Frank Schleck ruled out of Tour de France

The Trek Factory Racing rider, older brother of 2010 Tour winner Andy, has been struggling since crashing in the Liege-Bastogne-Liege race earlier this season and skipped the closing time trial at the Tour de Switzerland last week in a bid to recover.

"This is a big disappointment for me, of course, but it had been in the air for a while now," Schleck said in a news release.

"The pain never really lessened and the only way to let it heal would have been to take complete rest.

"I can't push it for 21 days straight and hope to make it to Paris. What I need is rest," added Schleck who has won two stages on the Tour de France.

Trek will announce their nine-man Tour lineup later on Tuesday.