http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/schleck-confident-after-first-week
Forgive me if I'm being a little bit too harsh, but is Schleck really stupid or what? Since when do you win a GT after one week... and there is so much hypocricy in all his words it's just laughable
I'm fast losing any respect I had for the guy...
This is the series of events that I think he has forgotten about:
1. Prologue
A shocking prologue, which (despite the weather) is usually a very good indicator of one's form in the time trials
2. Waiting for Andy
The ENTIRE peloton (bar a few Garmin guys and Chavanel) came within an inch of literally stopping and waiting for him while he cried about how wet and slippery the road was. Plenty of contenders could have rode away on that stage, but no the patron of the peloton Cancellara decided that he can tell the riders and the officials how the stage should be raced AND the rider's respected Schleck enough to wait for him. Did he forget that another GC contender was down the road? If you are going to wait for Andy, then they should have waited for Vande Velde, given the uncertainty of the situation.
3. Cobbled stage luck and disrespect:
Okay, I admit, I think that the riders had every right in the world to ride away from Andy on the previous stage, but the fact is they didn't. Utter hypocricy by Saxobank to then not wait (or at least slow down) for not only frank schleck, but also the entire cohort of GC contenders (bar Evans) that got stuck behind Franks crash. I think on both stages they should have kept riding, but the fact is on one stage they waited for Andy, and on the next day Andy waited for no one at all.. Hypocricy.. The previous day Cancellara and Schleck told the peloton what to do. The next day, they did the opposite.
4. Disrespect to Evans
This is a minor issue, but still gives you an idea of his mentality. He has a point that Evans may struggle after the Giro, but it's not what he said, but how he says it that makes him look like a little ****a, which doesn't win him any respect really
5. Cockiness after winning a stage
Past GTs have shown that peaking in week one rarely indicates you're going to win a race two weeks later. Let's get the facts straight tho - he gained ten seconds!!! He didn't drop Contador 'verbier-style' with 5km to go. He made a really good move, at the end of the stage, and put in a great sprint for the stage win, but c'mon mate, your not Rasmussen as CN tried to spin it...
6. Sticking to his plan
I don't get this, nor do I get why he thinks he should tell his competitors that 'i have a plan' haha.. rookie error on his part... but tell us Andy, was the plan to eat the sh!t off the pavement one day, let the peloton wait for you, then the next day, when all GT contenders get stuck behind YOUR BROTHERS crash, you don't sit up and wait? Then is the plan to show no respect to a guy who has podiumed a GT 3 times? And then to top it off, you talk trash about how good you are and how bad the rider that has won his last 4 GTs must be....
Now I love arrogance, I really do, but there's arrogance and then there is arrogance, Andy-style... It's bordering on a Ricco-level of arrogance
I think he is going to get a rude awakening come the second week of mountains, and furthermore the time trial with a day to go. I won't remember his cockiness in two weeks time, but I reckon he might.
My new podium prediction:
1. Contador
2. Evans
3. Schleck
ps - I don't want this in the Clinic, but I predict he will fail a certain type of test very shortly or he will be caught red handed with enhancement products (mods: i'd rather that last comment get deleted than have this thread moved out of the racing section - it's predominantly a racing thread, but I want to throw that prediction out there)
Forgive me if I'm being a little bit too harsh, but is Schleck really stupid or what? Since when do you win a GT after one week... and there is so much hypocricy in all his words it's just laughable
I'm fast losing any respect I had for the guy...
This is the series of events that I think he has forgotten about:
1. Prologue
A shocking prologue, which (despite the weather) is usually a very good indicator of one's form in the time trials
2. Waiting for Andy
The ENTIRE peloton (bar a few Garmin guys and Chavanel) came within an inch of literally stopping and waiting for him while he cried about how wet and slippery the road was. Plenty of contenders could have rode away on that stage, but no the patron of the peloton Cancellara decided that he can tell the riders and the officials how the stage should be raced AND the rider's respected Schleck enough to wait for him. Did he forget that another GC contender was down the road? If you are going to wait for Andy, then they should have waited for Vande Velde, given the uncertainty of the situation.
3. Cobbled stage luck and disrespect:
Okay, I admit, I think that the riders had every right in the world to ride away from Andy on the previous stage, but the fact is they didn't. Utter hypocricy by Saxobank to then not wait (or at least slow down) for not only frank schleck, but also the entire cohort of GC contenders (bar Evans) that got stuck behind Franks crash. I think on both stages they should have kept riding, but the fact is on one stage they waited for Andy, and on the next day Andy waited for no one at all.. Hypocricy.. The previous day Cancellara and Schleck told the peloton what to do. The next day, they did the opposite.
4. Disrespect to Evans
This is a minor issue, but still gives you an idea of his mentality. He has a point that Evans may struggle after the Giro, but it's not what he said, but how he says it that makes him look like a little ****a, which doesn't win him any respect really
5. Cockiness after winning a stage
Past GTs have shown that peaking in week one rarely indicates you're going to win a race two weeks later. Let's get the facts straight tho - he gained ten seconds!!! He didn't drop Contador 'verbier-style' with 5km to go. He made a really good move, at the end of the stage, and put in a great sprint for the stage win, but c'mon mate, your not Rasmussen as CN tried to spin it...
6. Sticking to his plan
I don't get this, nor do I get why he thinks he should tell his competitors that 'i have a plan' haha.. rookie error on his part... but tell us Andy, was the plan to eat the sh!t off the pavement one day, let the peloton wait for you, then the next day, when all GT contenders get stuck behind YOUR BROTHERS crash, you don't sit up and wait? Then is the plan to show no respect to a guy who has podiumed a GT 3 times? And then to top it off, you talk trash about how good you are and how bad the rider that has won his last 4 GTs must be....
Now I love arrogance, I really do, but there's arrogance and then there is arrogance, Andy-style... It's bordering on a Ricco-level of arrogance
I think he is going to get a rude awakening come the second week of mountains, and furthermore the time trial with a day to go. I won't remember his cockiness in two weeks time, but I reckon he might.
My new podium prediction:
1. Contador
2. Evans
3. Schleck
ps - I don't want this in the Clinic, but I predict he will fail a certain type of test very shortly or he will be caught red handed with enhancement products (mods: i'd rather that last comment get deleted than have this thread moved out of the racing section - it's predominantly a racing thread, but I want to throw that prediction out there)
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