Peter Luttenberger training (Image credit: Jürgen Stering)
By Susan Westemeyer
Peter Luttenberger announced his retirement from cycling at a press conference on Monday, February 19. The Austrian rode the last four years for Team CSC, which did not renew his contract at the end of the last season.
"I would liked to have continued riding," he said, according to sport1, "but the negotiations got stuck on the question of finances. I wasn't willing to ride for under a specific price."
As Luttenberger explained to Cyclingnews, because of the extended negotiations, "I stayed out of the cycling scene for a longer time, and I noticed that I didn't miss it at all. The continuous negative news about cycling made the decision easier. 12 years as a pro are enough."
Luttenberger, now 34, turned pro in 1995. He had his best year in 1996, when he won the overall Tour de Suisse and went on to finish fifth overall in the subsequent Tour de France.
According to APA press agency, Luttenberger wants to spend some time with his family, work on his house in Graz-Seiersberg and start cultivating his own wine. "I can't complain," he said. "They were good years."
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