Luxembourg’s Andy Schleck, winner of the 2010 Tour de France, on Thursday announced his retirement after failing to recover from a knee injury.

“I’m obviously disappointed to end my career like this,” said the 29-year-old Schleck.

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“I would have liked to keep on fighting but my knee just doesn’t allow it. Since my crash in the UK there has hardly been any progress. While the ligaments have healed, the damaged cartilage is another story.

“I have been working hard on rehabbing the knee but came to the hard realisation that at the risk of irreversibly injuring it, this is the best course of action.”

In his career, the Trek Factory Racing’s Schleck stepped four times on to Grand Tour podiums.

Apart from his 2010 Tour victory, Schleck triumphed in the 2009 Liege-Bastogne-Liege, while the rider highlights his win on the Galibier mountain stage of the 2011 Tour de France as one of his most memorable achievements.

“Cycling has been my life for many years and I will need time to figure out what I’d like to do,” Schleck said.