Frank Schleck out of Tour de France with knee injury

PARIS (AP) — Frank Schleck will not compete in the Tour de France because of a knee injury.

Schleck, a top-five Tour finisher three times, has chronic inflammation in his right knee following a crash at Liege-Bastogne-Liege in April.

Schleck, of Luxembourg, said in a statement released by his Trek Factory team: "This is a big disappointment for me, of course, but it had been in the air for a while now."

Schleck, the older brother of 2010 Tour winner Andy Schleck, will observe a two-week recovery, and hopes to be able to compete in the Spanish Vuelta in August.

The Tour de France starts in Utrecht, Netherlands, on July 4.