doping.
Since then he has been without a place on a professional
team, although he has not been charged with a doping offence.