Andy Schleck Discussion thread.

[Afrank]

Andy not invited on stage at the TDF presentation. I believe the crap year he has experienced will only make Andy stronger, both mentally and physically. He is IMHO the the biggest threat to contador.

Does anyone else believe that he can do it next year?

I still believe he will be able to come back strong, I will not lose hope of seeing the old Andy again .

Although I wouldn't place him next to Contador and Froome as one of the big contenders for the Tour quite yet. I'll wait until he shows some signs of old form.

To the bolded: Definitely not physically but maybe mentally, depends how hungry his lost year has made him and how much anger he has in his stomach .

 

[movingtarget]

I still believe he will be able to come back strong, I will not lose hope of seeing the old Andy again .

Although I wouldn't place him next to Contador and Froome as one of the big contenders for the Tour quite yet. I'll wait until he shows some signs of old form.

To the bolded: Definitely not physically but maybe mentally, depends how hungry his lost year has made him and how much anger he has in his stomach .

I agree. I think the business with his brother has shaken him up and the other stuff with Bruyneel. He needs a good six months without injury or illness and needs to get his motivation back. The Tour route is not a bad one for him.

 

[Carols]

I believe the crap year he has experienced will only make Andy stronger, both mentally and physically.

We can only hope that is the case!

 

[pugdog]

As far as I know both Frank and Andy are suffering from mental problems right now. I'm not talking about their mentality.

The only mental or mentality problem Andy is probably suffering from now is a greatly increased desire to win.

 

[Carols]

The only mental or mentality problem Andy is probably suffering from now is a greatly increased desire to win.

Considering Franks situation I believe they both have more on their minds at the moment....

 

[rzombie1988]

I think Andy's gonna get owned in the Tour. I can't see him beating Froome, Contador or even JRod now(since he's surpassed him).

 

[gustienordic]

He will need to show a huge improvement. Maybe its time to race more than 20 days in July.

 

[Jelantik]

Andy not invited on stage at the TDF presentation. I believe the crap year he has experienced will only make Andy stronger, both mentally and physically. He is IMHO the the biggest threat to contador.

Does anyone else believe that he can do it next year?

I hope that should wake him up. Even Tejay and Froome are hailed as the next big thing and got invited to TDF stage presentation. I know it's not a big deal. But coming from a huge talent like his, and seeing his presence is reduced to a footnote, probably would annoy him a bit. Andy got huge talent but he hasn't won any GT yet (on the road). Sky seems to be running the world now (with their expressive win through out this year), and I'm hoping Andy can chip in (with contador) to make every TDF win for sky a lot more meaningful...

 

[movingtarget]

I hope that should wake him up. Even Tejay and Froome are hailed as the next big thing and got invited to TDF stage presentation. I know it's not a big deal. But coming from a huge talent like his, and seeing his presence is reduced to a footnote, probably would annoy him a bit. Andy got huge talent but he hasn't won any GT yet (on the road). Sky seems to be running the world now (with their expressive win through out this year), and I'm hoping Andy can chip in (with contador) to make every TDF win for sky a lot more meaningful...

He was so good in 2010 but now others have taken the spotlight from him like Nibali and Froome. He has plenty of ground to make up. I am starting to think he is not mentally tough enough but I hope he can return to his 2010 form.

 

[pdluz7]

Andy in 2012:

Trofeo Palma (97 °, 1 full day), Tour Oman (32 º, 6 days), Paris-Nice (no exit at the 3rd stage, 2 days), Volta Catalunya (drop in stage 3, two days), Circuit Sarthe (22 °, 4 days), Amstel Gold Race (91 º, 1 day), Fleche Wallonne (81 °, 1 day), Liege (50th, one day), Criterium Dauphiné (drop in stage 6, 6 days), Binche-Tournai-Binche (abandonment), Tour of Beijing (abandoned in the 5th stage, 4 days).
http://www.biciciclismo.com/cas/site/noticias-ficha.asp?id=57146

 

[greenedge]

I predict Andy to lose time in every TDU stage except for the Wilunga one, where he shall attavk at the bottom, then get caught and pipped at the finish.

 

[ferryman]

I think Andy's gonna get owned in the Tour. I can't see him beating Froome, Contador or even JRod now(since he's surpassed him).

Thank you for the laugh of the evening

 

[Forunculo]

Andy Schleck is a better climber than Jrod by large margin.

 

[movingtarget]

Andy Schleck is a better climber than Jrod by large margin.

Been quite a while since we have seen a performance from him though. Galibier 2011 ?

 

[airstream]

IMO barring an improvident attack on Avoriaz, Purito was the 3rd climber in the 2010 Tour. And if one considers Contador wasn't there — even the second one. So, Andy is stronger, but to talk about large margin is not very farsighted. In my view, that perfomance is quite comparable to him in this year's Giro. A very strong guy.

There are no large margins in the sport surely if no one called UCI on others.

 

[movingtarget]

IMO barring an improvident attack on Avoriaz, Purito was the 3rd climber in the 2010 Tour. And if one considers Contador wasn't there — even the second one. So, Andy is stronger, but to talk about large margin is not very farsighted. In my view, that perfomance is quite comparable to him in this year's Giro. A very strong guy.

There are no large margins in the sport surely if no one called UCI on others.

Rodriguez has also showed improvement in the TT. Of course he will lose minutes to Wiggins in a medium to longer TT but in the shorter ones as we saw in the Giro and Vuelta he was okay, much better than he used to be and he is almost unbeatable in an MTF sprint against other climbers only possibly Valverde could beat him. That's why time the time bonus situation in the Vuelta was ideal for him. Andy probably has the edge on the longer harder climbs but if Rodriguez rides intelligently like he did at the Vuelta except for the one nightmare day, there is every chance he can be dropped and come back simply by knowing what he is capable of. He much more complete rider than he was two years ago. He has learnt how to ride the grand tours and when not to waste energy.

 

[rzombie1988]

Thank you for the laugh of the evening

He will lose time to him in the TT, which is why I said that.

 

[uphillstruggle]

He will lose time to him in the TT, which is why I said that.

Hang on , are you saying Andy will lose time to Purito in the TT's? If Andy gets back to his form of a few years back he will at least match the new-and-improved purito in the TT's. Andy has great endurance that tells on the longer climbs. There is no way Purito could pull off what Shleck did on the Galibier or what Contador did in this years Vuelta.

J-rod is one of my favourite riders but you have to be realistic about his ability compared to the riders like Contador and AS.

 

[shades1]

i really really hope andy comes back strong in 2O13 , i think he was badly missed in last years TDF , there is no doubt he is one of the greatest climbers out there , the 2O11 TDF was one of the greatest races i have ever seen and a lot of it is due to andys heroics in the mountains .

2O12 race was nowhere near as exciting as past years , as soon as wiggins crushed the first time trial the race was over as SKY just steam rolled every stage there after . it was an awesome team performance but sadly the excitement of the race was over and with no contador or schleck to throw down the gauntlet in the mountain stages the race just did not excite .

2O13 TDF has the potential to be the best race we could ever see with contador and a fully fit schleck going up against the new breed , i really hope he has come out of the injury well because i think the world of cycling could do with some good press right now and a fully fit andy schleck flying up a mountain would be a step in the right direction .

 

[LaFlorecita]

i really really hope andy comes back strong in 2O13 , i think he was badly missed in last years TDF , there is no doubt he is one of the greatest climbers out there , the 2O11 TDF was one of the greatest races i have ever seen and a lot of it is due to andys heroics in the mountains .

2O12 race was nowhere near as exciting as past years , as soon as wiggins crushed the first time trial the race was over as SKY just steam rolled every stage there after . it was an awesome team performance but sadly the excitement of the race was over and with no contador or schleck to throw down the gauntlet in the mountain stages the race just did not excite .

2O13 TDF has the potential to be the best race we could ever see with contador and a fully fit schleck going up against the new breed , i really hope he has come out of the injury well because i think the world of cycling could do with some good press right now and a fully fit andy schleck flying up a mountain would be a step in the right direction .

Do you mean just the Galibier stage because in the other mountain stages Andy wasn't exactly "heroic". He was actually a bit of a wuss.

 

[Afrank]

i really really hope andy comes back strong in 2O13 , i think he was badly missed in last years TDF , there is no doubt he is one of the greatest climbers out there , the 2O11 TDF was one of the greatest races i have ever seen and a lot of it is due to andys heroics in the mountains .

2O12 race was nowhere near as exciting as past years , as soon as wiggins crushed the first time trial the race was over as SKY just steam rolled every stage there after . it was an awesome team performance but sadly the excitement of the race was over and with no contador or schleck to throw down the gauntlet in the mountain stages the race just did not excite .

2O13 TDF has the potential to be the best race we could ever see with contador and a fully fit schleck going up against the new breed , i really hope he has come out of the injury well because i think the world of cycling could do with some good press right now and a fully fit andy schleck flying up a mountain would be a step in the right direction .

Agree with...all of this.

Do you mean just the Galibier stage because in the other mountain stages Andy wasn't exactly "heroic". He was actually a bit of a wuss.

His performance on that stage was so epic it more than makes up for the other stages .

 

[LaFlorecita]

His performance on that stage was so epic it more than makes up for the other stages .

Personally I think Alberto was more heroic. He was even heroic when he went BOOM! on Galibier

yea I don't think Andy was heroic in 2011 Tour but ok I can understand schleck fans think he was

 

[Afrank]

Of course you would probably consider Contador heroic no matter what .

But even if I was like most here and despised Schleck I would still find his efforts on Galibier heroic and epic. There's no denying that was an epic ride he did.

 

[ILovecycling]

Personally I think Alberto was more heroic. He was even heroic when he went BOOM! on Galibier

yea I don't think Andy was heroic in 2011 Tour but ok I can understand schleck fans think he was

You cant compare anyone with Alberto its another level of word 'heroic' you know

btw.just for the case,it was heroic ride from Andy

 

[LaFlorecita]

Of course you would probably consider Contador heroic no matter what .

But even if I was like most here and despised Schleck I would still find his efforts on Galibier heroic and epic. There's no denying that was an epic ride he did.

As I said galibier was good but I don't think you can say Andy was heroic in the mountains because it was just one stage.