Olympic medallist Grégory Baugé has announced his retirement from competition at the age of 35.
The Frenchman has had an outstanding career on the track, racking up nine World Championship titles and collecting four Olympic medals.
After initially planning to leave the sport after the Tokyo Olympics Baugé, from Maisons-Laffitte near Paris, said he no longer believed in his performance for the Games.
In an interview with France TV on Sunday (January 10), Bauge said: “I have always been at 100 per cent and I noticed I was no longer in this pattern.
"Overnight, I felt that I was restricted to 90 per cent. That isn't enough to seek a performance at the Olympics.”
During his career, Baugé picked up four Olympic medals - silvers in Beijing and London, along with bronze in Rio - and also won nine world titles spread across the team sprint and individual sprint.
But he said his biggest regret is causing his team to lose a world title after breaching anti-doping whereabouts rules in 2011.
After winning the individual sprint and the team sprint at the Worlds that year, Baugé was stripped of his results after he missed a test.
Last year, Baugé spoke out against racism in cycling, saying: “In all walks of life you know it exists and in cycling yes, I’ve had to deal with it.
“It shouldn’t be normal. When are we going to get out of this? I don’t know.”
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UCI president David Lappartient responded to Baugé’s retirement on Twitter, saying: “I’d like to thank him for his dedication and passion for track cycling and wish him all the best for the future.
“A career which has spanned many years, accompanied by multiple UCI Track World titles and Olympic podiums!”
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