Andy Schleck has told Cyclingnews that even though his injury sustained at the Tour de France will keep him off the bike for several weeks, he will come back and once again fight to remain a pro cyclist.

"In the morning after the crash I went on the rollers and I couldn't push more than 80 watts. The doctor came and he asked me if I could push more but I couldn't because it was so painful. I got on the bus and we made the call to not start," he said.

"It goes without saying that the morning I pulled out of the race was the worst moment I've ever had in cycling. To give up in the Tour de France like that was crushing. It was heartbreaking. I was on the bus with tears in my eyes because I knew that I couldn't ride my bike anymore," said an emotional Schleck.

"Maybe I could see it coming. The night I abandoned I was up until midnight with the physio. They were very good and tried to reassure me but I could see in their eyes that they knew I was out of the race."

Once he had pulled out of the Tour, “the worst moment of my career” he said, he headed to Switzerland to have an MRI scan that showed a rupture of both the collateral and cruciate ligaments plus a tear in the meniscus and bruising.

Schleck went for surgery almost immediately, meaning he faces a long spell off the bike. This is the second time he has suffered a serious injury after a crash at the 2012 Dauphine saw him miss the best part of 2 seasons.

"I was happy at the Tour and my form was on the up but I have to accept the situation and I have to look forward," he told Cyclingnews. "But I want to carry on. I feel like I still belong in cycling. I don't want to stop because of a crash."

"You know though, I thought for a moment that it might all be over but I don't want to give up like this. I crashed out of the Tour and that's not how I want people to remember me. So as soon as I can start again I will ride. I love to ride my bike so I'll start out small and then I can think about racing but it's important not to rush. The doctors say 'please Andy, be careful and don't put pressure on your knee' and they repeat it every day."

"I was unlucky at the Tour but I've been unlucky for the last three years," he continued.

"But I take responsibility for my fall though, it's no one's fault, but I'm lying in the hospital and I have to think that it could have been worse. I was riding at 60 kph when I fell. I could have hit my head really hard because that was the first thing to touch the ground. I knew straight away that something wasn't right though. My knee was the second part of me to hit the tarmac and although I could see and feel the road rash it was the knee that immediately had me worried. I couldn't bend it, I needed help to get on the bike and that I just crawled to the finish."

But Andy wont give up, leaving a message to all those who doubt his ability to come back once more:

"I believe I can come back. I have to believe that."