World and Olympic road race champion Paolo Bettini has indicated that he may retire soon after the 2008 world championships in Varese, Italy. Speaking to Belgian website Sport.be, Bettini said: "The World Championships course in Stuttgart (2007) and Varese (2008) suit me, just like the Olympic road race in 2008. But I won't ride much longer."
"Physically I can ride until the end of 2008, but with what kind of results? I will listen to my body, and when I think it's been enough, I will quit," he added.
The Quick.Step rider, now 32 years-old, had previously said that he plans to defend his Olympic title in August 2008 in Beijing. "I think that it is necessary to have the courage to know how to say stop when the moment has come," he told Belgian newspaper La Derniere Heure. "If it will undoubtedly be hard to stop, I do not want miss my exit."
