Schleck out of Milano-Torino with sinus infection

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A relaxed Andy Schleck (RadioShack Leopard) before the start. (Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)

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Road map to success? Andy Schleck weighs up his options in the woods of the Luxembourg Ardennes. (Image credit: Bettini Photo)

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As part of his programme to improve in time trials, Andy Schleck beefs up with pizza. This time next year he'll look like his derny driver. (Image credit: AFP Photo)

Andy Schleck was supposed to return to racing on Wednesday at Milano-Torino, but illness struck him down. The RadioShack-Leopard rider decided to sit out the race in anticipation of Sunday's Tour of Lombardy.

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The Luxembourger is suffering from sinusitis, team spokesman Tim Vanderjeugd told Cyclingnews in a text message. “He's on antibiotics for 5 days. Last minute decision not start, to not risk Lombardy.”

It is another setback in a troubled year for the younger Schleck brother. He finished only 20th in the Tour de France, and did not finish the last three races he started: GP Ouest France – Plouay, GP de Quebec and GP de Montreal.

The team's presence in the Italian race came as a surprise as it is ranked 1.HC, and it was announced at the end of August that it would only ride WorldTour races for the rest of the season. The team indicated that it was due to financial reasons, and that team owner Flavio Becca would only pay for the team to attend those races which were required by the WorldTour licence.

Not so, team spokesman Philippe Maertens told wort.lu. “We never said that we would only ride WorldTour races. That came from our financier. We never confirmed it.”