New Zealand's most successful professional cyclist Julian Dean is to retire.
Dean, who turns 38 next month, has decided to retire from the sport after 17 years as a professional.
His career includes 20 Grand Tours including two stage wins.
He rode in seven Tours de France, including a stage win in 2011 and three podium stage finishes in 2010, along with a stage win in 2008 Giro d'Italia.
He had two top-10 finishes at the World Champs and finished 15th in the Athens Olympic road race competing in four Olympics all up and one Commonwealth Games, winning a medal on the track in the team pursuit in the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria.
His final race will be the national road champs in Christchurch next month a title he has won two times.
Dean says he will now begin a career off the bike with his Orica GreenEDGE team, in a new role as an assistant sporting director and mentor.
