Frank Schleck looks set to make his return to professional racing following his collarbone break in Stage 3 of this year's Tour de France. The elder Schleck, a former winner of the Amstel Gold Race, will make his comeback at the Vattenfall Cyclassics this weekend, just 39 days after his crash.
The Luxembourg champion looked set to make a serious bid at the overall at this year's Tour de France with younger brother, Andy, but his infamous crash on the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix put paid to any hopes of the tandem dethroning Alberto Contador together.
After spending four weeks recovering from the break, the 30 year old returned to training and racing in short order. Schleck has made a number of appearances at small races in Luxembourg over the past few weeks, including a post-Tour criterium, but Sunday's ProTour race around Hamburg will mark his return to the peloton and the beginning of his Vuelta preparation.
If a break is not possible, as is often the case on the deceptively difficult, but fast course, the recent father will be looking to help the on form Matti Breschel improve his 2nd place finish to Garmin's Tyler Farrar in last year's bunch sprint finish.
The Vuelta, which starts on the 28th in Sevilla, will be a great chance for Schleck to take back the opportunity he lost in France in July. The climber will surely be looking forward to the innumerable mountains that define this year's trip around Spain.