Andy Schleck Discussion thread.

[tourmallama]

I don't think I like Andy much more than I did(n't) already, but a performance like today's is the stuff of legends, and more than merits all the chapeux doffed--and certainly including mine. The eventual legend will probably not remember the work of his team, I bet though.

I respect Cadel more than ever for carrying the load of the chase on his own. Turns out he is "towing" Voekler to Paris, instead of the Schlecks.

Two epic efforts were somewhat spoiled, however, with Frank's last-minute, cherrypicking, "sprint" to pick up a few cheap seconds. Here's hoping he folds like a lawnchair tomorrow.

 

[luckyboy]

If only Andy never nagged, if only Andy never complained about the course, if only Andy was visible in more than 2 races a year, I might have liked him.

But, since he is not all that, still don't have any sympathy for him. Respect his ride today. That was champion-stuff. He just does it way too less...

Yeah this. Still don't like him at all though.

 

[Boeing]

It is nice to see tactics prevail once in a while. I am not so sure this is a move he designed Pre Tour. Had to be spontaneous over the course of the events leading to the apls. In addition if Vino, Wiggans and Horner are in this it doesnt happen quite like this perhaps.

brilliant ride great tactics

great ride

mad respect

 

[Dead Star]

If only Andy never nagged, if only Andy never complained about the course, if only Andy was visible in more than 2 races a year, I might have liked him.

But, since he is not all that, still don't have any sympathy for him. Respect his ride today. That was champion-stuff. He just does it way too less...

So true, so true.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Not so sure. Wiggins and Horner would just add 2 more pieces of dead weight to the chase group, while Vino spends the whole stage calling Andy a ***** for attacking with only 60km left when there was 100km before that just crying out for a solo attack.

 

[Ramira]

Not so sure. Wiggins and Horner would just add 2 more pieces of dead weight to the chase group, while Vino spends the whole stage calling Andy a ***** for attacking with only 60km left when there was 100km before that just crying out for a solo attack.

Hehe +1 on the Vino comment. I think the only solo rider that would've really made a difference here would have been VDB2 he was in truly great form and would've had an amazing helper in Vanendert (probably the best in the tour, with the possible exception of Rolland).

If none of the Radioshack riders had crashed they might have made things a bit interesting with the 4 of them, but not sure they would have been good enough.

 

[Boeing]

Not so sure. Wiggins and Horner would just add 2 more pieces of dead weight to the chase group, while Vino spends the whole stage calling Andy a ***** for attacking with only 60km left when there was 100km before that just crying out for a solo attack.

those 3 teams with eyes on the front and 5 riders with top ten and podium ambitions dont let the man go I can bet the mortgage on that and my mortgage of fat. and if he did there are a number of legs to accelerate the chase. dont over look why all the "dead weight" today.

 

[icefire]

A single tree doesn't make a forest

 

[skidmark]

good lord it gets annoying watching Bob Roll EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!

I mean, why not just say this?

 

[gurumuka]

Two epic efforts were somewhat spoiled, however, with Frank's last-minute, cherrypicking, "sprint" to pick up a few cheap seconds. Here's hoping he folds like a lawnchair tomorrow.

I absolutely agree and said so in the Cadel Evans' thread! I know its racing (I've been racing for years myself) but it was a straight out lame and totally amateurish manoeveur.

 

[titan_90]

If only Andy never nagged, if only Andy never complained about the course, if only Andy was visible in more than 2 races a year, I might have liked him.

But, since he is not all that, still don't have any sympathy for him. Respect his ride today. That was champion-stuff. He just does it way too less...

Totally agree.

I remember watching him in the 07 Giro and thinking damn this kid has a future. But since then he has unimpressed me with his excuse making, complaining and bike handling skills.

Contador, on the other hand races every race he enters for the win, never whines about the course when he has a bad day and is always ready to attack.

 

[pedaling squares]

I absolutely agree and said so in the Cadel Evans' thread! I know its racing (I've been racing for years myself) but it was a straight out lame and totally amateurish manoeveur.

I disagree considering Andy's position. Frank had no business contributing to Cadel's pursuit, but once he was close why not grab a few seconds? The tour is still far from over and a guy who TT's like Frank needs every second he can get.

Huge respect to Andy today for letting his legs do the talking. What a difference for cycling fans to see such a fine talent putting effort into an attack instead of moaning about course design. After the Plateau de Beille stage I wondered how his opponents could ever take an Andy Schleck attack seriously. Now I know that they can and will.


Kudos to Zoncolan for calling the Schleck attack a success the second he launched it. If that was sarcasm - deny, deny, deny.

And the Schlecklette wins the Tour

And for calling the time gap before the final climb:

AS should take the stage with 2 minutes + at this rate. Kudos for finally showing he's male.

 

[mr. tibbs]

I absolutely agree and said so in the Cadel Evans' thread! I know its racing (I've been racing for years myself) but it was a straight out lame and totally amateurish manoeveur.

Yeah, but (as you say) it's racing. It was the smart move, and if Frank is the shaker on l'Alpe, then those few seconds may be worth their weight in Yellow come Paris. Just think of it as a one-two attack spread out over a couple of days.

 

[Parrulo]

If only Andy never nagged, if only Andy never complained about the course, if only Andy was visible in more than 2 races a year, I might have liked him.

But, since he is not all that, still don't have any sympathy for him. Respect his ride today. That was champion-stuff. He just does it way too less...

couldn't have said it better myself

 

[2wheels]

I absolutely agree and said so in the Cadel Evans' thread! I know its racing (I've been racing for years myself) but it was a straight out lame and totally amateurish manoeveur.

Disagree strongly! Those few seconds advantage might allow a racer to start the final ITT after his rival, rather than before, and knowing your opponent's splits in any TT is a big advantage. Now granted, this is Frank and Cadel we're talking about, who have very different abilities in that discipline. . . but it's still a sound move on Schleck's part. Plus it has to burn Cadel a bit in the head to pull and pull then watch someone jump like that, and winning often involves attacking an opponent's psyche. Nothing amateurish or lame about it; just racing.

 

[The Hitch]

...

lol. I think this account was created by someone whose read our "greatest forum names" thread.

 

[Special_oz_ed]

A serious serving of humble pie

After saying on other threads that I didn't think Andy was on form, I've been eating a serious serve of humble pie. WOW, what a move! Every km up that climb I was waiting for Andy to blow up, but he didn't.

Have to say that Cadel's effort was also incredible. As far as the rest and their teams...they suck (except FS).

I don't know whether they were hedging their bets that Cadel would chase and that would leave him very energy depleted for Alpe d'Huez (and possibly for the TT), and that would leave them in a better position for overall GC standings. Or was it just a conspiracy of teams against Cadel? That's what it looked like in the valley/false flat when they deliberately didn't get organised enough to chase Andy! Couldn't believe what I was seeing. And then when no-one, including Europcar domestique refused to help when Voeckler was clearly benefitting from Evans' tempo riding, that was just poor sportsmanship. I hope Cadel smashes Voeckler off the podium tonight and in TT.

I get the picture that the Europeans want a European to win, not an Aussie on an American team.

 

[luckyboy]

Anyone but Schleck.

 

[LongSprint]

New World trash?

I get the picture that the Europeans want a European to win, not an Aussie on an American team.

I'm getting the same vibe. Or maybe it's just paranoia.

 

[Benedict XVI]

Good stuff from Andy last stage! Very strong performance! I hope to see more of stuff like that from him.

On a negative note - it was his only serious attack in 1 year period. If that's the kind of rider he wants to be, then I'd rather like Voeckler win this tour instead of him

 

[Special_oz_ed]

Call me paranoid

LongSprint,

I'm getting the same vibe. Or maybe it's just paranoia.

Yeah, me too. I wouldn't have raised the issue unless I thought it had considerable merit. I can't see any other reasonable explanation.

Take the sprinters - the teams fight go flat out when there's a breakaway they want to catch. There have been a few occasions where the peloton was a bit disorganised in a pursuit. But, generally, they're right on the ball.

And, in the previous couple of days' stages, when a pursuit was on, people worked really well together.

It can't be that the Galibier climb was so bad, no-one had the energy to get organised. The way they were stuffing around in the valley for km after km, there's no other way to read it. And then everyone refused to go on the front up the climb. It's kinda like they wanted to hand AS the 4 min lead on a platter.

Bad legs in the top 10 contenders just doesn't explain what happened. Tactics for Stage 19 might explain it...but then again, Basso, Cunego, even Contador and Sanchez could have stayed in closer contact if they'd organised the chase better in the valley, even if they didn't have the legs for the final climb.

 

[Midnightfright]

After saying on other threads that I didn't think Andy was on form, I've been eating a serious serve of humble pie. WOW, what a move! Every km up that climb I was waiting for Andy to blow up, but he didn't.

Have to say that Cadel's effort was also incredible. As far as the rest and their teams...they suck (except FS).

I don't know whether they were hedging their bets that Cadel would chase and that would leave him very energy depleted for Alpe d'Huez (and possibly for the TT), and that would leave them in a better position for overall GC standings. Or was it just a conspiracy of teams against Cadel? That's what it looked like in the valley/false flat when they deliberately didn't get organised enough to chase Andy! Couldn't believe what I was seeing. And then when no-one, including Europcar domestique refused to help when Voeckler was clearly benefitting from Evans' tempo riding, that was just poor sportsmanship. I hope Cadel smashes Voeckler off the podium tonight and in TT.

I get the picture that the Europeans want a European to win, not an Aussie on an American team.

I'm sorry to say but you are very paranoid, they don't want a non-european to win? Do you really think that's what was running threw there heads at that moment in time. The only ones who seemed to in any shape except for Cadel were Rolland, and Basso and Frank. Rolland did try to pace, Basso was going to go at his pace regardless and Frank well he's clearly a pro-euro Aussie hating swine! U mentioned Cunego but he is.an experienced rider and has no oppurrunity to win why would he blow himself up and ruin a potential top 5 place?

 

[LongSprint]

I'm sorry to say but you are very paranoid, they don't want a non-european to win? Do you really think that's what was running threw there heads at that moment in time. The only ones who seemed to in any shape except for Cadel were Rolland, and Basso and Frank. Rolland did try to pace, Basso was going to go at his pace regardless and Frank well he's clearly a pro-euro Aussie hating swine! U mentioned Cunego but he is.an experienced rider and has no oppurrunity to win why would he blow himself up and ruin a potential top 5 place?

Yeah, I guess 5th place overall is better than a stage win.

Andy took off early and the only one who wanted to chase at all was Cadel. Of course Frank wouldn't work, but what about the others?

It's obvious that friends and countrymen tend to help each other out more than they help others (eg. Alberto and Sammy). Maybe it's not exactly front of mind - "I won't help him because he's not from the same continent/country/region/town/village as me" - but it may in a small way factor into how hard you're willing to hurt yourself to help someone else out. It's called empathy and it's more likely to occur between people with similar backgrounds.

 

[hrotha]

After saying on other threads that I didn't think Andy was on form, I've been eating a serious serve of humble pie. WOW, what a move! Every km up that climb I was waiting for Andy to blow up, but he didn't.

Have to say that Cadel's effort was also incredible. As far as the rest and their teams...they suck (except FS).

I don't know whether they were hedging their bets that Cadel would chase and that would leave him very energy depleted for Alpe d'Huez (and possibly for the TT), and that would leave them in a better position for overall GC standings. Or was it just a conspiracy of teams against Cadel? That's what it looked like in the valley/false flat when they deliberately didn't get organised enough to chase Andy! Couldn't believe what I was seeing. And then when no-one, including Europcar domestique refused to help when Voeckler was clearly benefitting from Evans' tempo riding, that was just poor sportsmanship. I hope Cadel smashes Voeckler off the podium tonight and in TT.

I get the picture that the Europeans want a European to win, not an Aussie on an American team.

Cue "What the **** am I reading" meme picture.

 

[Midnightfright]

Yeah, I guess 5th place overall is better than a stage win.

Andy took off early and the only one who wanted to chase at all was Cadel. Of course Frank wouldn't work, but what about the others?

It's obvious that friends and countrymen tend to help each other out more than they help others (eg. Alberto and Sammy). Maybe it's not exactly front of mind - "I won't help him because he's not from the same continent/country/region/town/village as me" - but it may in a small way factor into how hard you're willing to hurt yourself to help someone else out. It's called empathy and it's more likely to occur between people with similar backgrounds.

its his and yellow jersey responsibility to Chase, he tried to get assistance but it just wasn't going to happen. You still haven't explained to me why excatly all the guys on the edge would blow any chance if a good position by chasing to early? If they could they would. Ofcourse there are small allegiances but that's cycling regardless of friendship between Samu and Albie the last few days assistance can be explained purely from a situation standpoint.