Flamboyant Italian cyclist Mario Cipollini has announced that he is retiring from competition after his team failed to win an invitation to the Tour de France.
The 35-year-old superstar sprinter said on his internet website that he felt great bitterness at being unable to once again win a stage in cycling's greatest event.
He also slammed the main sponsors of his Acqua e Sapone team "who failed to appreciate the sacrifices I have made and who have led me to take this drastic decision and to say 'enough with cycling"'.
Cipollini said that he would hold a press conference in the next few days to explain in more detail the reasons behind his decision to retire from the sport.
In a stellar career dating back to 1988, Cipollini has chalked up 177 wins and was on the top of his form earlier in the cycling season winning the Milan to San Remo classic as well as Ghent to Wevelgem and six stages in the Tour of Italy.
But the failure of his team to get an invitation to the Tour de France was a bitter pill to swallow for a cyclist who is seen as being in the dying stages of his career.
"I am fed up with being treated as a mediocre cyclist by everyone, even by the media," he said.
"No-one came to my defence in the dispute with (Jean-Marie) Leblanc, the chief of the Tour de France, who decided not to invite my team," he told Gazzetta dello Sport.
Shortly before the start of this year's tour in Luxembourg, Leblanc went on record as saying that while he admired Cipollini as a great champion, he had his doubts over his showbiz style.