Lance Armstrong announces final retirement

Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong announced Tuesday that he’s quitting cycling, this time for good.

Armstrong had already announced that the 2011 season was to be his final one, but he had planned to do some racing through the summer. But in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press he said he was officially hanging up his bike for good.

That makes the 2011 Tour Down Under last month the final race of the 39-year-old’s career.

The retirement marks the end of Armstrong’s comeback bid that failed to net him an eighth Tour de France title. He finished third in the 2009 Tour after three-and-a-half years away from the sport, and only managed 23rd in 2010.

During the interview, Armstrong said he lined up at the 2009 expecting to win.

“I really thought I was going to win another Tour,” he told AP during the interview.

Armstrong also touched on the ongoing U.S. federal investigation into doping allegations sparked by accusations made by Floyd Landis last year.

“I can’t control what goes on in regards to the investigation. That’s why I hire people to help me with that. I try not to let it bother me and just keep rolling right along. I know what I know,” he said. “I know what I do and I know what I did. That’s not going to change.”