Andreas Kloden not completely fit as he represents RadioShack in Spain – Cycling News
German professional cyclist Andreas Kloden is not very optimistic about his chances of winning the Vuelta a Espana. RadioShack cyclist crashed during the 9th stage of Tour de France 2011 which has been a sad start for his team as Chris Horner
and Janez Brajkovic crashed out of the Tour de France followed by Levi Leipheimer who lost precious time during the start.
John Bruyneel who is the manager for team Radio Shack shared his thoughts after the crash of the former Tour de France finisher as he mentioned that the pain in his back is not getting worst and it is a good news as normally as he mentioned, “the only time
he is feeling the pain is when he is climbing.”
Kloden finished second in the 2004 and 2006 Tour de France and had to withdraw the Tour in 2011 during stage 13 because of the back injury. He is included in the RadioShack squad for Vuelta a Espana but the 36-year-old is not too positive about his form
as he wrote on his twitter page, “I don’t got for GC in the Vuelta Espana. The back is better, but not 100 percent and the condition to win a Grand Tour isn’t good enough.”
Andres Kloden who renewed his contract with team RadioShack along with Janez Brajkovic and Chris Horner as all the three cyclists have decided to stay with the team for another two years. They have produced some good results for the team as the 27-year-old
Brajkovic won the Criterium du Dauphine in 2010 by beating Alberto Contador.
Horner has won the Tour of California for the team while the 36-year-old Andreas Kloden was victorious in Tour of Basque Country 2011 as he won the event. He was second overall in Paris- Nice and RadioShack has shown their confidence in him as they gave
him a two year contract.
Vuelta a Espana will extend up to three weeks and will be a real test for the cyclists and it will be interesting to see how cyclists treat the Grand Tour this year and if they change the game plan after witnessing the crashes at the Tour de France 2011.
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