BORDEAUX, France -- Former world No. 1 Laurent Jalabert of France will retire from competitive cycling at the end of the season to spend more time with his family.

"I've decided to bow out at the end of the season, after the world championships,'' Jalabert said Tuesday. "I have four extraordinary children, whom I love a lot and miss too much.''

The 33-year-old Jalabert, a former winner of the Tour of Spain and of the Paris-Nice, has won four Tour de France stages in his career.

The CSC-Tiscali rider is 18th in the overall standings after nine stages of this year's Tour de France. He is 4 minutes, 18 seconds behind the leader, Igor Gonzalez Galdeano.