Struggling LeMond Quits Tour de France : Cycling: Out-of-contention, three-time champion faces uncertain future after latest failure.

American cyclist Greg LeMond’s downward spiral continued Friday when he dropped out of the Tour de France during the sixth stage in the rolling hills of Normandy between Cherbourg and Rennes, France.

This latest withdrawal casts serious doubts on LeMond’s career. He failed to start last year because of severe allergies, and quit in 1992 during the Alp stages. He finished seventh in 1991 after having won the Tour for the third time in 1990.

Last spring, LeMond, the first American to win the Tour, said he was planning to continue for at least another year.

“I think there are more people who want to see me stop than I want to,” he said.

But on a day when Sean Yates of England, who rides for U.S.-based Motorola, took the overall lead, LeMond looked defeated. When he mounted his bicycle Friday morning, he already was out of contention. He quit 47 miles from the finish of the 168-mile stage, almost nine minutes behind Yates. Gianluca Bortolami of Italy won the stage.

“I cannot stay in this sport at the level I am at now,” LeMond said in France. “This is not what I imagined for the finish of my career.”

LeMond, 33, has ridden poorly since his 1990 victory. Whether it was the presence of current star Miguel Indurain of Spain or aging, LeMond never could explain his sudden decline.

“There is something in me that has been holding me back for a couple of years,” he said, referring to shotgun pellets lodged inside him after a hunting accident in 1987.

LeMond said he never fully recuperated from the accident when his brother-in-law shot him during a turkey hunt near Sacramento.

“After the accident, it took a tremendous amount of energy just to finish races,” he said. “I didn’t respond to training and races as I did before.”

Some questioned whether LeMond’s team, Gan, would allow him to start this year’s Tour, considering how poorly he raced during the spring. Usually upbeat, even LeMond questioned himself.

“I had this secret desire to be a spectator during (the race) Paris-Roubaix,” he said this spring.

LeMond said if he could overcome his physical problems, he could contend again in the Tour.

“Believe me, my mental ability is there. (But) no matter how strong you are, you can’t make your body go faster.”

Friday, when his body was hardly going at all, LeMond lacked the strength to continue in the back.

“I don’t want to ride in last place,” he said.