Following an unsuccessful search for a new team, former world time trial champion Bert Grabsch has decided to end his career. The German would have liked to continue for at least another year but as he has been unable to sign a contract with a top level team, he has decided to hang up his bike.

Earlier this year, Bert Grabsch was told by his Omega Pharma-Quick Step team that his contract wouldn't be renewed and at the time, the former world time trial champion made it clear that he would end his career if he couldn't find a top level team for the 2014 season. With his search for a new employer having been unsuccessful, the German has decided that it is time to end his career.

However, the decision has been taken with some regret as the 38-year-old German would have liked to continue for at least another year.

"First of all I want to say that I would have loved to continue my career," he said in a length interview with Radsport-News. "I could have continued at the highest level for another year. I am sure that my sporting level was good enough. I think people in cycling knew why I had a difficult season. But the search for a new team has been extremely difficult. I had my offers but I wanted to sign a contract that corresponded to my worth. I still hoped for a satisfactory offer but I never received one."

Grabsch rode his final race at the Sparkassen Münsterland Giro on October 3 and has now come to terms with his decision.

"At first I was optimistic," he said. "But when it was clear that it would not be a World Tour team, I was frustrated and disappointed. However, my last vacation with my family has done me good and this is when I have taken my decision."

For many years, Grabsch was a loyal domestique at Phonak where he was one of the riders that worked hard for Floyd Landis in the 2006 Tour de France. The subsequent doping positive of his team leader not only left him disappointed, it also spelled the end for his Swiss team.

He signed a contract with T-Mobile which letter developed into Team Colombia - HTC and HTC- High Road. With their meticulous work on time trialing, Grabsch developed into one of the best time trialists in the world with his stage win in the 2007 Vuelta a Espana being his breakthrough performance. One year later, he reached his big goal when he was crowned world champion in Varese.

He continued winning big time trials later in his career while also working hard as a domestique for Mark Cavendish in the Tour de France. When his team folded at the end of the 2011 season, he signed a contract with Omega Pharma-Quick Step and had a solid first season at the Belgian squad.

However, things got worse in his second year with the team.

"The first year I was received with open arms and was also selected for the Tour de France," he said. "Everything was good. However, we arrived at the Tour without a great captain and without a sprinter, so I have not had the chance to work as a domestique. When Cavendish was sgined in the winter, I had hoped to be able to ride the Tour with him, as we did it successfully with HTC-Highroad for many years. Ultimately, I only raced with him once.

"I simply had too few racing days to really get going," he added. "I just need the race pace to deliver strong performances in the time trial. With about 50 days of racing that was not possible.

"I will not say anything bad about the team," he said. "To ride in Belgium and to discover the euphoric fans has been a new experience. Only the race schedule didn't work in the second year."

Despite the sad end to his career, Grabsch has fond memories as his time as a bike rider and claims to have achieved most of his original goals.

"I have achieved a lot," he said. "Only a medal in the time trial at the Olympic Games is missing. I rode it twice and my best result was eighth."

Grabsch rode his final time trial at the world championships where he finished 20th. He now hopes to continue his association with the cycling world and hopes to work for a bike manufacturer in the future.