BRUSSELS, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Australian Robbie McEwen has withdrawn from the Eneco Tour due to pain in his knee, his Katusha cycling team said on Monday.

    The 12-time Tour de France stage winner decided to rest more after doctors advised him to wait following his injuries, including a fractured tibia, in a crash on the Tour of Belgium at the end of May.

    The eight-day Eneco Tour, now in its fifth year, begins with an opening prologue over 4.4 km in Rotterdam then rides over the Netherlands and Belgium before ending with a 13.1km time trial on stage seven on Aug. 25.