Former Tour de France Champion Andy Schleck Retires
Persisting knee injury to blame
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Andy Schleck announced his retirement from cycling in a press conference on Thursday, October 9, in his hometown of Mondorf-les-Bains, Luxembourg.
The 29-year-old blamed his premature retirement on a knee injury that he sustained during the third stage of this year’s Tour de France. “Since my crash in the UK, there has hardly been any progress,” he said. “While the ligaments have healed, the damaged cartilage is another story.”
Schleck was awarded the 2010 Tour de France win after Alberto Contador lost the title for doping. He also had two second-place finishes, in 2009 and 2011, and won the 2009 Liège-Bastogne-Liège. But Schleck’s performance has suffered from injuries since 2012, when he sustained a broken sacrum in the Critérium du Dauphiné. His last win came in 2011, on the 18th stage of the Tour de France.