One of the most decorated French cyclists of the past decade, Sandy Casar, has decided that it's time to bring his career to an end. Allergy and back problems have prevented him from finding his best level and so the 34-year-old Frenchman has decided to call it a day.

FDJ will lose one of their high-profile riders at the end of the season when veteran Sandy Casar brings his career to an end. The 34-year-old who has been with the same team during his entire 15-year career has been hampered by allergy and back problems and don't see any point in struggling through another season.

"It's been a while since I personally thought about it," he told Le Parisien. "I really feel that my body says stop. I prefer to stop now rather than continue for another year in the same boat."

Casar had planned to race all three grand tours this year but crashed in the Giro d'Italia and broke his wrist. He didn't recover in time to build up a sufficient condition for the Tour de France and when he continued to be hampered by back problems, he was also overlooked when the Vuelta roster was selected. He most recently crashed out of the Vuelta a Burgos.

"Since the beginning of the season I have had allergy problems, and even worse, a recurring back problem that prevents me from being at my best," he said. "I am always looking for old feelings, but I cannot find them."

Casar burst onto the scene when he finished 2nd in the 2002 Paris-Nice and was seen as the next French Tour de France winner. He never fulfilled those lofty expectations, his best result being 11th in the 2009 edition of the race. A 6th place in the 2006 Giro d'Italia was his best performance in a grand tour.

Later in his career, he turned his attention to stage wins in the three-week races and was highly successful. He finally got his first win in his home grand tour in 2007 and added to his tally in 2009 and 2011.

In an interview on his FDJ team's website, he is asked to select the highlights of his career and points to his grand tour results.

"It's a little early but from the start it was my 2002 Paris-Nice 2002 because this is where it all began," he said. "My two beautiful Tours of Italy, my thirteenth place in 2003 behind riders like Pantani and sixth place in 2006 - a top 10 in a grand tour. And then the stage victories in the Tour, the one in Angoulême is perhaps the beginning of the end. Yes, they were great moments and I won't go through another year like the one I've just been through. I no longer want to be useless for the team. I trained a lot and when I got to the races, I was useless."

During his 15-year career, Casar won 6 races and raced 18 grand tours.