Saying that he's "100 percent committed to retiring" after 14 years of pro cycling, Lance Armstrong announced that he will retire on July 24, at the conclusion of the 2005 Tour de France. He said that his children are the motivating factor and he has gotten a lot of advice on this from his mother. He also thanked Sheryl Crow and Johan Bruyneel for their roles in his success.

Armstrong made the announcement at the opening press conference for the 2005 Dodge Tour de Georgia. He decided to make the announcement at this time to deal straight up with the fans and the media. Hundreds of media representatives attended the press conference.

Lance was joined on the podium by Johan Bruyneel, director sportif of Team Discovery Channel, and Dan Osipow, director of corporate communications.

Stan Holm, director of the Dodge Tour de Georgia said:

While we certainly wish {Lance Armstrong would} never stop racing... we're thrilled and honored that he has chosen the Dodge Tour de Georgia as what could be his last professional race here on American soil. We are pleased that the 2005 Dodge Tour de Georgia will be the platform to celebrate Lance's career and we look forward to finding ways to work together in the future on our shared goal of defeating cancer in our lifetimes.

The Tour de Georgia officially begins with Stage 1 tomorrow morning at 11:30am.

Update: A transcript of the Lance Armstrong press conference is available at ThePaceline.com. Note that the URL may be a temporary one (lance.aspx), so the page may be relocated at some point in the future.