Klöden could win Tour, ex-trainer says

By Susan Westemeyer

Andreas Klöden could still win the Tour de France – maybe. "If he stays free from sickness and crashes and the make-up of the team allows it, he will surely be in a position to win the Tour up until 2010," his former trainer Thomas Schediwie told the dpa press agency.

The Astana rider announced earlier this week that he would no longer work with Schediwie, which the trainer calls "a normal step after five successful years of work." He continues to train pros Marcus Burghardt (Team High Road) and Steffen Wesemann (Cycle Collstrop), as well as the Under 23 mountain bikers in Baden-Württenberg, Germany.

Klöden finished third in the Tour de France in 2006 and second in 2004. His new Astana team-mates Alberto Contador and Levi Leipheimer finished first and third in 2007.