Kessler forgoes world's appearance

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After Gerolsteiner's David Kopp broke his arm in a training crash and abdicated his world...

Decision to change teams not difficult

After Gerolsteiner's David Kopp broke his arm in a training crash and abdicated his world championship spot as a consequence, another German, Matthias Kessler, has also decided to sit out this year's world's.

"I have ridden so many races this year," said the 27 year-old T-Mobile rider, who leaves for the Astana team next season. "My condition is simply no longer good enough that I would be able to be in at the finish of a 265 kilometre course. And that is what I would expect of myself, if I would start in a world championship [road] race."

"After eight years with Telekom/T-Mobile, it was simply time for me to try something new," is how Matthias Kessler described his decision to change teams.

"My decision to go to Astana was based on a lot of factors, and not just on the money, as has been said so often. I have been friends with Vino since his days at T-Mobile and naturally was pleased that he personally got in touch with me. And the whole team - which has nothing more to do with the old Liberty Seguros team - made a very good impression on me, so that it wasn't difficult to decide."