VIENNA — Disgraced Austrian cyclist Bernhard Kohl has announced his retirement, ending a controversial career marred by a doping scandal seen as a major blow to the sport.

Kohl admitted to using the blood booster CERA at last year's Tour de France and was subsequently banned for two years by Austria's national anti-doping agency, NADA.

In a statement on his Web site, Kohl said he wanted to stop living a "double life based on lies" and yet again apologized to his fans.

Kohl said he took performance enhancers voluntarily because he was part of a system "in which you can't win without doping."

"The clean sports hero we wish for is often just fiction," Kohl said. "Somewhere along the way, talent, training and tough discipline just aren't enough anymore."

Kohl finished third in the Tour and won the polka-dot jersey for best climber.

Earlier this month, Austrian prosecutors said they were investigating whether Kohl and banned Danish cyclist Michael Rasmussen helped other athletes with blood doping. If found guilty, they could face prison terms of up to five years.

Kohl and Rasmussen's former manager, Stefan Matschiner, was arrested in March for allegedly playing a major role in a nationwide doping scandal. He was released from custody on May 7.

According to his attorney Franz Essl, Matschiner admitted assisting Kohl in blood transfusions but denied supplying any banned substances.