Andy Schleck Discussion thread.

[movingtarget]

I feel 2010 and 11 were more climber friendly.

I agree. He could have and according to many, should have won both races but he was beaten by two riders who have always shown that they are mentally stronger, sans Evan's horror 2009 Tour, and I think that has always been his problem. The talent is there but it has to be exploited. Evans seems to have the right people guiding him at BMC and Schleck desperately needs something similar. Bruyneel was obviously not the right fit even though I thought at first he might have given Schleck more discipline and a better tactical sense. Probably too different and Schleck reacted badly to Bruyneel's criticism which just made things worse.

 

[The Hitch]

I agree. He could have and according to many, should have won both races but he was beaten by two riders who have always shown that they are mentally stronger, sans Evan's horror 2009 Tour, and I think that has always been his problem. The talent is there but it has to be exploited. Evans seems to have the right people guiding him at BMC and Schleck desperately needs something similar. Bruyneel was obviously not the right fit even though I thought at first he might have given Schleck more discipline and a better tactical sense. Probably too different and Schleck reacted badly to Bruyneel's criticism which just made things worse.

I dont know if Schleck should have won the 2010 Tour. Where?

In the Alpes he got his score in Morzine, and on Madeline he was never going to put time into Contador with a 20k descent and 10 k of flat.

On Les deux alpes he tried and failed. On Tourmalet he threw the kitchen sink at Contador and couldnt get a second.

All thats left is Port du Bailes. Schleck got karma back for stage 3. If you want to ignore stage 3, then you can say if Schleck didnt slip his chain on PDB he could have finished with Contador (or maybe even taken some time from him, though with a descent - 40 seconds would be unlikely) but then thats not - Schleck should have won the Tour by being mentally stronger. Its - Schleck would have won the Tour if Contador had lost time in a crash and Schleck lost time nowhere.

But then you can say the same for any gt where the winner wins by less than a minute.

 

[rzombie1988]

I can't see Andy winning or beating AC.

Against AC:
In the TT? Not a chance in this world. He will lose time.
In the mountains? At best, he will be even with him and maybe get a few seconds on the first steep finish because AC won't be ready yet.
On the flats? That'll be the day.

I don't know where he is going to get the time he will need. The only way is to attack early on in the race before the mountains where it will be a little bit more relaxed and hope to gain enough seconds. Other than that, it won't happen.

I see similar things happening against Froome and I see even worse things happening even to a tired Wiggins. I even see him going down to JRod if he is invited because JRod has actually improved instead of just excusing himself with, "I'm not good at Time Trials". I used to think Andy was better than JRod but current JRod even had AC struggling minus that flat stage.

 

[shades1]

you need to remember andys age , he was good in 2010/11 but still pretty young , riders dont peak early like they do in other sports , its a gradual process to become elite , if the year out has not damaged his progress there is still room for more improvement . and that goes for mentally as well . this guy should not be written off just because contador has finished in front of him a load of times .

all tho he is still the man to beat you have to think contador has already peaked as a rider where andy has still yet to if the injury does not hamper it .

the changing of the guard has to happen at some stage , contador cant dominate forever .

 

[movingtarget]

I dont know if Schleck should have won the 2010 Tour. Where?

In the Alpes he got his score in Morzine, and on Madeline he was never going to put time into Contador with a 20k descent and 10 k of flat.

On Les deux alpes he tried and failed. On Tourmalet he threw the kitchen sink at Contador and couldnt get a second.

All thats left is Port du Bailes. Schleck got karma back for stage 3. If you want to ignore stage 3, then you can say if Schleck didnt slip his chain on PDB he could have finished with Contador (or maybe even taken some time from him, though with a descent - 40 seconds would be unlikely) but then thats not - Schleck should have won the Tour by being mentally stronger. Its - Schleck would have won the Tour if Contador had lost time in a crash and Schleck lost time nowhere.

But then you can say the same for any gt where the winner wins by less than a minute.

Yeah it was obvious Contador was there for the taking in 2010 and once again Schleck's TT let him down. It only had to be a bit better as Contador was legless at the end of the final TT. All I'm saying is he could not beat Contador in 2010 when Contador was not 100 or even 90 percent. I just think Contador struggled in the 2010 Tour race plus the 2012 Vuelta but he still found a way to win. That's what I mean by mental strength.In 2011 Schleck mucked around too much in the mountains plus the Gap stage disaster and another ordinary final TT. I guess my question is if Schleck is ever going to win the Tour, where will he win ? Because his is still young, some people are assuming he will improve a lot. It does not always happen like that and unless he improves his TT, his descending and his tactics, it's difficult to see how he will win unless it comes down to luck and he would need a lot of luck to cancel out his deficiences. That said, I hope he can find some form and make the 2013 race more interesting. Other riders make the most of their talent. I always get the feeling, Schleck can do more. Maybe he can't. Time will tell.

 

[airstream]

It is rubbish. Who made Contador suffer in the Tour? Schleck. All the rest is irrelevant. I have no doubt both were stronger in 2009 than in 2010.

 

[LaFlorecita]

you need to remember andys age , he was good in 2010/11 but still pretty young , riders dont peak early like they do in other sports , its a gradual process to become elite , if the year out has not damaged his progress there is still room for more improvement . and that goes for mentally as well . this guy should not be written off just because contador has finished in front of him a load of times .

He is 27, will be 28 come July. (When Alberto turned 28, he had already won 3 Tours and 1 Giro and 1 Vuelta ). Andy can still improve but he hasn't really shown much improvement in the last few years. Especially in the discipline that in which he NEEDS to improve to win, TT.

all tho he is still the man to beat you have to think contador has already peaked as a rider where andy has still yet to if the injury does not hamper it .

No. Alberto has just turned 30. A rider's peak years are usually from around 28-29 to 32. He has still two or three season left to completely dominate.

the changing of the guard has to happen at some stage , contador cant dominate forever .

You're so right and at the same time so wrong. Alberto can't dominate forever. (imo he should start focusing on prestigious 1 week stage races like dauphiné and classics in 3-4 years time. Or maybe the least contested GT). And yes there will be a changing of guards. But it will not be Alberto out, Andy in. Pinot and Quintana are still babies compared to Andy, they will be ready to dominate the GTs in 2016-2017. Maybe Andy will win the Tour in 2016, kinda like 2006. One dominater gone, the other not quite ready yet. But he will never dominate like Alberto or big names like Merckx, Hinault, Indurain. I'm sorry.

 

[airstream]

Lol, even here Andy managed to get into an age-dependent collapsar. Anti time trialists Pinot and Quintana has a great perspective, Contador has perspective to completely dominate. Only Andy has no perspective. Poor guy. He should not have been born.

 

[movingtarget]

It is rubbish. Who made Contador suffer in the Tour? Schleck. All the rest is irrelevant. I have no doubt both were stronger in 2009 than in 2010.

Yes he did make Contador suffer in 2010 which is what makes it frustrating watching Schleck race. I thought Contador looked vulnerable and really thought Schleck could have won the race and then last year he did not ride the TT course beforehand which kind of sums up Schleck's approach to the TT but he he would not have beaten Evan's that day anyway.

 

[rzombie1988]

Andy doesn't want to improve. Take last year where the TT was the key and everyone knew it. Andy's response:
"I'll work on my climbing".

Think about that.

Any peaked already. 2010 was his peak. He might be just a little off in the mountains but Froome and Contador will be near him and will stomp him in the TT. JRod, who used to be very similar to Andy in weaknesses, improved and will beat him too. I'm telling you, Andy is most likely looking at a 5th place finish.

 

[Angliru]

Business as usual.
First to react on Schleck news are terrified convict's fans.

First to react to the reaction is the terrified Contador hater. You're as predictable as those that you vilify.

 

[Carols]

Only Andy has no perspective. Poor guy. He should not have been born.

Andy was Born with incredible genetics and inherent talent. I just want to see him use it effectively!!! He seems to have the motivation this year so I hope he does use it, I want to see battles!

 

[LaFlorecita]

first to react to the reaction is the terrified contador hater. You're as predictable as those that you vilify.

+1
.......

 

[LaFlorecita]

First to react to the reaction is the terrified Contador hater. You're as predictable as those that you vilify.

+1 ........

 

[serfla]

First to react to the reaction is the terrified Contador hater. You're as predictable as those that you vilify.

How long did it take you to come up with this? 3 days?
And you didn't even come to it by yourself. You've rewritten my post.
I'm glad you can do what you see.

 

[LaFlorecita]

What..?

Lol your theory no longer works it took him three days to react

 

[serfla]

What..?

Lol your theory no longer works it took him three days to react

No, no... It works for him too.
He's only "does what sees" kind.

Pay attention, LaFlo. Everything is nicely written... To be comprehensible to each and every one.

 

[LaFlorecita]

No, no... It works for him too.
He's only "does what sees" kind.

Pay attention, LaFlo. Everything is nicely written... To be comprehensible to each and every one.

Ok whatever

 

[Angliru]

How long did it take you to come up with this? 3 days?
And you didn't even come to it by yourself. You've rewritten my post.
I'm glad you can do what you see.

A simple reply to a simple post. Just keeping it in terms that you hopefully would be capable of understanding but judging from your nonresponse I guess I better lower my standards even more.

 

[serfla]

A simple reply to a simple post. Just keeping it in terms that you hopefully would be capable of understanding but judging from your nonresponse I guess I better lower my standards even more.

Again doing what seeing.
This time you've managed to integrate two posts in one response... Progressing.
Just keep trying.

 

[Miburo]

At Saxo Bank, Julich helped me a lot and he was one of the cleanest on the team.

What the **** does that mean?

Did he just accuse half of his former team?

Or can Bobby clean the toilets properly?

 

[ferryman]

What the **** does that mean?

Did he just accuse half of his former team?

Or can Bobby clean the toilets properly?

Hi, this is being discussed in the Clinic. Check out The Schlecks and doping thread

 

[Miburo]

Hi, this is being discussed in the Clinic. Check out The Schlecks and doping thread

Oh yeah, that doesn't belong here

 

[Forunculo]

Radioshack 2013 roster

Jan Bakelants
George Bennett
Matthew Busche
Fabian Cancellara
Stijn Devolder
Laurent Didier
Tony Gallopin
Ben Hermans
Danilo Hondo
Christopher Horner
Markel Irizar
Bob Jungels
Benjamin King
Robert Kiserlovski
Andreas Klöden
Tiago Machado
Maxime Monfort
Nélson Oliveira
Giacomo Nizzolo
Yaroslav Popovych
Gregory Rast
Thomas Rohregger
Hayden Roulston
Andy Schleck
Fränk Schleck??
Jesse Sergent
Jens Voigt
Haimar Zubeldia
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cancellara has stated he is gonna skip the Tour next year, and Frank is likely to get a ban.

I didn't notice before but the team potential has clearly dropped from last year. The important GC adds are Kiserlovski who dreamt about the Giro, so he won't do the Tour and Devolver, I guess he'll play Cancellara rol.

So the group Radioshack can bring to the Tour (Voigt, Horner, Monfort, Zubeldia, Popo, Machado, Kloden) it's still notable but much weaker than the teams Andy has had for many years (at Saxo and Leopard). And what about unity?

I don't expect a 100% fitness Andy Schleck in 2013 and the TTT (without Cancellara) and two ITT can easily kill his chances. And the adventage of having a better team has dissapear with SKY and it's a big "if", if he can outclimb Froome and Contador.


What result can we realistically expect from Andy?

Given it's the last year the team has sponsors and Becca has not desire to spent big, even less with the poor results, can a victory at TdF save the team?

 

[Christian]

I don't think the overall quality of the team has dropped much, if any. Of course they have lost some strong riders but they have gotten pretty good replacements. IMO for once they did exactly the right thing: few transfers. Hopefully the team can have some stability and grow closer together this way. If they had replaced half the riders again like they did last year, nothing would have come of it. That's why I expect a stronger season from them, although that's not saying much

As for the Tour of course they are far behind Sky, as is any other team. The interesting thing will be to see how much lobby people like Klöden and Popovych have, now that Bruyneel is gone. It might be good to replace them on the Tour team by some younger faces. Horner and Voigt are old farts but they were among the best riders of the team last year.

With some better luck, better preparation and better team spirit they should be able to get at least a little more results. I am looking forward to seeing how Gallopin and Nizzolo develop, and how Bob Jungels will adapt. I think Cancellara can't complain about his squad.