WELLINGTON: American cyclist Floyd Landis has told a New Zealand newspaper it is unlikely he will compete again in the Tour de France. Landis, 34, who is in New Zealand to ride the six-day, nine-stage Tour of Southland, told the Herald on Sunday newspaper that politics in cycling would likely prevent him contesting the world's premier cycling road race.

Landis won the 2006 Tour de France, but was disqualified and banned for two years when doping tests revealed abnormally elevated testosterone levels. He returned at the Tour of California in February.

"I don't think it's a possibility next year, or ever, for that matter," Landis said of the Tour de France.