ROME — Veteran Italian sprinter Alessandro Petacchi is leaving competitive cycling.
In a statement on Tuesday on Lampre-Merida’s website, Petacchi says he’s taking a "pause" in his career to spend more time with his family and "find a new dimension" to his life.
Lampre-Merida noted Petacchi’s 14 victories and the green jersey in the Tour de France in saying it hoped he’d continue offering the team his experience.
Petacchi, 39, served a nine-month ban for excessive use of an asthma drug at the 2007 Giro d’Italia and was stripped of his five stage wins — a case that was settled by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
In 2010, prosecutors linked him to blood doping and he testified before the Italian Olympic Committee’s anti-doping prosecutor. He never tested positive and maintained his innocence.