Injury concerns over Schleck

Team RadioShack-Nissan-Trek have called a press conference for 4pm this afternoon amid reports Andy Schleck has been forced to pull out of the Tour de France.

The 2010 champion has apparently suffered a broken vertebrae that he picked up during the fourth stage time trial in the Criterium du Dauphine on June 7.

An MRI scan yesterday revealed the injury meaning Schleck will be unavailable for the competition, which gets under way on June 30 in Liege.

Schleck finished second behind Alberto Contador in 2010, but the Spaniard later tested positive for the banned substance clenbuterol and was stripped of the title in February.

Schleck was then presented with the symbolic yellow jersey in his home town of Mondorf-les-Bains, Luxembourg, last month.

His absence this year would give a significant boost to Britain’s Bradley Wiggins, who is favourite for the Tour following his second successive Dauphine triumph.