Andy Schleck Discussion thread.

[Nilsson]

What. He would have won the Tour regardless. And I seriously doubt Klödi was part of the problem. Gifting the stage accomplished zilch, except for making him look like an idiot.

Totally agree. It's ironic that probably the only reason he gave the stage away was not upsetting anyone again, which it did (in his own team). After he saw that Klöden bonked, he stopped riding and in a way tried to repair the damage (he was more busy with looking behind than in front of him)...

 

[Zam_Olyas]

Looks like we have gone back to 2009 to that french thing.

 

[hrotha]

Totally agree. It's ironic that probably the only reason he gave the stage away was not upsetting anyone again, which it did (in his own team). After he saw that Klöden bonked, he stopped riding and in a way tried to repair the damage (he was more busy with looking behind than in front of him)...

Exactly. To me it's pretty obvious he realized he had made a mistake the second Klödi was dropped, and that from that point on he just wanted to be done with the stage without drawing any more attention to himself. He probably thought if he won the stage people would think he attacked simply because he was selfish and greedy.

He always had issues with that PR thing. See also his video apology after Chaingate.

 

[El Pistolero]

Having a teammate with you is always better than not having one. Even if it's just to intimidate your rivals, or to give you their wheel if you have a puncture. Droppking Klödi to isolate Contador was Andy and Fränk's job. It would have been justified if Contador had kept racing, trying to put time on his rivals and to gain something from the situation, but he didn't.

If he was trying to sabotage Astana's chances of another podium spot, he wouldn't have helped Armstrong in the last mountain stage.

The only reason why you disagree is because you don't want to admit Contador made a serious mistake.

And that serious mistake cost him the Tour win?

Oh wait, it didn't cost him anything. How can it be a serious mistake then? I'd like to see you win a Tour with a renegade team and a notorious sociopath leading it against you. But Contador is the idiot here right?

Considering Contador basically said Armstrong was a ****ty human being after the Tour he didn't help him because he wanted to, but rather because he was forced to by Bruyneel.

 

[El Pistolero]

Ex

He always had issues with that PR thing. See also his video apology after Chaingate.

Bjarne Riis asked him to do that

 

[Publicus]

It still was his fault that he didn't try any subsequent attacks and even gifted the stage to the Schlecks, hence making Klödi's fall utterly pointless. No matter how you look at it, it was a stupid mistake.

And here I thought it was 2012. From what I recall Klodi was hanging on for dear life at ALL times on the Colombiere and the Col d'Romme. He never once rode in front of AC or initiated any counter-attacks. From what I recall AC wanted to draw out Andy into a duel of sorts (drop Frank and Klodi), but once he noticed that Klodi imploded he shut it down. AC sat on the Schleck wheels and kept looking back for either the return of Klodi or . . . the charging Lance Armstrong (surely you folks remember P&P going on and on about "One Lance Armstrong..."). Now imagine the outcry if he compounded his earlier "error" by working with the Schlecks to put more time into Klodi/Armstrong.

 

[El Pistolero]

Exactly, a "dead" team-mate is worth nothing. Don't know why anyone thinks it was a mistake, Klöden didn't do anything for him there. Like I said, the only mistake was gifting away the stage.

 

[UpTheRoad]

Having a teammate with you is always better than not having one. Even if it's just to intimidate your rivals, or to give you their wheel if you have a puncture. Droppking Klödi to isolate Contador was Andy and Fränk's job. It would have been justified if Contador had kept racing, trying to put time on his rivals and to gain something from the situation, but he didn't.

If he was trying to sabotage Astana's chances of another podium spot, he wouldn't have helped Armstrong in the last mountain stage.

The only reason why you disagree is because you don't want to admit Contador made a serious mistake.

His attack caused Kloden to drop, but Kloden wasn't going to be around when any fireworks started. If either of the Schlecks jumped Kloden was toast as well. It just so happened that AC was the one to cause the split. A mistake, but not anywhere near the serious mistake earlier on.

Has Armstrong ever been criticized for his performance that stage? He was a very, very poor teammate -- so much so that he allowed Frank to bridge to his brother and Andy without even giving a hint of any tactical nuance. He was forcing a slow pedal of Wiggins and allowed Frank to jump. No response. Just let Frank bridge because he was trying to get cute with Wiggins.

It wasn't as bad as his active riding against AC on Verbier, but it was surprising that someone who told others how much they need to learn could pull such a boneheaded move.

 

[hrotha]

And that serious mistake cost him the Tour win?

Oh wait, it didn't cost him anything. How can it be a serious mistake then? I'd like to see you win a Tour with a renegade team and a notorious sociopath leading it against you. But Contador is the idiot here right?

Considering Contador basically said Armstrong was a ****ty human being after the Tour he didn't help him because he wanted to, but rather because he was forced to by Bruyneel.

It was a serious tactical mistake, yes. I already said why the incident couldn't have been a deliberate attempt to get back to Astana, so your point is irrelevant.

Bjarne Riis asked him to do that

But he did it. Riis certainly didn't write the script.

 

[hrotha]

And here I thought it was 2012. From what I recall Klodi was hanging on for dear life at ALL times on the Colombiere and the Col d'Romme. He never once rode in front of AC or initiated any counter-attacks. From what I recall AC wanted to draw out Andy into a duel of sorts (drop Frank and Klodi), but once he noticed that Klodi imploded he shut it down. AC sat on the Schleck wheels and kept looking back for either the return of Klodi or . . . the charging Lance Armstrong (surely you folks remember P&P going on and on about "One Lance Armstrong..."). Now imagine the outcry if he compounded his earlier "error" by working with the Schlecks to put more time into Klodi/Armstrong.

Have I said anything about Armstrong? Some of you guys are so obsessed it isn't funny. I already addressed your points in other posts - oddly enough, you seem to agree with me.

His attack caused Kloden to drop, but Kloden wasn't going to be around when any fireworks started. If either of the Schlecks jumped Kloden was toast as well. It just so happened that AC was the one to cause the split. A mistake, but not anywhere near the serious mistake earlier on.

Has Armstrong ever been criticized for his performance that stage? He was a very, very poor teammate -- so much so that he allowed Frank to bridge to his brother and Andy without even giving a hint of any tactical nuance. He was forcing a slow pedal of Wiggins and allowed Frank to jump. No response. Just let Frank bridge because he was trying to get cute with Wiggins.

It wasn't as bad as his active riding against AC on Verbier, but it was surprising that someone who told others how much they need to learn could pull such a boneheaded move.

It wasn't a serious mistake in that it didn't have serious consequences, OK. I meant it was a serious mistake in that it was an obvious tactical blunder. A beginner's mistake.

And the Armstrong thing again. Sigh. Since you guys can't conceive of someone attacking Contador without defending Armstrong at the same time, I'll say it: Armstrong was a ****ty teammate, a totally egoistical selfish ***. Happy now?

 

[UpTheRoad]

r . . . the charging Lance Armstrong (surely you folks remember P&P going on and on about "One Lance Armstrong..."). Now imagine the outcry if he compounded his earlier "error" by working with the Schlecks to put more time into Klodi/Armstrong.

That was by far the announcing highlight of the TdF. Paul fawning on and on and on about Armstrong's descending. Basically implying that nobody has ever gone faster and a hawk dive bombing its prey is like a sloth compared to the majestic descents of a certain Lance Armstrong...blah, blah, blah.

Then Niballi caught Armstrong.

LOLOLOL.

 

[El Pistolero]

By saying he helped Armstrong? He helped Armstrong because he was forced to by Bruyneel. He didn't want to help.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zprJ5Itv1mE

Made clear by that^

 

[hrotha]

By saying he helped Armstrong? He helped Armstrong because he was forced to by Bruyneel. He didn't want to help.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zprJ5Itv1mE

Made clear by that^

I know he didn't want to. It's obvious.

My point is that if he was willing to sabotage Klödi's chances to get back at Astana for the way they treated him, he would have done the same in that stage too, regardless of orders. And with more reason, because he'd be screwing over Armstrong, not Klöden.

 

[Siriuscat]

Roll on 6th August......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwp&NR=1&v=JmU4nfLrS4w

 

[Publicus]

Have I said anything about Armstrong? Some of you guys are so obsessed it isn't funny. I already addressed your points in other posts - oddly enough, you seem to agree with me.

It wasn't a serious mistake in that it didn't have serious consequences, OK. I meant it was a serious mistake in that it was an obvious tactical blunder. A beginner's mistake.

And the Armstrong thing again. Sigh. Since you guys can't conceive of someone attacking Contador without defending Armstrong at the same time, I'll say it: Armstrong was a ****ty teammate, a totally egoistical selfish ***. Happy now?

Apologies, I wasn't directing that Armstrong part at you (or trying to morph this into a rehashing of the past). I was just thinking about the sh*tstorm that followed the stage and the general Lance vs. AC debate that was swirling around that time and adding more context to the situation. Hopefully my intent is a bit clearer now.

 

[Susan Westemeyer]

Please remember this thread is about Andy Schleck and stay on topic. Any further off-topic postings will be removed and sanctions lmposed.

Ditto for any doping-related talk.

Susan

 

[Forunculo]

Today Andy get the FW and next sunday LBL and many of you will surrender to him

 

[personal]

Armstrong and his riding against his teammate Contador was important occurrence in that race and it can not be ignored in this discussion and it certainly was not by Contador.

Kloden was on the limit and even if Contador didn't attack probably someone else would with same results. Or not, if we are talking about Schlecks. Maybe he would just drop by himself.

It was kind of big deal only because Armstrong and Bruyneel made it look like that and used it to play mind games against Contador.

I think Contador had to race his own race (basicaly without team) and he did. Ahd he won. Good for him.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Please remember this thread is about Andy Schleck and stay on topic. Any further off-topic postings will be removed and sanctions lmposed.

Ditto for any doping-related talk.

Susan

Susan, move it all into my Kloden thread

By the way, IMO Alberto did nothing wrong on Columbierre (still very sad for Klodi though). Given his performance on Verbier he probably felt it possible to ride away from the Schlecks and take another stage. Also, his advantage wasn't that great on GC (mostly due to the suspect parcours), and who knows what can happen if he has a really bad day on Venteoux (only human)? Better to be five minutes ahead if possible than four.

This is coming from a Klodist.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

JohanBruyneel ‏ @JohanBruyneel Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
Pleased to announce that you can now download the "RadioShackNissanTrek Magazine" for iPad from the App Store. Check it out!

Airstream and Christian, get cracking.

 

[Christian]

JohanBruyneel ‏ @JohanBruyneel Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
Pleased to announce that you can now download the "RadioShackNissanTrek Magazine" for iPad from the App Store. Check it out!

Airstream and Christian, get cracking.

+1 It does indeed look interesting. I don't know if any other teams are doing this? The topics seem pretty good: portraits of Irizar and Monfort "unsung heroes". Monfort is one of my favourite riders. Recap of Fränk's 2006 AGR victory - it's been 6 years now and might be cool to read about his perspective on it now. Also maybe find out some background info that we didn't know yet.

But who knows, often these things seem interesting but then the articles suck. I'll probably check it out though

/edit: just looked in the app store but didn't find anything. Is it only for iPad?

 

[hfer07]

Wow- a remarkable 81th place for Andy today in F-W!!!! attaboy

 

[Forunculo]

Andy is doing a supersecret training, he will win even the TT in July

 

[airstream]

uh, I'm a little bit sorry for people who wrote graffities in his honour on the Mur. and yet i think all for the better and the worse he's now - the stronger he'll be in July cos Bruyneel never makes mistakes. and Andy too. and we know it!

 

[jens_attacks]

well you gotta give him that:after he attacked,he was going like a motorbike on the flat.for 8 km or whatever it was.he will be fine for the ITTs in july.