Andy Schleck Discussion thread.

[Christian]

the way people talk on here I would expect him to show up anyways. He really is a pathetic failure for not riding on more than one team so he can win more races. the expectation is that he should peak from now until i get bored and move on to some other insane ideas about cycling.

Disgrace for cycling!

 

[saneguy]

Well another bad day at the office for Andy. Crashed and lost time

 

[Never wait]

Two stages and he is down over eight minutes, this says a few things about Andy:1, he did not train properly during the off season(lazy) 2, he does not have the mentality/aggressive capacity needed to excel as a bike racer, 3, he is not the same rider without enhancement, 4, all of the above.

We shall see won't we...

 

[Arredondo]

Two stages and he is down over eight minutes, this says a few things about Andy:1, he did not train properly during the off season(lazy) 2, he does not have the mentality/aggressive capacity needed to excel as a bike racer, 3, he is not the same rider without enhancement, 4, all of the above.

We shall see won't we...

Partly true. He was 22nd on the Green Mountain in Oman, so 8 minutes down after 3 flat stages is not the real representation of his current form.

However, i agree he already quit cycling 2 years ago, only Trek and Andy don't know it yet.

 

[Never wait]

Andy did finish with the same time as the front group, but well back one-hundred plus positions behind.
I do wonder what the hell Trek was thinking when they signed him and his shepherd Frank. One is a convicted user, and the other has no ... well... anything...

 

[Rollthedice]

Andy did finish with the same time as the front group, but well back one-hundred plus positions behind.
I do wonder what the hell Trek was thinking when they signed him and his shepherd Frank. One is a convicted user, and the other has no ... well... anything...

And they let go Horner...

 

[willbick]

Its probably because they are still worth something as well-known riders (andy is a tour winner after all), whereas Horner is never gonna be a super marketable rider aged 40something. Obviously on the road they are basically useless nowadays

 

[Christian]

Well they took a large pay cut apparently. Plus Trek reorganized the team towards youth and classics, sprints and stage hunting. GC is much less important. So I think it was convenient for them to keep the Schleck brothers, because they could surprise and reach their old level, and if not it's not that big of a deal because the team does not rely on them.

 

[Jelantik]

I'm still patiently waiting for andy to show up. And still patiently waiting of his so called: "slow build up" for LBL and TDF. I don't know if that's still valid in this new era of cycling? But I'm willing to patiently wait... P-N, a race that's more like a classic parcours than GT. Maybe close to LBL, but the first 3 days, don't look so promising.

but.. still waiting..... (patiently)

 

[karlboss]

I'm still patiently waiting for andy to show up. And still patiently waiting of his so called: "slow build up" for LBL and TDF. I don't know if that's still valid in this new era of cycling? But I'm willing to patiently wait... P-N, a race that's more like a classic parcours than GT. Maybe close to LBL, but the first 3 days, don't look so promising.

but.. still waiting..... (patiently)

Keep waiting, a quick flick through even Andy's best years, will show you his best results pre classics are Pais Vasco barely cracking the top 20. In 2011 when he should have won the Tour he finished TA 14 minutes down, in 2010 when he did win the Tour he finished the same event 47 minutes down. So even on a good year we'd have seen no signs of life out of Andy thus far. Personally I think it is of greater concern that we haven't yet seen anything from Frank.

 

[ferryman]

Andy did finish with the same time as the front group, but well back one-hundred plus positions behind.
I do wonder what the hell Trek was thinking when they signed him and his shepherd Frank. One is a convicted user, and the other has no ... well... anything...

Just a wee reminder that doping talk is a no no in the PRR thread. I know this reference is trivial on that front but your previous post also referred. As I said a wee reminder is all. Take your dislike of the Schlecks to the Clinic if you really want to get it off your chest.

 

[Taxus4a]

I'm still patiently waiting for andy to show up. And still patiently waiting of his so called: "slow build up" for LBL and TDF. I don't know if that's still valid in this new era of cycling? But I'm willing to patiently wait... P-N, a race that's more like a classic parcours than GT. Maybe close to LBL, but the first 3 days, don't look so promising.

but.. still waiting..... (patiently)

He is doing his job so far without problems. He will be a caracther one day of this P-N, no doubt. It is just a race to built up and help the team, but he will show himself.

 

[Jelantik]

Keep waiting, a quick flick through even Andy's best years, will show you his best results pre classics are Pais Vasco barely cracking the top 20. In 2011 when he should have won the Tour he finished TA 14 minutes down, in 2010 when he did win the Tour he finished the same event 47 minutes down. So even on a good year we'd have seen no signs of life out of Andy thus far. Personally I think it is of greater concern that we haven't yet seen anything from Frank.

Unfortunately this isn't 2010 and before, when everyone comes to a race for training. In the past two years not only we see a higher level of competition, but also since sky has transformed the meaning of (winter) training, every rider who has won some races in their early season, "most likely" win their GT. So I'm not sure if Andy methods will work in this era of cycling. That's why I'm saying.. I'm waiting if he plans to do things a little different than he used to be. It's been 2 years since he hasn't been competitive. He has wasted 2 years of his youth. If he doesn't show up really soon, the next thing he knows, he'll be 31.

I found it's interesting that everyone immediately counts out Contador as not being able to be a contender. Even though he was on the podium on some of the races he was in and finished 4th at TDF last year. He was rubbing shoulder with the best or the best, still.. some people say he is done. On the other hand, Andy, what he got was a string of DNF, and interestingly enough everyone still believes that he is going to be back to his glory days. He doesn't have the same work ethic and mentality as Contador, how can we think that he'll have more successful come back than Contador? that's why .. I'm waiting patiently.

 

[saneguy]

I am being patient as well. But I am hoping he puts in some fight. Right now it seems he is simply riding for the heck of it.

 

[karlboss]

Unfortunately this isn't 2010 and before, when everyone comes to a race for training. In the past two years not only we see a higher level of competition, but also since sky has transformed the meaning of (winter) training, every rider who has won some races in their early season, "most likely" win their GT. So I'm not sure if Andy methods will work in this era of cycling. That's why I'm saying.. I'm waiting if he plans to do things a little different than he used to be. It's been 2 years since he hasn't been competitive. He has wasted 2 years of his youth. If he doesn't show up really soon, the next thing he knows, he'll be 31.

I found it's interesting that everyone immediately counts out Contador as not being able to be a contender. Even though he was on the podium on some of the races he was in and finished 4th at TDF last year. He was rubbing shoulder with the best or the best, still.. some people say he is done. On the other hand, Andy, what he got was a string of DNF, and interestingly enough everyone still believes that he is going to be back to his glory days. He doesn't have the same work ethic and mentality as Contador, how can we think that he'll have more successful come back than Contador? that's why .. I'm waiting patiently.

We are in a new era since 2010, based on what exactly? Andy performed in 2011 after only a podium at Liege. So the new era must be 2012 and 2013, but Hesjedal won the Giro in 2012 off what exactly? So that gives us 2012 Tour and onwards, well apart from the 2012 Vuelta which was won by Contador off barely racing, certainly no winning, then we jump forward to 2013 and Horner winning the Vuelta off virtually no racing. So in the past 2 years 3 out of 6 GTS have been won by someone in great form for the year and 3 have been won by men who've not done much if anything before winning a GT. New era indeed.
I don't think there is anything Andy could do to challenge Froome, but i think he could reach the level of the next best riders. Quintana, Contador, Nibali, Valverde etc. I don't think racing for a result early in the season is part of it.

 

[willbick]

I don't think there is anything Andy could do to challenge Froome, but i think he could reach the level of the next best riders. Quintana, Contador, Nibali, Valverde etc. I don't think racing for a result early in the season is part of it.

Erm......nah

 

[karlboss]

Erm......nah

Could vs will

 

[myrideissteelerthanyours]

I found it's interesting that everyone immediately counts out Contador

just... wow... also how dare andy waste his youth being injured? such a shame he chose to go down that path what scum.

 

[Netserk]

just... wow... also how dare andy waste his youth being injured? such a shame he chose to go down that path what scum.

Yes he has been injured for the whole two last years

 

[myrideissteelerthanyours]

Yes he has been injured for the whole two last years

Maybe he is just like many including sponsor rabobank sickened too much by the fact that riders can cheat and inject clenbuterol into their scrotum and get away with it and a still ride and make a sham of the sport and that is the reason for his loss of performance.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Maybe he is just like many including sponsor rabobank sickened too much by the fact that riders can cheat and inject clenbuterol into their scrotum and get away with it and a still ride and make a sham of the sport and that is the reason for his loss of performance.

Wait what

 

[hrotha]

Maybe Contador's scrotum has too much fat.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Maybe Contador's scrotum has too much fat.

Without context this post is even funnier

 

[saneguy]

So then I guess we need to take forward this argument on April 27 at the end of LBL. If he manages a top 10 finish there I would be convinced that he will do much better at the tour than last year. So lets wait patiently till then Unless he has some plans to surprise us all before that (Dreaming....lol)

 

[Jelantik]

andy got mechanical issue today. Either that's a blessing in disguise for him or not.. dunno these days . (even the Eurosport commentators made a comment about it). I feel sorry for him. It must be hard to be andy. (but hey, you are (used to be) a star rider so people will have high expectation.