Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19083
Location: PDX10/9/14 11:07 AM |
Andy Schleck Retires
Andy Schleck, 29, has announced his immediate retirement from professional cycling, citing cartilage damage in his right knee as the cause. The 2010 Tour de France winner confirmed the news at a press conference held in his native Luxembourg on Thursday, ending weeks of speculation over his future.
With his existing contract at Trek Factory Racing winding down this year, Schleck found himself without a team for 2015 but any hopes of renewing with the American squad, or finding a new team for that matter, were dashed with his knee failing to recover from what turned out to be a career ending crash in this year’s Tour de France.
"Now I have to confirm the speculation. In 2015 I will not be a professional cyclist anymore, which hurts me a lot but I had no real decision. It was taken from me by my crash in the Tour in the UK," Schleck said in Mondorf-les-Bains on Thursday. "I could ride for three to four hours but when I went hard on a climb, my knee swelled up. I went back to the doctors and they said there was not much they could do.
"The ligaments were fine, they healed, but I have almost no cartilage left under my kneecap."
|