Andy Schleck Discussion thread.

[Cimber]

Andy wont be a top contender in the 2013 Tour, but I do hope he will improve enough so he might be able to take a stage for the selfesteem and then rebound for real next year. I am not an Andy fan but I do miss him nevertheless

 

[Christian]

Btw what next for Andy after ToC? Critérium du Dauphiné or Tour de Suisse

Training camp in Alps and/or Pyrenees, then Tour de Suisse and national championships. I am sure there he will get his first win of the season, since he has two team mates plus his own development squad and is only up against two other pro's

 

[Christian]

Meanwhile he is getting into all kinds of shenanigans again... locked himself and Laurent Didier out of their room, wearing nothing but bath towels, so Jensie had to take them in! #classicandy #hot

 

[Carols]

Meanwhile he is getting into all kinds of shenanigans again... locked himself and Laurent Didier out of their room, wearing nothing but bath towels, so Jensie had to take them in! #classicandy #hot

ROTFL what a character!!!! Doesn't look like he needs to lose weight to me.

 

[CyclingVinnie]

Ok, yeah, that pretty funny. I cant imagine the hell Jens gave them

 

[Clouseau]

Meanwhile he is getting into all kinds of shenanigans again... locked himself and Laurent Didier out of their room, wearing nothing but bath towels, so Jensie had to take them in! #classicandy #hot

There is a time to laugh and a time not to laugh, and this is not one of them.

 

[saneguy]

Training camp in Alps and/or Pyrenees, then Tour de Suisse and national championships. I am sure there he will get his first win of the season, since he has two team mates plus his own development squad and is only up against two other pro's

Given the current situation - any win is a good win. Tour of Suisse should also be good test for him.

Meanwhile he is getting into all kinds of shenanigans again... locked himself and Laurent Didier out of their room, wearing nothing but bath towels, so Jensie had to take them in! #classicandy #hot

ROFL !! Crazy stuff this lol...

On the other hand, Andy had a good again at ToC. Was in the break and survived until 20 odd KM to the finish. Was a mass sprint so he was anyways not going to have a chance. But this is pretty significant progress. Surviving the break for so long. Nice stuff...

 

[Christian]

LOL I was just watching the replay of yesterday's California stage, and on top of the last climb with 35,2 km to go Andy is leading the breakaway and there is a viking, a stormtrooper, a Sponge Bob and some more guys running next to him, screaming "GO ANDY, WOOOO!" That must have cheered him up a bit

 

[saneguy]

So the ToC is now over, what do you people think of Andy's performance?

Here are Jens Voig's comments on Andy

Andy is definitely improving and I hope everyone can see that. He is convinced and we are convinced that he’s improving. He’s producing more power and watts than he has in the prior months. He has found his joy in riding his bike again. He’s an emotional person like me, reacting more from the gut, and I think he’s back in business again. Does that mean a podium finish in the Tour? I don’t know, but I’m convinced he will show himself at the Tour

Personally for me it was not much of a progress. I expected him to put in much more fight. Down 20 mins on GC is not a great performance by any measure. And on Jens' comments - well thats exactly what the team said at the beginning of ToC but nothing much happened.

Hate to sound negative but I am still not seeing significant progress for making even a Top 10 finish at the Tour.

Go Andy !! Show us some power

 

[Miburo]

Andy being 20 min behind in GC doesn't mean much.

Andy always kinda sucks in these races so him attacking is a really good sign.

At this rate he'll definitely top 10 the tour.

Look at the improvement he made in 2011. Pretty meh in Suisse and 2nd in the tour. I don't like it but that's how andy is.

Only july counts.

 

[RedheadDane]

Recently I've realized that if I, for some weird reason, was to give him some sort of advice regarding The Tour, I'd say Go for the climber's jersey!
He's said it himself a couple of times by now that he likely won't win The Tour this year. Going for the polka-dot might give him the motivation to go out and attack, and - perhaps more important - stay in the race all the way to Paris.

 

[Miburo]

Recently I've realized that if I, for some weird reason, was to give him some sort of advice regarding The Tour, I'd say Go for the climber's jersey!
He's said it himself a couple of times by now that he likely won't win The Tour this year. Going for the polka-dot might give him the motivation to go out and attack, and - perhaps more important - stay in the race all the way to Paris.

If he realises he can't top 3 the tour he'll do that for sure. Well i hope so. I don't think andy cares about being 7th.

 

[saneguy]

Andy being 20 min behind in GC doesn't mean much.

Andy always kinda sucks in these races so him attacking is a really good sign.

At this rate he'll definitely top 10 the tour.

Look at the improvement he made in 2011. Pretty meh in Suisse and 2nd in the tour. I don't like it but that's how andy is.

Only july counts.

I just hope you are right! He needs to be competitive in the tour - would love to see that!

 

[ILovecycling]

If he realises he can't top 3 the tour he'll do that for sure. Well i hope so. I don't think andy cares about being 7th.

Polka dot is a very good idea!And MTF stage win.

 

[Publicus]

I think Andy is in a much better place mentally and physically than he was 2 months ago. To Jens!'s point, he looks like he's enjoying his bike again. I'm rooting for him to regain his 2010 form in advance of the TdF--but that seems like a stretch. Still glad to see him on the upswing.

 

[Carols]

Polka dot is a very good idea!And MTF stage win.

This sounds quite possible considering his performance in ToC!!!

He is definitely improving, showed himself quite a few times. Despite his lowly finishing position it was the best race he has put in since 2011.

He really seems to be enjoying racing again!

 

[Netserk]

I must say that Andy is doing a lot better than I expected. At this rate it wouldn't surprise me if he was amongst the strongest in the mountains in the Tour.

I hope he'll do a Rolland like performance if he cannot contend FTW. I'd like to see him go on the first ascent of the Alpe and win the stage solo

 

[airstream]

I fear Andy's solo won't inspire part of inhabitans of the thread...

 

[shades1]

i thought he done OK but is still a long way off the form needed to be contending for the TDF , he still has a little time to progress further with fitness and form and maybe come the time he may just be peaking at the right time .

 

[Netserk]

On the other hand, perhaps the Ventoux stage suits him better. Long and no descents

 

[Pentacycle]

I must say that Andy is doing a lot better than I expected. At this rate it wouldn't surprise me if he was amongst the strongest in the mountains in the Tour.

I hope he'll do a Rolland like performance if he cannot contend FTW. I'd like to see him go on the first ascent of the Alpe and win the stage solo

You mean crash on a descent and still win the stage? I can see that happening.

Andy should go into full training mode though, it seemed he even rested some after LBL. Compared to his April form he's gotten worse, there's a lot of work left for July.

 

[Michele]

Imho there's still time for a decent Tour, and while Im hoping he will go seriously into training, I didnt like his comments of some weeks ago where he said that this year will be all preparation for 2014 (sorry but I dont rememeber the exact words..).

 

[airstream]

Andy is a good descender. Discussed many times.

 

[Afrank]

Andy's been looking much better, was very happy to see him active and in the breaks at TOC. I don't expect too much GC-wise from him at the Tour, what I would really like is to see him active in the mountains, maybe go in a couple of breaks, and go for some stage wins. Also agree with RedheadDane, the mountains jersey would be a great target to aim for.
I think he could potentially have a great shot at winning Alpe du Huez also, it's a good stage for him to try and do a repeat of Galibier.

 

[Christian]

I think Andy is in a much better place mentally and physically than he was 2 months ago. To Jens!'s point, he looks like he's enjoying his bike again. I'm rooting for him to regain his 2010 form in advance of the TdF--but that seems like a stretch. Still glad to see him on the upswing.

This, exactly.

Think back to January when he finished dead last on every stage Down Under and compare it to now, it's like night and day. I think the most important is that he finished the race and evidently gave it everything, even going into the break twice. But it was also obvious that he is still a ways away from climbing with the best such as Van Garderen or Acevedo in this case.

I was also positively suprised by his ITT. I did not see the stage but people said he looked like he gave it everything. It was his first ITT in 11 months if I am not mistaken, he said he barely trained on the TT bike due to his injury and a large part of it was flat and windy. It didn't see the splits, i.e. how his time up the climb compared to the rest, does anyone have that? It is by no means a brilliant performance but I think we could have expected much worse than this.

As for the Tour I don't care for the result, I only wish to see him in good shape and up there with the best sometimes, and why not give it a shot for stage glory. I am hoping to see him go for it on Mont Ventoux à la Virenque, that will be epic