Tinkoff-Saxo rider Ivan Basso has announced his retirement from competitive racing in order to begin a new role with the team that is to be confirmed in the coming weeks.
The development ends the near two-decade career of the 37-year-old two-time winner of the Giro d'Italia and comes after his successful battle with testicular cancer, which required surgery in July.
Basso said: "I have no reason to betray my fans and all the people that believed in me all these years. I could have continued racing but I wouldn't be competitive. I could take part in a race but then struggle to finish. There is no point in letting my fans down and when adrenaline is replaced by fear then it's time to change.
"I don't regret putting an end to my racing career. Cycling is a passion that runs in my family and I feel extremely lucky I have a team that believes in me and gives me this opportunity to start this new endeavour without practically stopping."
In addition to his two Giro victories, Basso finished second in the 2005 Tour de France and served a ban for working with Eufemiano Fuentes, the doping doctor at the centre of the Operacion Puerto scandal.
His new role, according to Tinkoff-Saxo, will "combine managerial and technical aspects".