PARIS — Lance Armstrong's old team is disbanding.
Tailwind Sports, which owns and operates the Discovery Channel team that Armstrong rode for, announced Friday that it will cease operations at the end of this season. The team had struggled to find a replacement sponsor.
Tailwind's statement also suggested that Armstrong's mentor, Johan Bruyneel, who coached him through his record seven Tour de France wins, will retire. It said "his departure from the sport was not an easy choice."
"When I came to direct this team in 1999 I never would have imagined that we could achieve this level of success. It was an amazing time in my life and the lives of all the staff and riders associated with this team," Bruyneel said.
"I'm going to miss the staff, riders and the excitement of the races, but not all the infighting between the teams. This team has become my family and it is very sad to think that we will not be together next season."
Alberto Contador of Spain won this year's Tour de France for Discovery Channel. On Friday, he denied any involvement in doping following allegations that he was linked to the Operation Puerto drug investigation.
Through Contador and Armstrong, Bruyneel oversaw wins in eight of the past nine Tours.
But it also was an era of repeat doping scandals that have pushed the sport into crisis and made sponsors jittery — a factor that Armstrong, a co-owner of the team, alluded to in Tailwind's statement.
"I do not think you have seen the last of this organization in the sport but clearly things need to improve on many levels, with a more unified front, before you would see us venture back into cycling," Armstrong said.
Tailwind said it was stopping its search for a title sponsor to replace the Discovery Channel.
"This was a difficult decision, not made any easier by our recent Tour de France success," general manager Bill Stapleton said. "We were in talks with a number of companies about the opportunity and were confident a new sponsor was imminent. We have chosen, however, to end those discussions."
The team said it would still ride in this year's Tour of Spain and the Tour of Missouri.