Richeypen said:
hopeless to lose tdf that way after being so dominant in the alps,,millar n thomas didn,t have much to ride for at end,,,great ending for cadel and the manx missile tho,,
hopeless to lose tdf that way after being so dominant in the alps,,millar n thomas didn,t have much to ride for at end,,,great ending for cadel and the manx missile tho,,
Richeypen said:
Well, unless you think it's a good sign for Andy that no TDF winner in the last 40 years has a truly bad TT it ought to be worrisome that in the past climbers generally did MUCH better in the final TT than his pathetic attempts.
Andy has quite frankly the worst TT of anyone finishing on the podium, I can't think of another example (hence the example of Winnen). And thats just the podium.. winners invariably crush the last TT.
*I bet we can go back 60 years and lack examples of a winner with a bad TT, perhaps Aimar is the odd one out?
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joeoil424 said:
He lost the Tour by not putting enough time into Evans in the mountains not because of a so called 'bad' TT. Simple fact is that Andy is consistently up there on GC for a reason. He is one of the best.
How anyone can say someone with 3 second places to their name should give up on ever winning is deluded.
The guy just needs to toughen up and worry about himself and not who is around him. He was worrying about Contador every single stage, even when Contador was minutes away from the yellow on the last stage. People say he should work on his time trialing. I don't know what specifics he needs to do, but I don't think he can realistically be a good TT, he and his brother don't have the power. Look at Cadel. He is a much more compact rider and all of his mtn biking has helped him with positioning, balance, coordination, overcoming fear (although I doubt fear is the main reason the Schleck's can't descend well), power, etc. I think the main thing Andy needs to work on is tactics and preparation. Like many of you on this forum, I don't like the throw in all the eggs in one basket, year after year approach, ala Gunderson. If I were him, I would also focus on winning other GT's beside the Tour. The guy is only 26, and if everything falls in its place and he has the luck, then he should be able to win a couple tours and perhaps other GT's in the near future.
- Nov 7, 2009
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Andy Schleck has podiumed on 3 Tours and one Giro, all before the age when Armstrong won his first Tour.
And people are saying Andy should give up on yellow. Seriously, time for a reality check folks. The kid is talented and has a great career in front of him.
And people are saying Andy should give up on yellow. Seriously, time for a reality check folks. The kid is talented and has a great career in front of him.
Richeypen said:
2.14 in a slightly longer TT (Andy had 2.38 on a shorter stage). And more importantly against his rivals he stacked up fine. This is while Sastre is the closest example we have in the last 40 years...
Once again, if 40 years of TdF invariably have winners in the top 5 of the last TT (the majority are actual winners) it certainly doesn't look good for Andy. Sastre was incredibly lucky and still did a good TT.
Moose McKnuckles said:
He shouldn't give up on yellow.. but if his solution is "better climbing" I'd say he's running into a dead-end. And this is on the most Andy friendly course we have ever had.
The key (as always) is the TT. If he doesn't improve this dramatically he will have a very hard time winning a TdF. Truly, wining a GT at all is unlikely without a good TT.
Or is Andy such a good climber he can do what other climbers never managed to do? Unlikely....
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>>Andy Schleck has podiumed on 3 Tours and one Giro, all before the age when Armstrong won his first Tour.<<
that's very misleading. armstrong won the first tour he set out to win and then the next six. he probably is the oldest guy to every podium too. and before armstrong won his first tour he almost died from cancer.
if schleck doesn't do something different he'll never win the tour. of course he shouldn't quit trying but he needs to shut his mouth and get a little fire going in his belly. strutting, whining and slacking ain't going to get him on the top step.
erader
that's very misleading. armstrong won the first tour he set out to win and then the next six. he probably is the oldest guy to every podium too. and before armstrong won his first tour he almost died from cancer.
if schleck doesn't do something different he'll never win the tour. of course he shouldn't quit trying but he needs to shut his mouth and get a little fire going in his belly. strutting, whining and slacking ain't going to get him on the top step.
erader
A big variable is the USO and the design of the course. Chances are Prudhomme won't design an Andy-friendly course for 2012. You can tell by reading between the lines in his comments re Evans that he thinks Andy lacks cycling maturity. Prudhomme may even force Schleck to win some other very high level race before he comes back with another Andy-friendly course.
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He shouldn't give up on yellow, but he too needs a reality check. He was lucky there was almost no competition this year, or he wouldn't even have made the podium.Moose McKnuckles said:
You can't win the tour without preparing properly.
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Buffalo Soldier said:
For the love of God, the kid was 39 seconds from winning the Tour last year. He was decent TT away from winning it this year. I don't understand why people are saying he needs a wholesale change. He needs to improve his TT and descending. That's basically it.
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Don't think they should give up but it would be good for them to get the monkey off their backs by at least giving it all at the Giro or Vuelta at least one year. Heck even send Frank to the Giro and Andy to the Vuelta or vice versa and get a both a win in each. Then return to the Tour. For that matter even a non-GT tour, just some winning to get them used to it.
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erader said:
That makes no sense. It's Andy's fault because Armstrong was nowhere near good enough to win early in his career? Point is, Andy is a Tour contender much earlier in his career than Armstrong was. What is it you propose Andy should do differently? He just needs to improve his TT and some descending. What else?
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Franklin said:
Indeed, even when Pantani won the Tour de France he rode to a 3rd place in the ITT.
When Rasmussen was winning the 07 tour he suprised everyone by doing a fantastic Albi TT (similar to grenoble ITT).
Schleck had a TT suited to him and still couldn't top 15... it's worrying
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Oreknan said:
He was in 1st place by 50+ seconds going into the time trial. He lost the yellow jersey by almost 2 minutes. This is why he is always 2nd. Can I just also say there is nothing wrong with 2nd place in TDF. I do not see a winner in this guy, it certainly has nothing to do with me liking or disliking him. I have never been a fan of Cadel, but I can respect the fact that he is an all round amazing cyclist. Great sprinter, great mountain climber, great descender, great at ITT. How many of these greats does AS really possess??
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