Although he was scheduled to continue at least until the end of the on-going season, Denis Menchov (Katusha) has surprisingly announced that he is to instantly retire from cycling at the age of 35, citing recurring knee problems.

The highlights of Menchov’s palmares include overall in the Giro and twice winning the Vuelta a Espana.
He suggested that frustration with missing a key event was a deciding factor in his decision.

“Winning the Giro was no doubt the pinnacle of my career,” he told R-Sport. “This year I couldn't take part in the Giro because of the injury. The Giro was my main goal for this season, and I understood it was time to end my sporting career.”

In addition to those three Grand Tour victories, Menchov also performed well in the Tour de France on more than one occasion. In 2003 he finished 11 overall and won the white jersey as the best young rider of the Tour. He took home a stage win in 2006 and finished fifth overall, returned two years later to take third and was then elevated from third to second overall in the 2010 edition after Alberto Contador tested positive.

However, his form has been more diffident since he finished seventh in the 2011 Giro and fifth in that year’s Vuelta a España. He was a disappointing 54th overall in last year’s Vuelta but rescued his campaign with a stage win on the brutally steep Bola del Mundo climb.

Controversy has plagued the latter stages of Menchov’s career. In 2009, he was called to Vienna, Austria, to answer questions in relation to the "Human Plasma" case and although he was never officially indicted for a doping related felony and subsequently denied all allegations, in 2012, in an far-reaching inspective report, the Dutch newspaper NRC claimed to have proof that Boogerd, Thomas Dekker, Menchov and Michael Rasmussen all traveled to Austria for blood doping whilst riding for Rabobank.

Two years later in a disclosed document assembled by the UCI, he was listed as a "9" in their "Index of Suspicion." Riders were ranked with numbers from zero to 10, with zero being no suspicion, and ten being the maximum

Menchov had begun the current season in solid fashion taking fourth in the Volta ao Algarve. He was also second on a stage and fourteenth overall in Paris-Nice, but is now retiring from cycling altogether. So far his Katusha team has yet to comment upon Menchov’s decision.