Andy Schleck Discussion thread.

[Red Rick]

I expect him to win stages in the 3rd week if he's in the right breakaway. Then I expect him to destroy all life on earth in Colorado

 

[webbie146]

I expect him to win stages in the 3rd week if he's in the right breakaway. Then I expect him to destroy all life on earth in Colorado

Multiple?

 

[painai]

We can only hope, realistically all we can hope for is a show of form, perhaps a stage win...I really hope he does well to ease the pressure off himself

 

[murali]

Both his Suisse performance as this race are much better than last year. So I think it is justified to hope for a strong performance in the Tour. But since his official role is being a helper for Fränk and Zubeldia, he might not improve on GC compared to last year

Zubeldia? when has he ever done a top-10 in any GT?

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Zubeldia? when has he ever done a top-10 in any GT?

Are you serious?

Anyway his campaign is usually so invisible nobody will notice him.

 

[ILovecycling]

Zubeldia? when has he ever done a top-10 in any GT?

10 http://www.cqranking.com/men/asp/gen/race.asp?raceid=16297
5 http://www.cqranking.com/men/asp/gen/race.asp?raceid=8387
8 http://www.cqranking.com/men/asp/gen/race.asp?raceid=4081
5 http://www.cqranking.com/men/asp/gen/race.asp?raceid=5749
6 http://www.cqranking.com/men/asp/gen/race.asp?raceid=21645

 

[Forunculo]

Zubeldia is a master in invisibles top 10s

Not sure what publicity get his team from that

 

[trevim]

Are you serious?

Anyway his campaign is usually so invisible nobody will notice him.

We all know the good results Zubeldia has but it's a legitimate question because no one has really saw him during those GT's

 

[deValtos]

He was actually quite noticable in the 2003 TDF ... partly because he was wearing a bright orange jersey, but that was definitely his strongest year physically.

For the other tours, unless you were paying attention then you wouldn't have noticed him.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Van den Broeck is the new Zubeldia

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

Van den Broeck is the new Zubeldia

VDB wishes he had the ninja abilities of Zubeldia

 

[Hakkapelit]

He was actually quite noticable in the 2003 TDF ... partly because he was wearing a bright orange jersey, but that was definitely his strongest year physically.

For the other tours, unless you were paying attention then you wouldn't have noticed him.

Lol, so he came before Mayo in 2003? I would never have guessed that.

 

[Marco Pantani]

Back to topic, please.

 

[murali]

i cannot answer the list of his earlier results as i dont know whether i will get flagged. 2012 TdF was a joke.(no offense meant to anyone)

But that aside, my point was the invisible nature of Zubeldia. He has never done anything like an attack on a decent mountain like Ventoux.

What I was trying to say was that Andy deserves better than working as a dom for anyone other than his brother (family matters!).
I am pretty sure that he will finish much better than others. He might lose about half an hour in GC. but i still feel tht this year he should be able to finish in top-15.

 

[Liquigas]

Van den Broeck is the new Zubeldia

Jurgen at least attacks, very soft ones, but he tries it. I will be amazed if you can show me Zubeldia attacking at least once on his life.

 

[jens_attacks]

bonascre 2003


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vW-wJ3fuVzs

at. 3:35 . mind blowing!!!!!

zubeldia drops armstrong


i think trek will be strong in the mountains no doubt

 

[Marco Pantani]

Good to hear the following from Alain Gallopin.

while Andy we don’t know what he can do. He’s here to help his brother and during the Tour we’ll see what’s happening with him. I always say that everything is possible with Andy........I don’t want to say Andy is a domestique. Of course he’s not a favourite to win the Tour, because he has no results for three years, but he’s not a domestique. He’s here to help Haimar and Frank in the mountains, but can become the leader of the team depending on how he will feel during the Tour.

I hope, he'll be up there after the demanding first week and attack relentlessly in the mountains.

http://caferoubaix.com/2014/07/01/alain-gallopin-treks-tour-de-france-team-and-goals/

 

[Arnout]

Lol, so he came before Mayo in 2003? I would never have guessed that.

He nailed it in the TTs and he had a good day on the Ax-3-Domaines stage where Mayo lost a minute or so. Mayo lost multiple minutes in the long TT that Ullrich won despite finishing 11th.

 

[movingtarget]

Van den Broeck is the new Zubeldia

He's better than that. You do actually notice that he is in the race. Zubeldia plugs away getting his top 10 and 20 finishes.

 

[The Blues]

In this interview, Andy states that he has personal ambitions other than just helping Fränk and Haimar. He will not tell what his goals are specifically, but he has stated before that he wants to go for a stage, so it is probably just that. He also says that he has regained confidence in himself and cycling (but that is not the first time he has said so, of course).

Personally, I am hoping he is just hiding that he is very strong this year. It is a faint hope, I know, but it is there.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Joseba Belocki comes to mind as a high placing talented rider who never really got a big win, though a horrible crash did his career in. Andreas Kloden is another rider who seemed to place very high, but never truly threaten. However, Andreas seemed to rise above his talent with determination, where as Andy seems to have performed under his level of talent.

Having said that, I'd love to see Andy surprise us this year. He's still only 29.

 

[djpbaltimore]

Joseba Belocki comes to mind as a high placing talented rider who never really got a big win, though a horrible crash did his career in. Andreas Kloden is another rider who seemed to place very high, but never truly threaten. However, Andreas seemed to rise above his talent with determination, where as Andy seems to have performed under his level of talent.

Having said that, I'd love to see Andy surprise us this year. He's still only 29.

Beloki is a good comparison. In some respects he should be considered the winner in 2002, right? They both had three straight podium finishes at the TDF and one other podium in a GT (Giro for AS, Vuelta for JB). Neither had sterling palmares outside of the GTs (besides L-B-L 2009) and both had crippling, career threatening crashes. Beloki could only manage 75th in GC after his injury, so I guess everybody should stop being so hard on Andy and his 20th place finish last year!

 

[woodburn]

Beloki is a good comparison. In some respects he should be considered the winner in 2002, right? They both had three straight podium finishes at the TDF and one other podium in a GT (Giro for AS, Vuelta for JB). Neither had sterling palmares outside of the GTs (besides L-B-L 2009) and both had crippling, career threatening crashes. Beloki could only manage 75th in GC after his injury, so I guess everybody should stop being so hard on Andy and his 20th place finish last year!

Andy was a better climber than Beloki, though, and he won major stages to Morzine and on the Tourmalet and Galibier. Beloki never won a stage. Closest I recall was La Mongie in 2002.

 

[Angliru]

Andy was a better climber than Beloki, though, and he won major stages to Morzine and on the Tourmalet and Galibier. Beloki never won a stage. Closest I recall was La Mongie in 2002.

Beloki was only 29 or 30 when he had his catastrophic injury, 2 years older than Andy. It's possible he could have picked up some results as he was in his prime. Beloki was likely better vs the clock than Andy.

 

[MBotero]

Andy was a better climber than Beloki, though, and he won major stages to Morzine and on the Tourmalet and Galibier. Beloki never won a stage. Closest I recall was La Mongie in 2002.

Beloki was way better than Andy,he was a complete rider unlucky for him to get that horrible injury which destroyed his career,he was in great shape when that occured.