It’s somewhat bittersweet that Lance Armstrong will hang up his competitive cycling career at the end of July, after the Tour de France.

It’s sad that we won’t see him leading the “blue train” (or, now that Discovery Channel has taken the reins, the “blue/white/yellow train”), and that we won’t see what could’ve been had he raced the Giro d’Italia or given the Vuelta de España another go. It’s also sad that Tyler Hamilton won’t get to face off against his friend again, and that many up-and-coming U.S. cyclists won’t get their chances to face off against the comeback kid.

But it’s also good to know that Lance wants to call it quits while he’s still good. His training this past winter has suffered due to the rigors of a promotional schedule that is, perhaps, a bit much. He has the Lance Armstrong Foundation, a cancer charity that is near to his heart. He has a new love in Sheryl Crow, who has a very active musical career.

And he has his kids – three of ’em, all of whom miss their dad a lot. When they were very young, they’d come over to France and Spain with their mom, Kristen, for the competition season. But now they are in school and stay close to mom in Austin, Texas (Lance and Kristen divorced in 2003). And Lance misses his kids and wants to be there as a father, which is the right thing to do. Much as Lance can cite the “breakdown of the body due to age,” missing your kids’ development is something you can never get back.

So a tip of the hat to Lance Armstrong, a true cycling professional and a hero to many.