Jonathan Tiernan-Locke, the former Team Sky rider who served a two-year ban after an anomaly was discovered in his blood passport, has said he has no intention of returning to top end of the sport.
Tiernan-Locke would likely struggle to sign with most top teams after serving such a ban, but in speaking to the Exeter Express & Echo, he has reiterated that he has no desire to return to the pro ranks anyway.
'I wouldn't want to be a pro again,' he said, while also explaining his difficulties in returning to racing at a regional level in 2016: 'I have searched for the motivation, but the fact is that it's difficult to get fired up about the kind of races that I once saw as stepping-stones to the pro world. To make the sacrifices needed for me to be decent again, I'd need to be in a completely different mindset.'
'I'm glad I raced last year, even if I was never that fit, as I felt I needed to come back and compete at some level,' he said.
Tiernan-Locke spent last season racing for his own Saint Piran team, and won both National A and National B road races, but still a long way off the form that would have been neccessary for him to have won the Tour of Britain in 2012 (a title that he was stripped of following his ban) and finishing 19th at the World Championships the same year, while riding for Endura Racing.