Andreas Klöden (T-Mobile), last year's Tour de France runner-up, is still out of competition because of the broken scaphoid bone in his right hand, which made him pull out of this year's Grande Boucle. The 30 year-old underwent further examinations at the University Clinic in Freiburg on Tuesday and will probably not be able to return to racing before mid-September.
Although the swelling of his hand has subsided, Klöden said that he "can't even think about competition yet. I will try to stay fit in a different way and hope to be back to racing within this season." First of all, Klöden was given a new plaster cast in Freiburg.
