No more national team for Klöden

Andreas Klöden has cut his ties to the German national team, saying he has informed the German federation as such. "I will not be available to them in the future," he said. The non-nomination for both the Olympic Games and the World Championships angered the Astana rider, who called on a reformed nomination criteria.

He still has not received any explanation for his exclusion, he noted on his web site, andreas-kloeden.com. Klöden wrote that he saw media reports that Team Germany sports director said he is not a man for one-day races. "In my view that is – excuse me – total nonsense. Especially in light of the fact that my team did not participate in the Tour de France, I would have been able to prepare explicitly for the Olympics.

"I urge a complete reform of the nomination criteria and point out that in other countries, the participants are chosen by experience former riders and not from functionaries who don't necessarily know anything about cycling," he concluded. (SW)

(Additional editorial assistance provided by Susan Westemeyer...)

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