Schleki's won't win TDF

[Cimber]

Last year Andy lost Frank because of his crash in stage 3. In the overall, Andy was 39 seconds behind Contador. He wore yellow for a few days. All without Frank. Denis Mechov was two minutes behind. Probably Andy would have lost the jersey come the TT. But apart from Contador, Andy looked like the best rider. Maybe it's why he's been second the past two years. Now with Contador doing the Giro, this year will be Andy's best shot at winning the Tour.

Well if Frank doesnt crash Andy wont win

 

[movingtarget]

Contador is much more predictable and consistent than the Schlecks but he won't be there, probably. Frank Schleck won't make the podium and will never win the TDF because he can't time trial and his climbing is not as consistent as some of the other riders. Andy will be a hot favourite but will he handle the pressure ? Things seemed to get under his skin last year even before he dropped his chain and Contador was the one who was expected to win. Contador is a smarter rider than the Schlecks and the Schlecks no longer have Riis in their corner. Contador is also a more aggressive rider and a much better time triallist apart from his off day in the TDF last year.

Based on last year's TDF it still look's like Andy but then not many people expected Cancellara to lose at Roubaix and Flanders. Riders like Gesink and VDB, Sanchez, Evans etc.........will see the TDF as a real opportunity if Contador does not ride and even if he did, after a difficult Giro, it would be very hard to do the double. Schleck deserves to the favoured rider but I don't think he is a certainty.

 

[Archibald]

But maybe by some miracle Andy is somehow slightly off-form, then it could become interesting. And, if he slacks too much in the mountains, the final ITT might still hurt him after all

if there's no contador, then I can see overconfidence hurting him more than a dip in form. there'll be plenty about to take advantage of any carelessness on Andy's part

 

[theyoungest]

There's really no one who comes close, other than Contador, whom I still assume won't be there. So even if he tries a little too hard to get his brother on the podium (which he might very well achieve) I think there will simply be no competition for Andy.

 

[cineteq]

Contador is much more predictable and consistent than the Schlecks but he won't be there, probably. Frank Schleck won't make the podium and will never win the TDF because he can't time trial and his climbing is not as consistent as some of the other riders. Andy will be a hot favourite but will he handle the pressure ?

Andy can't be a hot favorite if he can't produce a decent TT. he's not known for taking massive time on rivals on mountain stages. So no, he won't win. Gesink and Evans have better chances since they have they can do both.

 

[El Pistolero]

Lol, Dutch mafia should hire you. The delusion is strong in this one.

 

[Met de Versnelling]

I think you're all looking at the wrong Schleck. Frank looks alot better this year than in previous years, and Andy had just looked like crap so far, even in Liege.

Mark my words, Frank will finish above Andy in the Tour.

 

[masking_agent]

too difficult to say

 

[Angliru]

Remember last yr he did ride the Cancellara bandwagon through arenberg. Contador lost time and so did LA. I think that is quite smart racing. In 2009 he could never have beaten Contadooooooor, but might have helped Frank to gain enough time on LA before the ITT. I don't think he will try help his brother again this yr.

Contador and LA were unlucky enough to be trailing behind Frank Schleck when he crashed, otherwise it's likely that Contador would've stayed locked on their wheels to the end. I believe Contador rode way above any of the expectations on the cobbles. Peter Van Petegem tutored him well.

 

[Angliru]

Leopard are not one of the favourites for the TTT.

None of their riders can match Cancellara so will struggle to keep his wheel. Unless they are well drilled and Cancellara slows down to their capabilities, they won't post a top 3 time. See their TTT earlier in the year and see Saxo's TTT in the Vuelta last year as proof of this fact.

Having Cancellara on a TTT squad is flirting with disaster because he's miles above everyone else in the discipline.

I will call it now. Leopard will not come top 3 in the TTT at the Tour de France.

And in regards to the original post. I sure as hell hope you're right. Hopefully it's Basso that's the TDF champion.

Please cycling gods, anyone but Andy! There isn't a helmet large to meet the proportions that his head will grow to.

 

[therealtimshady]

andy shreks tactics at times are appalling - his messing about at ax-3-domaines was unbelievably stupid considering all other 50 million viewers of the tour could see he was never going to beat contador without attacking him in the mountains, so what he was thinking of goodness knows.

i fear he will do nothing for 2.5 weeks and then bank everything on alpe d'huez and then realise that he can tdrop evans, basso etc on that stage and lose the tour

 

[cineteq]

I think you're all looking at the wrong Schleck. Frank looks alot better this year than in previous years, and Andy had just looked like crap so far, even in Liege.

Mark my words, Frank will finish above Andy in the Tour.

I agree, if anything Frank can get decent TT results.

 

[Havetts]

I agree, if anything Frank can get decent TT results.

Wait, what..? Being overtaken by Sastre in a TT isnt the evidence of being a decent TT'r to be fair..

 

[Christian]

I think the Grenoble ITT is too long for him. Recently he showed he can do reasonably well in 10km - 20km time trials but the Vuelta 2010 one was rather bad for example. I haven't had a look at the profile yet though so I don't know how Grenoble compares to Vuelta 2010

 

[cineteq]

I think the Grenoble ITT is too long for him. Recently he showed he can do reasonably well in 10km - 20km time trials but the Vuelta 2010 one was rather bad for example.

Havetts
Exactly I was taking about his recent exploits, like Christian says above.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I think you're all looking at the wrong Schleck. Frank looks alot better this year than in previous years, and Andy had just looked like crap so far, even in Liege.

Mark my words, Frank will finish above Andy in the Tour.

That's possible even funnier than the guy above who thought Gesink and Evans could take on Andy.

Fränk is nowhere near as good as a climber as Andy. That he is a better Ardennes specialist (better on punchy climbs) was already known... So taking LBL as an example is pretty crappy.

Take the Vuelta as example for Frankyboys climbing... wordly on 1 day, crap on all others. Fränky is too inconsistent on long climbs to even stand a chance...

 

[theyoungest]

That's possible even funnier than the guy above who thought Gesink and Evans could take on Andy.

Fränk is nowhere near as good as a climber as Andy. That he is a better Ardennes specialist (better on punchy climbs) was already known... So taking LBL as an example is pretty crappy.

Take the Vuelta as example for Frankyboys climbing... wordly on 1 day, crap on all others. Fränky is too inconsistent on long climbs to even stand a chance...

Yes, the Vuelta, that's really a race a member of the Schleck family cares about... Maybe the Tour 2009 is a better example. He wasn't that inconsistent there. A podium in the Tour 2011 is very much within the realm of possibility. Only his brother is clearly stronger, and Sammy Sanchez maybe. Other than that... meh.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

He was just as inconsistent in the Tour 2009 as in any other. It was just less obvious because they were soft-pedalling half that Tour. Also worldly on 1 day, crap on most others..
With Contador probably not there, he can maybe get just in the top 5... that's it

 

[El Pistolero]

That's possible even funnier than the guy above who thought Gesink and Evans could take on Andy.

Fränk is nowhere near as good as a climber as Andy. That he is a better Ardennes specialist (better on punchy climbs) was already known... So taking LBL as an example is pretty crappy.

Take the Vuelta as example for Frankyboys climbing... wordly on 1 day, crap on all others. Fränky is too inconsistent on long climbs to even stand a chance...

You mean the Vuelta after he already peaked for the TdS/Tour, broke his collarbone in in the third stage and he had to be in top form again by August with no team support at all?

 

[Christian]

I always say he was able to get 5th (only a couple of seconds away from Wiggo) with a dodgy knee in 2009 and in the Vuelta 5th with a plate and screws in his shoulder and 1 race day since stage 3 in the TdF.

So if he ever manages to enter a GT in top form and gets down the descends on his bike he has a real shot at the podium, especially with a parcours like this year.

But so far he has never reached the form that Andy had in 2010 TdF, even though one could speculate that he was very well since he won TdS.

 

[cineteq]

That's possible even funnier than the guy above who thought Gesink and Evans could take on Andy.

We're talking overall here. Andy has no chance.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I always say he was able to get 5th (only a couple of seconds away from Wiggo) with a dodgy knee in 2009 and in the Vuelta 5th with a plate and screws in his shoulder and 1 race day since stage 3 in the TdF.

So if he ever manages to enter a GT in top form and gets down the descends on his bike he has a real shot at the podium, especially with a parcours like this year.

But so far he has never reached the form that Andy had in 2010 TdF, even though one could speculate that he was very well since he won TdS.

F.Schleck said he was in the best form ever that Suisse, yet he could get nowhere near Gesink there in the ONLY real mountainstage, who, according to the pure numbers from his SRM system, rode at the same level a month later in the Tour and could only manage 6th.
So either Fränk is hugely overrated or he is lying about his form in Suisse 2010

 

[roundabout]

There are many ways to interpret that statement...

Schleck certainly was able to put out more than 375w (or whatever not particularly amazing number it was for Gesink in the TdS) in the past.

 

[Met de Versnelling]

That's possible even funnier than the guy above who thought Gesink and Evans could take on Andy.

<snip>

Glad i made you laugh. Offended that it's only "possibly" funnier tbh.

I dunno, i hear what your saying, but Frank seems to have come on more the last year or so than Andy, i think everyone agreed that Contador had dropped a level on previous years, more than it being Andy stepping up a gear. Even his "greatest TT ever" was helped by the fact Bertie never got going all year on the TT bike he had, it was ill fitting for him.

Regardless of what Frank's TT capabilities are, they are better than Andy's imo, which is the most important thing. Gesink's, well, i struggle to be impressed by one from a early season jolly in Oman, Evan's is obviously better, and Basso's has never been the same since Puerto. Sammy's is probably a little better than both the Bro's, but nowt special.

Bare in mind, i've got Basso down a favourite for the Tour, i think he'll set a hellish pace on the climbs that the Bro's will struggle to attack from. My 1-2-3 is Basso, Frank, Sanchez.

Maybe i'll be wrong, maybe i'll be right, but i truly believe Frank will beat Andy this year.

And laugh all you like.

 

[The Hitch]

Glad i made you laugh. Offended that it's only "possibly" funnier tbh.

I dunno, i hear what your saying, but Frank seems to have come on more the last year or so than Andy, i think everyone agreed that Contador had dropped a level on previous years, more than it being Andy stepping up a gear. Even his "greatest TT ever" was helped by the fact Bertie never got going all year on the TT bike he had, it was ill fitting for him.

Regardless of what Frank's TT capabilities are, they are better than Andy's imo, which is the most important thing. Gesink's, well, i struggle to be impressed by one from a early season jolly in Oman, Evan's is obviously better, and Basso's has never been the same since Puerto. Sammy's is probably a little better than both the Bro's, but nowt special.

Bare in mind, i've got Basso down a favourite for the Tour, i think he'll set a hellish pace on the climbs that the Bro's will struggle to attack from. My 1-2-3 is Basso, Frank, Sanchez.

Maybe i'll be wrong, maybe i'll be right, but i truly believe Frank will beat Andy this year.

And laugh all you like.

Gesinks tt improvements are not just based on Oman but also Tirreno Adriatico and Pais Vaco. He was awesome in the tts in both races.

Sanchez Gonzalez has been putting in Andy Schleck tts most of this season but in gts his tts can be very good. 2nd in a 2009 Vuelta tt and 1st in the main 2007 Vuelta tt (against an on form Menchov) suggest he could put time into most of the contenders in Grenoble.