Schleck Bros. appreciation thread

[No_Balls]

Well, they are good (at least Andy is) but not that good, and i cant see them make up the difference, the clear difference, between them and AC.

AC was already a winner of his first GT by the age of Andy. And the minutes separating Andy from AC this year is a DECADE considering the fact that AC wasn´t even allowed to give his maximum thanks to you-know-who.

Cant see them winning a GT as long as AC is around. And everybody in this lovefest seems to think AC will at 26 stop maturing as a rider while Blues-brothers will.

They will hovewer make their impact and make their presence felt. To the benefit of the spectators.

 

[Cartesian Centaur]

Well, they are good (at least Andy is) but not that good, and i cant see them make up the difference, the clear difference, between them and AC.

AC was already a winner of his first GT by the age of Andy. And the minutes separating Andy from AC this year is a DECADE considering the fact that AC wasn´t even allowed to give his maximum thanks to you-know-who.

Cant see them winning a GT as long as AC is around. And everybody in this lovefest seems to think AC will at 26 stop maturing as a rider while Blues-brothers will.

They will hovewer make their impact and make their presence felt. To the benefit of the spectators.

The fangirl in me compels me to point out that you could make a pretty good case for Andy Schleck being the moral victor (unless proven otherwise, of course) of the 2007 Giro, given Di Luca's exploits that year and this one...

Taking a more balanced view, I pretty much agree with you.

 

[No_Balls]

The fangirl in me compels me to point out that you could make a pretty good case for Andy Schleck being the moral victor (unless proven otherwise, of course) of the 2007 Giro, given Di Luca's exploits that year and this one...

Taking a more balanced view, I pretty much agree with you.

The fangirl in you would have burned me alive

But as trying to be objective i give you that point. I completly forgot about Giro 2007 and everything about Di Luca makes me shiver so i wouldn´t have any morally problem by handling it to Andy.

 

[Cerberus]

Well, they are good (at least Andy is) but not that good, and i cant see them make up the difference, the clear difference, between them and AC.

AC was already a winner of his first GT by the age of Andy. And the minutes separating Andy from AC this year is a DECADE considering the fact that AC wasn´t even allowed to give his maximum thanks to you-know-who.

Cant see them winning a GT as long as AC is around. And everybody in this lovefest seems to think AC will at 26 stop maturing as a rider while Blues-brothers will.

They will hovewer make their impact and make their presence felt. To the benefit of the spectators.

I wouldn't rule Andy out as a future winner, not even while AC is around. Andy is after all 2,5 year younger than AC and AC's victory in 2007 was rather narrow despite not competing against anyone nearly as strong as the 2009 version of himself (except Rasmussen perhaps, but he was loosing that contest).

My point is that I'm far from sure that AC was stronger in 2007 than Andy was in 2009 and by extension Andy might be as strong in 2011 as AC is right now. Now as you say AC might improve further since he's still only 26 but all other things being equal Andy can improve for 2,5 more years than AC.

Now clearly assuming that Andy can improve along the same curve as AC is something of an assumption and I'm not saying this will necessarilly happen. I'm just saying that it's IMO far to early to rule out the possibility.

 

[analo69]

Think about Liege this year. Everybody knew when Andy would attack. He attacked and nobody even tried to hold his wheel.

I am way more impressed with the way Andy is racing than Contador who only focuses on the grand tours and week long stage races.

Andy is a real contender in the classics, the worlds and in the GT's. So is his brother. Andy even talked about competing in the cobbled classics. Many people tend to forget that cycling is more than the tour, and Contador still needs to show he is not only the best stage racer.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

+ 1
andy proved to be the best in the ardennes this year. (basically got 2 victories out of 3 - if you discount rebellin at fw)

 

[No_Balls]

I wouldn't rule Andy out as a future winner, not even while AC is around. Andy is after all 2,5 year younger than AC and AC's victory in 2007 was rather narrow despite not competing against anyone nearly as strong as the 2009 version of himself (except Rasmussen perhaps, but he was loosing that contest).

My point is that I'm far from sure that AC was stronger in 2007 than Andy was in 2009 and by extension Andy might be as strong in 2011 as AC is right now. Now as you say AC might improve further since he's still only 26 but all other things being equal Andy can improve for 2,5 more years than AC.

Now clearly assuming that Andy can improve along the same curve as AC is something of an assumption and I'm not saying this will necessarilly happen. I'm just saying that it's IMO far to early to rule out the possibility.

To me Giro 2007 more then anything showed Andy was ready for the Grand Tours and what might be thrown at him. He has (since then) made slowly progress in terms of his time-trialing while AC has gone from a competent time-trialist to a really good one at it. To me, it is pretty obvious who has had the further development given that both was GT-contenders back in 2007.

You could be right, but that would, with the facts we got, mean a pretty dramatic change in their further progress.

Analo69,

Think about Liege this year. Everybody knew when Andy would attack. He attacked and nobody even tried to hold his wheel.

I am way more impressed with the way Andy is racing than Contador who only focuses on the grand tours and week long stage races.

Andy is a real contender in the classics, the worlds and in the GT's. So is his brother. Andy even talked about competing in the cobbled classics. Many people tend to forget that cycling is more than the tour, and Contador still needs to show he is not only the best stage racer.

This is the same **** Merckx have puked out for years while in the process improving his own legacy make the audience think it is the same racing this days as it was for fourty years ago. It has been successful though. Reaching the laughable point that "hey, he can win in July. But let´s see what he is made of at the cobbles in our own one-day classic"

Everyone with a decent shot at a GT has a reasonbly chance of doing well in a classic or two, wheter they compete or not. But everyone who is doing well in the classics isn´t a GT-contender. GT-riders are the complete package and hey, we are discussing like he has won several. He has zero.

If Andy decides of giving a shot to a GT i tell you who is off during the most part of the season.

 

[Cerberus]

To me Giro 2007 more then anything showed Andy was ready for the Grand Tours and what might be thrown at him. He has (since then) made slowly progress in terms of his time-trialing while AC has gone from a competent time-trialist to a really good one at it. To me, it is pretty obvious who has had the further development given that both was GT-contenders back in 2007.

You could be right, but that would, with the facts we got, mean a pretty dramatic change in their further progress.

That's a reasonable point, I don't know enough about rider progressions to really asses it though. I guess we'll see what happens in the next 2-4 years.

 

[Steampunk]

It might be worth keeping in mind that Andy will likely have a more stable and reliable team around him for the foreseeable future (some quality riders, too) than Contador. That could play a critical role in helping him to overcome any TT deficiencies he has in comparison...