Andy Schleck Discussion thread.

[Taxus4a]

He could chose to be at the back in the bunch and save energy, but he chose to be at the fornt avoiding risk to lose time, so he is considering himself a candidate to something important so far.

He looks ok.

I hope some good attack for him...and.. who knows!!

 

[Taxus4a]

He looks great today. Without Cancellara, the team lost time, not a lot, but Andy looks strong in an ITT that didnt suit him at all.

Of course Contador and Froome looked better and they are going to put some time on it in the first ITT, but maybe not much.

 

[Forunculo]

He looks great today. Without Cancellara, the team lost time, not a lot, but Andy looks strong in an ITT that didnt suit him at all.

Of course Contador and Froome looked better and they are going to put some time on it in the first ITT, but maybe not much.

To me his best TTT ever (wasn't difficult)

 

[Carols]

Andy has been looking comfortable on the climbs and in the TTT today. I think that boy will have something to say in the rest of the Tour. Maybe a nice stage win and a top 10? We shall see!

 

[gruppeto993]

on the team website Andy said that he felt good but doesnt consider himself a favourite. his goal is a stage win. I think he has a good chance. Which stage do you think he'll target?
Something is telling me he has a good chance to finish in the top 5 and then target the vuelta win.

 

[Afrank]

on the team website Andy said that he felt good but doesnt consider himself a favourite. his goal is a stage win. I think he has a good chance. Which stage do you think he'll target?
Something is telling me he has a good chance to finish in the top 5 and then target the vuelta win.

Ventoux or Alpe du Huez IMO.

 

[airstream]

Ventoux or Alpe du Huez IMO.

Alpe-d'Huez is possible to take only from the peloton which I find very difficult until Froome is in the race. I think Andy aims GC anyways.

 

[Cinelli64]

on the team website Andy said that he felt good but doesnt consider himself a favourite. his goal is a stage win. I think he has a good chance. Which stage do you think he'll target?
Something is telling me he has a good chance to finish in the top 5 and then target the vuelta win.

He is obviously not going to call out himself as favourite for the tour. This way he can't disappoint. Everybody has him as this tours possible surprise!

 

[trevim]

on the team website Andy said that he felt good but doesnt consider himself a favourite. his goal is a stage win. I think he has a good chance. Which stage do you think he'll target?
Something is telling me he has a good chance to finish in the top 5 and then target the vuelta win.

Andy doesn't aim at small races like the Vuelta. That's a thing of his character. Maybe he can go there to some holidays, have a few drinks and generally enjoy himself

 

[nick101]

Andy has been looking comfortable on the climbs and in the TTT today. I think that boy will have something to say in the rest of the Tour. Maybe a nice stage win and a top 10? We shall see!

I wouldn't go so far as to say that he's back to his old form, but the signs are promising and he's showing potential . Especially he can now actually keep comfortably in the peleton.

 

[moonstation2000]

Good for Andy, I was hoping he'd show some good form for the tour.

It's a pity he (and some other contenders) lost so much time today in the TTT.

 

[movingtarget]

The stages in Corsica were not going to answer many questions about the GC riders. This weekend will be the first good indicator of where riders like Andy Schleck, Evans and Hesjedal stand as far as a high finish on GC goes. There are doubts about all three for different reasons. If they show weakness early in the Tour, well their Tour is finished with what's to come later.

 

[Afrank]

Alpe-d'Huez is possible to take only from the peloton which I find very difficult until Froome is in the race. I think Andy aims GC anyways.

Perhaps, but I could still see Andy taking it if he goes all in. I could see a performance like Galibier coming from him there. My only concern is how he would handle the descent the first time on the Alpe.

 

[saneguy]

There are too many TTs and they are working too much in favor of Sky. Andy was never and will never be good in TTs.

The worst part of this tour that I am now realizing is the timings of the ITTs. There is so much room for Froome to cover any mistakes. Even if guys like Andy, Evans, Hesjadel or Contador attack on climbs and make up some time...and pressumingly Froome loses time there, he still has enough time to make up in the ITT on stage 17 - agree its a MTT but still I believe he will do far better than most people there. Even this TTT yesterday has made most GC guys lose 20 precious seconds. Sucks big time!

I just hope this TdF is about Froome attacking as well rather than just defending...

Andy's true test comes this weekend. If he survives and does not lose time at stage 7/8/9 then I would be very hopeful for the second half of the tour

 

[ultimobici]

Too many TT kilometres? Are you insane? If Schleck can't cope with a 25km TTT he's in the wrong job. A worthy TdF champion should be capable of holding their own against the watch or they aren't fit for purpose.

1983 245km
1984 196km
1985 232km
1989 190.3

2010 61km
2011 65.5km
2012 101.4km
2013 90km

Schleck just needs to face up to the fact that he's the problem, not the course.

 

[saneguy]

Too many TT kilometres? Are you insane? If Schleck can't cope with a 25km TTT he's in the wrong job. A worthy TdF champion should be capable of holding their own against the watch or they aren't fit for purpose.

1983 245km
1984 196km
1985 232km
1989 190.3

2010 61km
2011 65.5km
2012 101.4km
2013 90km

Schleck just needs to face up to the fact that he's the problem, not the course.

If Froome is simply going to win coz of the TTs then it is not worth it. And thats the point a worthy TdF winner should be good at other stages also. Not simply make up too much time in the TT and ride the other stages comfortably.

 

[Christian]

1983 245km

Of course I don't know the rest of this parcours (i.e. were there many MTFs) and it is futile to speculate, but I wonder where Tony Martin would end up today if we had a GT with that many ITT km's

 

[Dr. Maserati]

on the team website Andy said that he felt good but doesnt consider himself a favourite. his goal is a stage win. I think he has a good chance. Which stage do you think he'll target?
Something is telling me he has a good chance to finish in the top 5 and then target the vuelta win.

I have been keenly following Andys progress as it is always interesting to see how a rider reacts to adversity or bad luck.

A top 5 would be an outstanding result IMO - I just don't see it. A top 10 is more realistic, as I expect him to suffer one bad day at least.
And if he is off the pace in the Pyrenees I expect him to shift goals and concentrate on a big Stage win - Ventoux of Alpe d'Huez.

Either way he has worked hard to get to this level so I expect it to continue and the Vuelta to be a target.

 

[Alpechraxler]

Of course I don't know the rest of this parcours (i.e. were there many MTFs) and it is futile to speculate, but I wonder where Tony Martin would end up today if we had a GT with that many ITT km's

Probably there were not 5 x 50 k of ITT. Imagine a 100 km ITT. Kyrienka wins the Tour then.

 

[screaming fist]

Either way he has worked hard to get to this level so I expect it to continue and the Vuelta to be a target.

I agree with everything you said except for the Vuelta. I'm pretty sure Andy's goal after the Tour will be the world championships and Lombardia, regardless how he fares in the Tour.

 

[ultimobici]

If Froome is simply going to win coz of the TTs then it is not worth it. And thats the point a worthy TdF winner should be good at other stages also. Not simply make up too much time in the TT and ride the other stages comfortably.

Difference is Froome, by comparison, is a more complete rider. He can TT and climb. If Schleck is deficient on one of those areas it is his fault not the organisers.

 

[shalgo]

Probably there were not 5 x 50 k of ITT. Imagine a 100 km ITT. Kyrienka wins the Tour then.

In 1983, there were 144.6 km of ITT, plus one 100 km TTT:

Stage 1: 5.5 km ITT
Stage 2: 100 km TTT
Stage 6: 58.5 km ITT
Stage 15: 15.6 km ITT (mountain)
Stage 19: 15 km ITT (mountain)
Stage 21: 50 km ITT

 

[phanatic]

In 1983, there were 144.6 km of ITT, plus one 100 km TTT:

Stage 1: 5.5 km ITT
Stage 2: 100 km TTT
Stage 6: 58.5 km ITT
Stage 15: 15.6 km ITT (mountain)
Stage 19: 15 km ITT (mountain)
Stage 21: 50 km ITT

However we got to this point, this does NOT belong in an Andy thread.

 

[Taxus4a]

This route suits Andy, a TDF cant have less ITT to be considered a serious Tour, becouse the second ITT is a mountain one, even Purito could win it.

Ventoux or Alp d Huez are big names for a 100 celebration of the TDF, but the stage that more suite him is the stage of Madeleine. it is hard, it is long, it is really hard from the begining, with high and long mountains... and enought hard in the end as well, it is the only stage of this Tour for a climber with endurace, as Andy. Everybody are focused in Alp d Huez, so that day is the day. He could have allies.

If he is lucky with crashes and heath, he must try GC without pressure, but if he is not ready still to fight for podium and has a bad day, he must focus the stages.

Zubeldia could play an important role in the tactics of the team, but now he has serious hurt. I dont know if kloden would like sacrify his options to help Andy, but there are still Voigt and Monfort, and he didnt need anymore with headwind in Galibier.

As someone said, in his first Giro he was a 22 years without a GT , so, if he has recover his form, and he was close in Liege to his best form (he finished better than Contador) and California-TDS has been similar to other years, and this week is no so stressful so far, he could do a good result if he take risk. This time he has more freedom....

Anyway I think he is going to save energy without lose big time till the last week, to give it all in one or two days, taking advantage he should be a little surprise that way... if he show strenght early in the race, that surprise necessary to let him go in Madeleine fade away.

 

[eleven]

I have been keenly following Andys progress as it is always interesting to see how a rider reacts to adversity or bad luck.

A top 5 would be an outstanding result IMO - I just don't see it. A top 10 is more realistic, as I expect him to suffer one bad day at least.
And if he is off the pace in the Pyrenees I expect him to shift goals and concentrate on a big Stage win - Ventoux of Alpe d'Huez.

Either way he has worked hard to get to this level so I expect it to continue and the Vuelta to be a target.

I think Top 10 is a realistic place for him. I have a bit of trouble imagining him winning Ventoux because it's early and the gaps will (likely) still be small - so he'll be chased down by the contenders. If he blows up a bit and loses some time, he'll be given a pretty long rope on AdH which is where I might see the best chance for a win.

of course, that's assuming he loses enough time to be out of podium contention but not so much to be out of the top 10...a risky little window.