Armstrong to retire after tour

Six-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong has announced that he will retire after this year’s race.

The 33-year-old Texan, who became the first man to win six Tours last summer, made the announcement ahead of competing in the Tour of Georgia, which starts tomorrow.

Armstrong is easily the most famous cyclist in the world after beating testicular cancer before winning his first Tour in 1999.

"I have decided the Tour de France will be my last race as a professional cyclist,'' he said.

The announcement was widely predicted with the American struggling to maintain his spartan training regime in recent months.

He recently separated from his wife and has complained his career means he does not get to spend as much time as he would like with his three children.

Armstrong has also wearied after being drawn into a series of legal battles surrounding allegations that, although he has never failed tested positive in 13 years as a professional cyclist, he has taken performance-enhancing drugs.