Zahner to return to amateur ranks from BMC

Simon Zahner is to leave BMC Racing Team, and has said he will subsequently drop all the way back down to the amateur ranks. He will return to his previous team EKZ Racing Team in his native Switzerland, according to radsport-news.com.

Zahner, 28, rode for third-tier ranked Swiss team Saeco-Romer's-Wetzikon in 2003 and 2004 before going into the amateurs. Riding for EKZ in 2009, he won the overall title in both the Fleche du Sud and the Tour Alsace, leading to his contract with BMC.

He was unable to repeat his success at BMC, where he rode as a domestique. Zahner rode the Giro d'Italia this year, his only Grand Tour.