WHITEHORSE -- Cyclist Zach Bell, arguably Yukon's most recognizable athlete over the past decade, has called it a career.

The 33-year-old from Watson Lake confirmed his retirement Tuesday, with an official announcement expected later in the week.

"It's been a decision that's been evolving over the past three or four years since the (2012 London) Games," the two-time Olympian said. "It's always been a question of where I fit in the sport."

Bell said he had a feeling the 2015 season would be his last when he signed his contract with Team SmartStop last January.

"Any time you leave a sport as a competitive athlete, I think it's difficult," he said. "It's been a tough transition for me.

"But I always told myself and other athletes that when I was done, I wanted to try and stay as closely involved in the sport as I could handle, to pass on some of that knowledge that I've accumulated over the years. That's something that a lot of the athletes ahead of me really didn't do."

He'll have ample opportunity to stay involved with cycling after accepting several positions over the last few weeks that will keep him close to the sport he loves.

Bell will serve as team director of Optum Pro Cycling's women's squad next season, and is the managing director of the new Parcours Institute cycling academy.

He is also among the 50 Canadian athletes named to the RBC Olympians Program, which will see him receive financial compensation in exchange for work as a community ambassador.

Bell endured a tough 2015 season, which included a month away from the sport due to fatigue, but he firmly believes he could have contributed to a professional cycling team next year.

"I still have the physiology and feel capable," he said. "But basically, every year my list of needs in order to continue gets longer.

"This year, there was really only one team that I wanted to ride for after SmartStop closed up shop, and that was the Optum guys. And when they didn't have room on the roster for me, that was it."

The five-foot-nine, 161-pound cyclist won the silver medal in the ominum event at the 2009 and 2012 track cycling world championships, with his second silver coming just prior to the London Olympics.

"That whole year was really quite something," Bell said. "Performance-wise for me, that's obviously a pretty big highlight."

On a personal level, he said his most meaningful title was the Canadian road championship in 2013.

"I know it's not as big as a worlds medal, but where that sat in my career and the things I had to work through to get there ... was just a huge achievement," Bell said.

The win came less than a year after Bell and his wife Rebecca's son Paxton died shortly after he was born Oct. 13, 2012.

"To be able to make my way back to a competitive level ... that led to another couple years of really good performances."

The couple welcomed a daughter, Lucy, in June 2014.

Next year, Bell's role with Optum Pro Cycling represents a homecoming of sorts. He raced with the team in 2009 and 2010.

In a press release, Bell said he'd always hoped to work with Optum again.

"This team has a professional and ethical program and is full of potential," he said.

Bell will oversee a strong contingent of Canadian women in 2016, including Jasmin Glaesser, Kirsti Lay, Katherine Maine, Sara Poidevin and Catherine Ouellette.