All change for Criville in 2002.

Alex Criville, Spain's former 500cc motorcycling world champion, has ended his 10-year association with Honda and is considering his options for 2002.

The Spaniard has been linked to both Aprilia and Yamaha for next season, but according to Reuters, Criville has not ruled out retirement either.

"This week everything will be decided and it will be me and no one else that makes the decision," Criville told sports daily Marca.

The original plan was for 31 year old Criville to ride an Aprilia factory four-stroke bike in 2002. However the proposal deal he had hoped for did not appear. "The Aprilia project began to lose shape and wasn't developing as I had hoped, so I then began to think about retiring," Criville said. "But after a number of sleepless nights I decided that I wanted to continue riding and I couldn't accept that my career would come to an end on the Honda that I had to ride this season."

2001 was a disappointing season for Criville, as was 2000. Since winning the world championship in 1999, things have not been good for the Spaniard or Honda. He finished 105 points behind this year's leader Valentino Rossi, putting him in eighth place, and has only had two podium finishes all year (Czech Republic and Spain).

As a result of this, Criville had spoken to Yamaha boss Luis d'Antin about the possibility of riding a 500cc bike and partnering Norick Abe for the 2002 world championship. As yet, nothing has been finalised.

"I am not going to close any door, and I could still go to Aprilia or even retire," he said. "I alone will decide my future."