Should Andy skip the Tour next year & do the Giro instead?

[AussieGoddess]

yep - agree with you all.

Enter some stage races and race them to win. Learn what its like to have to compete for the win, to hold it and defend it, to race for it and triumph over someone else who is defending.

Learn some tactics. Watch the races from this year all again, and (with all humility of someone who lost them all) learn the lessons.

- Leopard had the far-and-away strongest rider in PR and RVV ... and the feild rode against them and showed them that its not enough to just be the best, that team tactics can beat out pure strength and ability

- Leopard were defending against the far-and-away strongest rider in LBL .... and Gilbert showed them how they should have done it. Showed them how to ride against the rest and win because you are the strongest.

- They had the TWO strongest riders in the mountains in the TDF ... and with the exception of 1 day completely failed to take any advantage over any of their rivals from either their strength and ability, or their tactical advantage

- they need to learn how to sacrifice themselves for the team. Garmin won PR because Thor didnt ride to win .... If you have 2 players in the game, you have to be prepared for either of them to win ... and Andy wasnt. (If he was he would have let Frank follow AC on Alpe d Huez ... and he would have concentrated on taking time on Cadel)

And if they cant do that - they need to take a GT each ... Andy rides for Frank in one, and then Frank rides for Andy in the other. Clear team leadership.

 

[roundabout]

He doesn't need to skip anything. What he does need is more work on the TT and learning to be more aggressive/decisive.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Never thought I'd be "defending" Armstrong but he won, Schleck doesn't.

In all fairness to Schleck, Armstrong was older at his first Tour win than Andy is now, and Andy has been on what, 4 Grand Tour podiums.

 

[Ferminal]

He should stick with the Tour.

BUT

He needs to see if he can achieve the same form at the Tour whilst at the same time actually racing earlier in the season, he doesn't need to win, just compete. Separating the Schlecks does sound like a good idea too.

 

[BYOP88]

In all fairness to Schleck, Armstrong was older at his first Tour win than Andy is now, and Andy has been on what, 4 Grand Tour podiums.

Yes but when Armstrong was Schleck's age, he wasn't being touted as the "2nd best stage racer in the world". Which let's be fair is bulls**t, in the current peloton there are many riders who've won a stage race, even if for this instance only ProTour/World Tour(whatever the system is called now) races are counted. It's like calling a guy the "2nd best one day rider" and said guy never winning a one day race.

 

[washoezephyr1]

Why not continue form at the US Pro Championships in 3 weeks, might be the perfect bounce back.

 

[Mrs John Murphy]

The thing that strikes me as different between AS and AC is that AC seems to want to ride hard and win every single race he rides. It doesn't matter if it is a smallish Spanish race, FW, DL etc, he can be accused of many things but never of phoning it in. AS on the other hand seems to just not be bothered about any race other than the TDF and LBL.

 

[Moondance]

Clearly the answer is no. Anyone who's been within 40 seconds of winning a Tour, and still has his peak ahead of him shouldn't write off the biggest race of the year. If he didn't descend like an amateur on stage 16 he'd have been within a minute of winning it this year as well.

Unless the course turns out to be totally anti-climber (i.e. two long ITTs, only 2 or 3 soft mountaintop finishes, etc.) he shouldn't even consider the Italo-Iberian option.

 

[greenedge]

Andy looked lopsided on the bike and was pushing too hard a gear. Otherwise he could have improved by 5 or so places. He did ok and his position seemed Aerodynamic. I think Andy will win the TDF but yes he could try win another race beforehand, rather than focusing on the TDF alone. However he is well suited to the Alpine climbs so this GT is his best chance to win a GT.

 

[greenedge]

Who can challenge him next year if Contador is out. Basso is older, Gesink will have not been on a podium, Wiggins will be at Olympics, JVDB will be consistent and Frank will be one year older. Cadel will be there but it's 50-50 as to whether he would win. I think he can focus on the TDF but try COMPETE in other races as well

 

[Kender]

he was guilty of watching just 1 rider while the strongest rider on the tour made his way to yellow

andy doesn't know how to suffer. like many have said here, he only races 1 race seriously to win. that doesn't teach your body how to overcome adversity

the final TT showed just how much fatigue he had suffered. almost as soon as the TT started he was laboured. he just doesn't have the endurance at the moment to win the tour because they always put a reasonabl=e distance TT on the penaltimate stage

until andy can train his body to handle punishment, and until he takes TT's seriously, he'll always fall short. even if he attacks and gains in the mountains, he'll wear himself out so much he'll bomb and lose it on the final TT

tbh he hasn't looked good all year. did he have too many parties in the off season? was he counting on contador being suspended? he hasn't raced like a winner. even on stage 18 he didnt race like a winner. he raced like a breakaway rider trying for a stage win

 

[nesocip]

I dont know what makes you people think he can win a 1 week stage race with this kind of tt?!

He has a better shot of winning the Giro or Vuelta if he peaks for them. Or the Tour for that matter.

1 week stage races take much better TT skills to win then grand tours do. Usually you have 1 MTF where you nowadays have 10 people within a minute, and then you have a 30 km TT where you can easily lose 2 mins if you are at Andy's TT level.

 

[Bavarianrider]

Hell no.

2n in the Tour >>>>> Giro or Vuelta Winner

 

[SilentAssassin]

You're all talking as if Andy did a bad TT, but he was 17th. Can't expect much more from a pure climber. His problem was his inability to actually gain time in the mountains. In 2010 form he would have taken 1-2 minutes on Evans on every MTF.

It didn't seem like Andy had quite the acceleration he did in 2010 to get away from Evans early on the Pyrenees.

 

[Franklin]

Hell no.

2n in the Tour >>>>> Giro or Vuelta Winner

Say what again?

 

[sultanofhyd]

Hell no.

2n in the Tour >>>>> Giro or Vuelta Winner

So what you're saying is Schleck's 2011 season till now is better than Contador's?

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

this wont happen.

Andy needs to be more dedicated to the sport, the talent is there.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Andy will never win the Tour.

Andy had the legs - Cadel had the legs and the brain. Of course Cadel had the advantage of having 17 domestiques - his own team and the Leopard team.

Amazing really, that the Leopard team miscalculated this Tour so hard. It shouldn't be possible. I just lost all the respect I got for Andy when he won on Galibier.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Hell no.

2n in the Tour >>>>> Giro or Vuelta Winner

In the eyes of everybody except the UCI, victories > placements.

If you think Vincenzo Nibali would trade his 2010 for Andy Schleck's, you've got another think coming.

 

[Jeanne]

this wont happen.

Andy needs to be more dedicated to the sport, the talent is there.

+1. What he reached so far, given his potential, still seems like a waste of talent, IMO.

 

[dbrmuz]

If Andy really is as great as we've all been lead to believe,he should race all three GT's next year-and several Classics as well.

Or has he started to believe his own press so much that he believes just turning up to the Tour guarantees victory?

 

[movingtarget]

The trouble is simply the TT. You have to be an all rounder to win a grand tour like Armstrong, Indurain, Contador et al. Unless they can put minutes into people on the mountains, the Schlecks will struggle to win. Also their inability to ride in all conditions unlike Contador and Evans and also their strange tactics drag them down. Evans rode a smart race and knew when to conserve energy and when to expend it like the stage into Gap. If they had stayed with Riis and received his guidance they would have been better off as what they have at the moment is not working and I think Leopard need some new blood. Some of the older guys are still strong riders but not over a three week period anymore. They are still trying to ride like the old CSC team but they don't have that dominance anymore.

 

[killswitch]

Some of the older guys are still strong riders but not over a three week period anymore. They are still trying to ride like the old CSC team but they don't have that dominance anymore.

Gerdemann and Fuglsang, who are supposed to be in their prime were the worst. Leopard was the strongest on the flat. Only Monfort helped in the mountains.

 

[taiwan]

I'd like to see him try the Giro. You don't want to get too used to coming second: it won't have a good psychological effect in my layman's opinion. Also his bid for the Tour each year is made at the expense of the entire rest of his season bar the Ardennes classics.

The Giro has been climber-friendly recently, he'd go in as #1 or #2 favourite, he has a history at the Giro, he'd gain experience without the pressure, and he'd potentially have a nice solid straightforward result in recognition of his ability in GTs.

 

[killswitch]

I'd like to see him try the Giro. You don't want to get too used to coming second: it won't have a good psychological effect in my layman's opinion. Also his bid for the Tour each year is made at the expense of the entire rest of his season bar the Ardennes classics.

The Giro has been climber-friendly recently, he'd go in as #1 or #2 favourite, he has a history at the Giro, he'd gain experience without the pressure, and he'd potentially have a nice solid straightforward result in recognition of his ability in GTs.

Nice post.
Most here would never recognize his ability, at least until there is a new target to hate on. Before WC 09 it was Cuddles, then the Shackers, we also got through the El Clenbuterolo stuff, now it's Leotard-trek, the Schleck sisters, etc...