By Alasdair Fotheringham
Logrono, Spain - Spanish rider Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano, who led the Tour de France for a week in 2002, is retiring at the end of the season.
The 32-year-old made his announcement on the first rest day of the Tour of Spain, where he is running 113th overall.
"I feel it's time to call it a day." the Liberty Seguros professional told reporters. "I've realised I can no longer fight for the major objectives I once aimed at."
"I discovered on the first day of the Tour de France this year I have no longer got the motivation I used to have for racing."
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Gonzalez de Galdeano, whose elder brother Alvaro also raced as a professional, was second overall in the 1999 Tour of Spain when he won the stage to Ordino-Arcalis in Andorra and the prologue in Murcia.
In 2001, after finishing fifth overall in the Tour de France, he won what was at the time the fastest stage in the history of major Tours - to Zaragoza - with an average speed of 55.176 kph (34.28 mph). The feat earned him the nickname 'Speedy Gonzalez'
He then took the lead in the 2002 Tour de France for a week before ceding it to Lance Armstrong in the Pyrenees and finishing fifth overall for a second year running.
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