Klöden back in top shape

Andreas Klöden has recovered from the respiratory problems which forced him out of the Giro d'Italia and is returning to top form, as evidenced by his performance in Thursday's sixth stage of the Tour de Suisse. He finished second, in the same time as winner Kim Kirchen, at the mountaintop finish in Verbier.

Even though he had no time for any special preparations for the Tour de Suisse, "it was my goal to have good results," he wrote on his personal website, andreas-kloeden.com. The race started out with mixed results for the German. He was happy with the opening stages, but then the bad weather set in. "It only got warm again for the difficult finale in Tessin," he noted. "Shortly before the mountain ranking, I had to fall back. The races of the previous months with the short-notice Giro participation, the Tour of Turkey and the Tour of Romandie all made themselves known to me in a feeling of tiredness."

But Klöden affirmed that he had no intention of letting a good GC placing or even a victory slip away effortlessly. He is currently ranked sixth on the overall, less than a minute behind race leader Kim Kirchen (CSC). "Now I hope that my legs will get somewhat better," he continued. "Of course I will give everything up to the end of the Tour. We'll see how much that is."

After the Tour de Suisse, he will take a vacation, recover from the full spring schedule, and then plan the remainder of his season.