Haussler and his Cervélo TestTeam called a press conference today in Melle, Belgium, to announce the news. The Australian-German is suffering from a torn ligament above his knee and does not yet know when he can return to racing.
"Recovery time depends on the body and how quick it recovers. Therapy is full on eight hours a day," Haussler said despondently.
"After I got second in the Tour of Flanders last year it was all I've been thinking about. It's hard. Being here and watching the races on television and reading about in the papers has been hard. But now I can deal with it because I know what the problem is."
The Cervélo TestTeam also confirmed that Andreas Klier has also been ruled out of the two major spring Classics after he suffered a concussion in a crash in the E3 Prijs-Harelbke.
Thor Hushovd will be team leader for the Cervélo TestTeam in the two cobbled classics.
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Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.
