Andy Schleck thread (now also with Fränk)

[Cobblestones]

Andy Schleck thread (now also with Fränk)

Lance has one, so has Bertie and Cattle.

He won the young rider category in both the Giro (2007) coming 2nd on GC, and the TdF (2008) 12th on GC.

This year, a victory in LBL and 2nd in Fleche Wallonne (behind Rebellin ).

He might have the best chance at the moment to dislodge the top Astana riders and is supported by his brother Fränk (no sibling rivalry here I guess).

Discuss

(For the benefit of thread economy, if you have something to say about Johnny or Gustav, you can do that here as well)

 

[ilillillli]

i liked frank schleck better the first time around when he was called iban mayo. that's the ceiling.

 

[mambo#5]

I just read a piece on Frank Schleck. He mentioned Klode not being a podium contender because he is working too much. I would be the first to admit I haven't seen every minute of the race, but my impression up to this point is that Kloden hasn't really worked too much, just like Levi.

 

[ilillillli]

I just read a piece on Frank Schleck. He mentioned Klode not being a podium contender because he is working too much. I would be the first to admit I haven't seen every minute of the race, but my impression up to this point is that Kloden hasn't really worked too much, just like Levi.

i think maybe he WILL have worked too much. due to the brilliant geniusing of the tour designers there has been only one mountain top finish, most of astana's gaggle of super-domestiques probably won't have to really burn out until stage 13 and beyond. but that's what they're signed up for.

why are all those jerks on the same team anyway? you can't afford levi, columbia? katusha doesn't want klöden? come on.

 

[DarkWing]

would have made for a much more interesting tour with all those guys spread out on different teams.
I agree Andy is the only chance of breaking up the Astana podium.

 

[Chomsky]

Andy has no chance he will lose at least one minute in the ITT and likely 2 minutes. At this point he is hoping for a shot at fourth place. But likely Cadel will pass him in the ITT. I know JB recently identified Andy as the only non Astana challenger left. But I think he is blowing smoke.

Wiggins is the only non Astana rider with a chance as he can time trial. He is a wildcard in the mountains and quite a long shot to hold on in the Alps. If your looking for wildcard longshots I guess you could throw Martin in there to. But likely he will suffer on stage 15 and 20. Absent Astana getting kicked out of the race, since stage 4 there have been only 4 contenders left who have had any realistic chance of seeing yellow in Paris and they are all on Astana.

 

[ilillillli]

Andy has no chance he will lose at least one minute in the ITT and likely 2 minutes.

i agree. if there's one super-domestique that astana SHOULD have, it's andy schleck. he could serve as the usps roberto heras-style climbing specialist/ secondary leader. but all of these lower-first and second-tier all-arounders (klöden, liephiemer, popo)... what's the point? i guess smoking the TTT, but it's really more interesting if the competition for the overall's outside of just one team.

 

[mr. tibbs]

i think maybe he WILL have worked too much. due to the brilliant geniusing of the tour designers there has been only one mountain top finish, most of astana's gaggle of super-domestiques probably won't have to really burn out until stage 13 and beyond. but that's what they're signed up for.

why are all those jerks on the same team anyway? you can't afford levi, columbia? katusha doesn't want klöden? come on.

In his defense, Kloden was the one setting the pace up that one final climb when Contador went (after Zubeldia and co. controlled most of the stage). I think you're right that we WILL see a lot of him in the Alps. (P.s.: Kloden fan here.)

And yeah. Astana is ridiculous. The current GC standings speak for themselves. Imagine how close the race would be if these guys were all riding AGAINST each other. Not only would they be going head-to-head, but Menchov and Evans wouldn't have lost so much time in the TTT--and The Brothers Schleck might have GAINED time.

 

[mr. tibbs]

Andy has no chance he will lose at least one minute in the ITT and likely 2 minutes. At this point he is hoping for a shot at fourth place. But likely Cadel will pass him in the ITT. I know JB recently identified Andy as the only non Astana challenger left. But I think he is blowing smoke.

Wiggins is the only non Astana rider with a chance as he can time trial. He is a wildcard in the mountains and quite a long shot to hold on in the Alps. If your looking for wildcard longshots I guess you could throw Martin in there to. But likely he will suffer on stage 15 and 20. Absent Astana getting kicked out of the race, since stage 4 there have been only 4 contenders left who have had any realistic chance of seeing yellow in Paris and they are all on Astana.

I agree, but I would drop Kloden and Leipheimer off the list of contenders: they were always here just to provide horsepower in the TTT and intimidation in the mountains. (Though it was Armstrong who kept covering Evans on Arcalis, and neither of these two, so maybe they're not even good for that )

 

[Chomsky]

I agree, but I would drop Kloden and Leipheimer off the list of contenders: they were always here just to provide horsepower in the TTT and intimidation in the mountains. (Though it was Armstrong who kept covering Evans on Arcalis, and neither of these two, so maybe they're not even good for that )

I agree on kloeden as he has worked to hard and likely will work even harder in the Alsp. But not Leipheimer. Leipheimer does very well in long ITT's and Contador does not. If Levi is on and Contador is having a bad day he could put 1-2 minutes on Contador in stage 18. The 15 seconds Levi lost today was pretty huge. Another weakness for Contador is he is not a climber that has shown he can sustain himself when isolated on a long climb. With Ventoux being 21km if he is put into a small group early on the climb and subject to many attacks he may struggle like he did in 2007 with Rasmussen and Levi. Couple that with Contador looking fairly weak on Arcalis. It appeared he would have been caught very quickly by Andy Schleck absent the motorbikes and Levi may have an outside chance.

But then again this is viewing things in the absolute best light for Levi. Maybe not a good chance but better than any non Astana rider.

 

[mr. tibbs]

I agree on kloeden as he has worked to hard and likely will work even harder in the Alsp. But not Leipheimer. Leipheimer does very well in long ITT's and Contador does not. If Levi is on and Contador is having a bad day he could put 1-2 minutes on Contador in stage 18. The 15 seconds Levi lost today was pretty huge. Another weakness for Contador is he is not a climber that has shown he can sustain himself when isolated on a long climb. With Ventoux being 21km if he is put into a small group early on the climb and subject to many attacks he may struggle like he did in 2007 with Rasmussen and Levi. Couple that with Contador looking fairly weak on Arcalis. It appeared he would have been caught very quickly by Andy Schleck absent the motorbikes and Levi may have an outside chance.

But then again this is viewing things in the absolute best light for Levi. Maybe not a good chance but better than any non Astana rider.

Leipheimer HAS shown a strange penchant for following his team leader up the mountains, but I don't think he'll put that much time into Contador on any of the upcoming stages--not even the TT. In fact, I'd put him behind the other Astanas on that stage. He'll be looking for a top seven finish in the TT, I think, behind Contador, Evans, Cancellara, Armstrong, Kloden, and maybe Wiggins (but not in that order).

In the mountains, he'll be a helper, but when **** goes down he won't be able to hang with Evans, Schleck, Armstrong, and Contador.

...maybe. Either way, it'll be a lot of fun watching it all unfold!

 

[Publicus]

I agree on kloeden as he has worked to hard and likely will work even harder in the Alsp. But not Leipheimer. Leipheimer does very well in long ITT's and Contador does not. If Levi is on and Contador is having a bad day he could put 1-2 minutes on Contador in stage 18. The 15 seconds Levi lost today was pretty huge. Another weakness for Contador is he is not a climber that has shown he can sustain himself when isolated on a long climb. With Ventoux being 21km if he is put into a small group early on the climb and subject to many attacks he may struggle like he did in 2007 with Rasmussen and Levi. Couple that with Contador looking fairly weak on Arcalis. It appeared he would have been caught very quickly by Andy Schleck absent the motorbikes and Levi may have an outside chance.

But then again this is viewing things in the absolute best light for Levi. Maybe not a good chance but better than any non Astana rider.

I think you are reading too much in to what happened in 2007. He's focused this entire year on the Tour, so his approach and fitness are different. He rode the Dauphine for pure training, I only saw one brief attack in 7 days of racing. He handled Evans' repeated attacks on Ventoux just fine. Sat on his wheel the entire way up and helped Valverde win in the process.

And I have no idea what crack you are smoking when you said Contador looked fairly weak on Arcalis. If he looked weak, then the rest of the GC contenders must have looked like a bunch of weekend warriors out on a club ride. And Andy bs excuse has been clearly refuted by the video. He couldn't match the acceleration. Plain and simple.

As for Levi, he's not good in the Alps. Not bad, but not great. The climbs are too steep for him to stay with the accelerations of the best riders--see the Giro. He'll ride his tempo and finish just after the top guys. Finally, I think you seriously underestimate Contador's time trialing abilities. But given your comments about him, that's not entirely surprising.

 

[Ferminal]

Evans didn't really attack on Ventoux, he only attacked after he lost two minutes to Valverde that day.

 

[BroDeal]

It's 167 kilometers to Ventoux. We have a full tank of gas and half a pack of cigarettes. It's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses. Hit it.

 

[mherm79]

i think Andy has lost too much time to Astana. With so many riders in the top 10 Astana can order anyone of them to attack and the rest of the contendors must respond. think back to mt ventoux 08 and CSC's position with frank & andy repeatedly attacking, weakening cadel before sastre showed his hand.

of course all this changes if Andy launches an early attack forcing astana to chase and hopefully dropping a couple of guys on the way.

what ever happens, it should be some good viewing.

 

[Angliru]

Couple that with Contador looking fairly weak on Arcalis. It appeared he would have been caught very quickly by Andy Schleck absent the motorbikes and Levi may have an outside chance.

You and Andy Schleck are in a serious state of denial. Andy was dropped. There is no other reason for him to concede any additional time to Contador.
How you consider taking 20 seconds out of an elite bunch of climbers in less than 2 km with a headwind as "looking fairly weak" is beyond me. If Schlecklet
could've stayed with Contador he would've. Additionally the moto's were in the way of Contador, not aiding him, he had to go around one of them, they were so surprised at his burst of acceleration. If Andy were really serious about his chances he would have at least continued in his pursuit of Contador to at least limit his losses. He showed no cajones in giving up and then blaming it on the motos aiding Contador. That was a punk move. If it was a legitimate complaint we would have heard from Riis and they would've at the minimum threatened to file a formal complaint with the race officials. The fact that Schlecklet has tempered his story and version of the events since that stage is proof enough that it was all simply sour grapes and whining.

Kloden is just happy to be the super-domestique toiling on the front on the climbs, burning off the excess baggage of competitors that can't hold his pace and then peeling off to coast in after a hard days work. He could do so much more if he really wanted to but apparently he's happy with winning week long stage races. Levi is another story. He will do minimal work on the front in hopes of maintaining as high an overall placement as possible, dreaming of a another podium finish, preferrably to the right of his lord and master, Armstrong. He wouldn't dream of finishing ahead of Armstrong, he'd be too afraid that it would put a dent in their bromance. Contador needs to watch his back.

 

[ilillillli]

You and Andy Schleck are in a serious state of denial. Andy was dropped. There is no other reason for him to concede any additional time to Contador.
How you consider taking 20 seconds out of an elite bunch of climbers in less than 2 km with a headwind as "looking fairly weak" is beyond me. If Schlecklet
could've stayed with Contador he would've. Additionally the moto's were in the way of Contador, not aiding him, he had to go around one of them, they were so surprised at his burst of acceleration. If Andy were really serious about his chances he would have at least continued in his pursuit of Contador to at least limit his losses. He showed no cajones in giving up and then blaming it on the motos aiding Contador. That was a punk move. If it was a legitimate complaint we would have heard from Riis and they would've at the minimum threatened to file a formal complaint with the race officials. The fact that Schlecklet has tempered his story and version of the events since that stage is proof enough that it was all simply sour grapes and whining.

Kloden is just happy to be the super-domestique toiling on the front on the climbs, burning off the excess baggage of competitors that can't hold his pace and then peeling off to coast in after a hard days work. He could do so much more if he really wanted to but apparently he's happy with winning week long stage races. Levi is another story. He will do minimal work on the front in hopes of maintaining as high an overall placement as possible, dreaming of a another podium finish, preferrably to the right of his lord and master, Armstrong. He wouldn't dream of finishing ahead of Armstrong, he'd be too afraid that it would put a dent in their bromance. Contador needs to watch his back.

wow. i think you've gotten everything exactly right, at least in my opinion. good work.

 

[Cobblestones]

Ok, with Andy pretty firmly in 2nd spot and as good as guaranteed winner of the white jersey competition, it remains to be seen whether both brothers can climb on the podium in Paris. Would it be the first time that two brothers podium at the TdF? (meaning I'm too lazy to do the research and hope someone else knows the history better).

 

[ilillillli]

here's where i admit i was wrong about the young schleck. he's had a good coupla days.

 

[Cobblestones]

here's where i admit i was wrong about the young schleck. he's had a good coupla days.

He had indeed. As I see it, they tried to do the same across the pt. Bernard, but Frank didn't have the legs, so everybody slowed down and all came together in the end.

Yesterday, Frank definitely had it in him and they showed everybody except Contador (although I have to say Bertie looked pretty much at his limit on the last kms of the Colombiere.)

A good ITT by Andy, and Frank also did a good job, preserving his podium aspiration until Saturday.

 

[Cobblestones]

I had a look at all the TdF podiums and couldn't find any hint for brothers to podium. Could be a first on Sunday.

 

[singlspeeder]

What's the story behind the Schleck/Blues Brother's saddles? Coolness indeed!

 

[BroDeal]

What's the story behind the Schleck/Blues Brother's saddles? Coolness indeed!

I don't know. I found the image on another site, but it did not have an explanation. I just thought it was cool, so I posted it.

 

[mr. tibbs]

I had a look at all the TdF podiums and couldn't find any hint for brothers to podium. Could be a first on Sunday.

I like the odds of a Contador/Schleck/Schleck podium. I also like that saddle.

 

[Anonymous]

I will be screaming for Frank Saturday. Saxo needs to string that race out until the bottom of the climb. Just slaughter everyone.