Andy Schleck Discussion thread.

[Contadoraus Schlecks]

Does Andy have any chance at the Tour this year or is it a pipe dream? If not it would be great to see him win the Vuelta

 

[serfla]

Does Andy have any chance at the Tour this year or is it a pipe dream? If not it would be great to see him win the Vuelta

If he'll go to Spain it will be for a vacation.
Regarding the Tour, Ax 3 Domaines will tell.

 

[Taxus4a]

Does Andy have any chance at the Tour this year or is it a pipe dream? If not it would be great to see him win the Vuelta

Probably Serfa is right...He could race it helping his brother... but we dont know if he is not podium at Tour.. I think we have a new Andy.
I know well the parcours of the Vuelta this years and it suits for Andy. It is better for Valverde or Purito anyway, but Andy in the Vuelta 2012, nothing to do.

 

[shades1]

well i think we can all agree its been a long hard road back for andy up till now , getting back to full fitness was always going to be tough and his races so far have not really shown us much other than its going to be a very low key build up towards his annual target in france . this weekend is the "tour of california" and as i have mentioned in another thread i will be majorly disappointed if he does not give a very much improved performance in this race .

if he has to have any chance of being competitive in france he HAS to show something here and test himself in the climbs . im sure he is doing his best in "training" and is making significant progress that none of us see or are aware of but we now need to see it for real , training is not racing .

i am not writing this to have a go at andy , i am writing this because i am a big fan and want to see him back to his best .

unless you are a skyborg fan who would not want him back to his best , do you really want to see another borefest of a TDF again this year ... i certainly dont !!

 

[ferryman]

well i think we can all agree its been a long hard road back for andy up till now , getting back to full fitness was always going to be tough and his races so far have not really shown us much other than its going to be a very low key build up towards his annual target in france . this weekend is the "tour of california" and as i have mentioned in another thread i will be majorly disappointed if he does not give a very much improved performance in this race .

if he has to have any chance of being competitive in france he HAS to show something here and test himself in the climbs . im sure he is doing his best in "training" and is making significant progress that none of us see or are aware of but we now need to see it for real , training is not racing .

i am not writing this to have a go at andy , i am writing this because i am a big fan and want to see him back to his best .

unless you are a skyborg fan who would not want him back to his best , do you really want to see another borefest of a TDF again this year ... i certainly dont !!

Good post. I agree totally and will be watching hoping he shows something in Calif. Not sure what he is up to after that but he will be doing TD Suisse as usual.

I think the best to hope for is that he is a dangerous player in July.

 

[Christian]

Not sure what he is up to after that

Training camp in Alps and/or Pyrenees

 

[ferryman]

Training camp in Alps and/or Pyrenees

Thanks Christian. Any inside info you can share with us as to how it is going for Andy? I'm thinking updates in the press/news that we wouldn't otherwise be aware of on here.

Sorry for asking if I am wrong, but I think you are from Luxembourg?

Cheers

 

[saneguy]

I am seriously looking for some good results in Calif. If it doesnt happen for Andy in Calif then I guess its curtains down in 2013. He did show some fight in LBL and was down by a minute at the end. Am now hoping he has improved significantly after that and gives a big fight in Calif.

A top 10 finish here should be confidence inspiring. A little wishful thinking I know but am a big fan of his so couldnt hope for anything lesser

 

[airstream]

There won't be improvement in California. Andy usually trains here.

 

[shades1]

There won't be improvement in California. Andy usually trains here.

all the more reason for his followers to expect an improved performance then .

i know the haters are loving the fact he has shown nothing so far this season but i have to question these haters love of the sport . why would anybody not want this guy back to his best is beyond me . he is one of the most exciting and explosive cyclists in the mountains of the modern era .

watching wiggo smash a time trial then spend 2 weeks being dragged around france by skyborg is hardly exciting viewing .

 

[Je ne sais quoi]

Andy will probably disappoint some people as long as he's not contending for a GC win. But even if he's not at that level come July, maybe by then he'd be capable of going for a stage win. If so, he could help animate the race and be a potential asset for other aggressive riders to bridge to and work with. I can see him being quite popular in that role.

 

[airstream]

all the more reason for his followers to expect an improved performance then .

i know the haters are loving the fact he has shown nothing so far this season but i have to question these haters love of the sport . why would anybody not want this guy back to his best is beyond me . he is one of the most exciting and explosive cyclists in the mountains of the modern era .

watching wiggo smash a time trial then spend 2 weeks being dragged around france by skyborg is hardly exciting viewing .

The problem is how fit he is he only knows himself. Only 2 races draw this picture objectively. Andy was really good physically in Liege given how defensively and hesitatingly he was riding at the back of the pack during last 50km so he is moving in the right direction.

I wouldn't call Wiggins' cycling boring, it is just a different genre. All the more so I hope he'll want to take one of the MTFs too. So to me Wiggins is not more boring than say Rujano.

 

[Christian]

Thanks Christian. Any inside info you can share with us as to how it is going for Andy? I'm thinking updates in the press/news that we wouldn't otherwise be aware of on here.

Sorry for asking if I am wrong, but I think you are from Luxembourg?

Cheers

You are correct - unfortunately I am far from home now so I don't get so many news. Most of them I used to get from newspapers, in the paper version there is usually a fair amount that they don't put online. I must say that I have no connection to the Schleck-circle, so I am not at all an insider. But sometimes I would still hear some rumours - usually they were about Andy being drunk here or there. The last one I heard goes back to Cyril Guimard's comment about "less business, more cycling", and said that Fränk's wife Martine was the driving force behind the Schleck-business. There is also another member from Luxembourg on this forum, maybe he would have some more recent updates

 

[Christian]

Personally I also don't expect much from Andy in California, but I hope he can stay with the leaders in the mountains for a while and do some quality work for Busche, if he is able to step up to leadership. It will be interesting to see because these will be the first MTF's for him this season IINM and plus it will be nice and warm, which he likes

 

[ILovecycling]

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/schleck-not-counting-himself-as-favorite-for-tour-of-california

So good luck Andy!TT will be important sign of form.

 

[Carols]

If he finishes it will be progress. If he shows himself it will be a bonus

 

[aidianajones]

Schleck looks strong! Was just sitting at the back of a strung out peleton on the climb, looks at the camera and then BANG! Big acceleration straight to the front of the pack! Exciting stuff

 

[Walkman]

Schleck looks strong! Was just sitting at the back of a strung out peleton on the climb, looks at the camera and then BANG! Big acceleration straight to the front of the pack! Exciting stuff

For real or are you mocking him?

 

[Contadoraus Schlecks]

Schleck looks strong! Was just sitting at the back of a strung out peleton on the climb, looks at the camera and then BANG! Big acceleration straight to the front of the pack! Exciting stuff

Great news, don't care about him winning GC. Just a display of further potential will be fine

 

[aidianajones]

For real or are you mocking him?

For real, Not mocking him, Its a big improvement

 

[Walkman]

For real, Not mocking him, Its a big improvement

Nice! Would be great to see him coming to the Tour in peak condition!

 

[infeXio]

I'm usually not much of a Schleck fan, but I'm rather enjoying seeing him gaining some form, and I sincerely hope that he'll be right up there come July, so that there's another one in the pool of GC-riders that can challenge Froome.

Keep it up

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

He's looking quite good at the moment.

 

[aidianajones]

Group of about 30 riders over the top of the climb and Schleck is right at the front, very promising for July

 

[Jelantik]

andy in california is just for 'psychological warfare against' TVG.