Germany's Zabel quits T-Mobile after 13 years

Germany's Erik Zabel, the most successful active rider, announced this week he was leaving team T-Mobile after 13 years with the German outfit.

"It's a real pity that we couldn't reach an agreement," Zabel, 35, said on T-Mobile's website.

"Both parties had their own ideas, which we couldn't agree to. But that is nothing exceptional in professional sport. I will walk away with many great memories and as a friend."

Zabel, a winner of 191 races in his career, was not retained for the last Tour de France when the T-Mobile team was built around 1997 champion Jan Ullrich in a bid for overall victory rather than stage success.

Ullrich finished third overall while Alexander Vinokourov, who is also leaving the team at the end of the season to join Spain's Liberty Seguros, won two stages.

T-Mobile finished top of the team standings.

Zabel had apparently been offered a four-year contract, two of them as a rider and the remaining two as a media officer.