2007 Tour de France stage winner and yellow jersey holder Linus Gerdemann will delay his return to racing by at least another month due to the injury he sustained in a crash at the Tirreno-Adriatico time trial in March. The crash left Gerdemann with fractures on his left upper and lower leg and damage to the cruciate ligaments of his left knee. The extended recovery time will mean that Gerdemann will not ride the Tour de France this year or take part in the Olympics.
"Linus has worked hard since the accident and has done everything he could to come back to racing as quickly as possible," said Team Director Rolf Aldag, "however this week he has been in Hamburg at the Berufsgenossenschaftlichen Unfallkrakenhaus for a check-up and, unfortunately, his knee has not sufficiently healed and racing could cause further damage."
"Linus is still suffering under the consequences of the avulsion fracture of his front cruciate ligament and medial sideband and multiple bone bruises in his left femur and tibia," said Orthopaedic surgeon Helge Riepenhof. "In order not to damage other structures in the knee or to produce permanent injury to health, it is at this time not possible for Linus to bring enough mechanical load on the injured knee to prepare for maximum performances like the Tour de France."
"I had a good start to the season and I was on a good way to confirm my good result in the 2007 Tour, where I won a stage and wore the yellow jersey for a day," said a determined Gerdemann. "I'm sad not to do the Tour this year, but I am working hard to make a successful comeback and aim to compete in the Tour of Germany."
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