A mixed Tour de France history may be over for one of cycling’s most successful riders over the past decade as Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) has declined to take part in this summer’s 100th Tour de France, according to reports in the Belga news agency on Tuesday.

“Would I have been the perfect teammate for Mark [Cavendish]?” asked Boonen rhetorically. “I think it would be crazy to undermine the current train that works well in the Giro.”

Furthermore, Boonen also indicated that he may never again ride another edition of the race.

“Will I take part in another Tour? The chance is very low,” Boonen said, according to Belga. “Maybe I shall never return.”

Boonen has six Tour de France participations to his name but can look back on his Tour experiences with mixed emotions. In all, Boonen has six career stage wins and won the points competition in 2007. On a more negative side, he was forced to abandon Le Tour due to crashes in 2005, left the French Grand Tour on the Col du Lautaret in 2006, was compelled to leave on medical grounds in 2009, and quit the race after sustaining a head injury in 2011.

In 2008 Boonen missed out on the Tour de France due to a positive control for cocaine while the 2010 Tour went down the drain for the Belgian due to knee tendonitis. Last year Boonen skipped the Tour in order to prepare for the Olympic Games.

Omega Pharma boss Patrick Lefevere explained that he “did not want to force (a) rider” to take part in any race, not even the Tour de France.

“I do not want to force it. A rider who fears a three-week race, do not force him to change his mind,” said Lefevere. “I would have preferred to see him starting in Corsica. For advertising, it would have been a serious bonus. However, it is not to be.”

Rather than riding the Tour de France, Boonen will race the Tour de Wallonie (July 20-24) and the Tour of Poland (July 27-August 3).