Andy Schleck (Radioshack) has sent out a clear sign of confidence ahead of his return to the Tour de France which starts on Saturday in Corsica. While his team has claimed that a podium spot is unrealistic, Schleck himself won't rule out that he will turn out to be the surprise of July.

Andy Schleck recently finished in the top 10 in an bike race for the first time since he stepped onto the podium at the 2011 Tour de France, taking a modest 10th at his national championships. Few riders have been through as much adversity as Schleck who has struggled to regain the level that saw him finish on the Tour de France podium in a row after his bad crash and fractured pelvis at last year's Criterium du Dauphiné.

Nonetheless, Schleck has been selected as the sole leader of his Radioshack team and while team manager Luca Guercilena knows that miracles probably won't occur and said that a podium spot was probably unrealistic, Schleck himself beams with confidence as he prepares to take on his 5th Tour de France on Saturday. He has peace in mind by virtue of his solid performance in the queen stage of the Tour de Suisse where his legs suddenly came around, Schleck managing to stay with the race favourites for most of the stage before finishing 15th.

“You were surprised? Not me,” Schleck told L’Équipe. “I just needed a confirmation that my work was going to pay off. I even wanted to follow when [Michele Scarponi] attacked but I had already been in two breakaways, and in a stage like that, I was afraid to do too much. For all that, it doesn’t make me a favourite for the Tour! I have my ideas and I’m keeping them to myself, but perhaps I will be the surprise of July…”

When Schleck crashed at the Dauphiné, his injuries proved worse than initially expected and he had to repeatedly postpone his return to racing. He finally lined up at the Binche-Tournai-Binche in early October before going on to contest the final WorldTour race of the season, the Tour of Beijing.

Schleck now claims that he may have been too eager to return and that a longer break would probably have been beneficial to his long-term recovery.

“Before the Tour of Beijing, I was still hurting and I don’t know if it was wise to go there,” he said. “Afterwards, it wasn’t just training rides of four, five, six hours, but also exercises with a physiotherapist, so days of eight hours and more. With (sports director, ed.) Kim Andersen, who I consider like a member of my family, we did training camps in Mallorca, just him and me.”

As Schleck struggled to regain his further level in the early part of the season, rumours started to circulate that he was depressed and had lost motivation. Schleck firmly denies that this was ever the case.

“I read everywhere that I had mental problems," he said. "I read that even when I was at home peacefully with my family. I wasn’t and I am not a depressive or unhappy person. On the bike, it’s true, things weren’t going too well, but one day, I’m going to be riding on the front again."

The Tour de France starts on Saturday with a road stage in Corsica.