Soler in doubt for Tour de France

Caisse d'Epargne's climber Juan Mauricio Soler may miss the upcoming Tour de France after injuring his knee this week in the Criterium du Dauphiné.

Soler hurt his knee on the first stage and was eliminated for missing the time cut in Wednesday's time trial. The Colombian rolled in 24:21 down on stage winner Janez Brajkovic in the 49km test.

He travelled on Thursday to Pamplona, Spain, where he will undergo medical examinations. Soler is scheduled to participate in the Route du Sud on June 17-20. If he is unable to compete then, he will not be included in the Tour de France roster because he would not be competitive, his Caisse d'Epargne team manager Yvon Ledanois told AFP.

Soler won the mountains classification in the 2007 Tour de France while racing for the Barloworld team, but a series of injuries in subsequent years have hampered his ability to live up to that promise.