The Schlecks - Gracious in Defeat

[Special_oz_ed]

I found Frank and Andy's talking themselves up during the Tour, and their Team's talking them up a bit unbearable.

If Andy or Frank had won, I would have been disappointed for Cadel, but they would have deserved it.

But I think the way a person responds to defeat shows their character. And full marks to Andy and Frank - I'm more impressed by them now, than by their performance during the Tour.

From Andy's twitter:

Congarts (sic) to Cadel to you deserve that! Happy for you and your team BMC!its been a great battle looking forward to next year all ready!!!

From Frank's:

Congrats to Cadel Evans.the best Won (sic).@andy_schleck and me are proud to be on the podium.thx to @leopardtrek

Very magnanimous. Congrats to two brothers who are obviously really close, and to a team that has enough esteem for them to bury themselves for three weeks in the hope of victory.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Yeah, I don't think there's anyone who'd accuse the Schleck's of being mean, unkind, terrible people or anything like that. Confident... yes. But they seem like good people and I hope one day one of them can win the Tour.

 

[dlwssonic]

I really believe that they are nice people. I dont agree with all the hate of the schlecks in the forum. I wouldnt mind it if they win the tdf next year.

 

[auscyclefan94]

They were gracious in defeat. I hope this tour has been a learning experience for them.

 

[dlwssonic]

To be fair the schlecks did a real good last TT. its just cadel was too good.

 

[AussieGoddess]

yep - even straight afterward in the interview they were good. Emotional (and understandably so) ....

Andy has a lot to learn, but he will be a good champion one day.

Nothing shows class like graciousness in defeat

 

[mickkk]

Not much you can say when you get flogged, anything else would have made them both even more unpopular.

 

[funnytanlines]

andy must have run out of excuses

 

[Special_oz_ed]

mickkk,

Not much you can say when you get flogged, anything else would have made them both even more unpopular.

I get your point. But Andy actually expresses that he's happy for Cadel in his tweet. If he was thinking about popularity, then all he needed to do was say 'congrats' and nothing more - job done.

He's got my respect.

 

[khardung la]

It is not specially gracious to publish in twitter. It is silly to say it is a good thing being 2nd and 3rd when a week ago they said that was not at all a good situation (they said 1st and 20nd was the goal). They just said the obvious and politically correct ("congrats mate!"), nothing really gracious

 

[NickBVK]

Not taking away from the face that they were gracious but I don't think it's something that should be surprising or newsworthy, it's simple sportsmanship and should be expected.

 

[AussieGoddess]

Not much you can say when you get flogged, anything else would have made them both even more unpopular.

Not taking away from the face that they were gracious but I don't think it's something that should be surprising or newsworthy, it's simple sportsmanship and should be expected.

I guess the point is - they have never displayed even this limited PC stuff before.

There has always been simply an excuse why they lost.

 

[Jeanne]

There was NO whining after the TT, I take this as a good sign, there's still hope

 

[Teddy Boom]

from here:

Schleck, when asked about the commanding performance put in by Cadel Evans, said he didn't want to talk about the Australian.

"We knew he was very strong, but to be honest, I have big respect for him, but I'm more concerned about myself right now. I'm happy and we can be satisfied and I don't want to talk about Cadel."

Yes, indeed, extraordinarily gracious and sporting.

 

[Special_oz_ed]

The Schleck Hate Thread

The Schleck hate thread is the other one! Just in case some people here were confused.

I think the Schlecks' riding has shown a lot of courage this Tour, and they finished it off with good sportsmanship.

There's a distinct lack of sportsmanship in sport generally, and cycling has become less sporting over the years (and more sporting, given that fewer pros are doping).

It's worth celebrating good sportsmanship, rather than just hating or criticising.

 

[Punter]

And at least they have the comfort that according to Paul and Phil they were the "animators" of the TDF and Andy was the peoples choice to win!

 

[Lones1]

from here:

Yes, indeed, extraordinarily gracious and sporting.

To be fair they had to be really disappointed, being interviewed right after the stage had to be hard.

Frank is usually very diplomatic and it seems Andy is learning. Respect to both...

 

[greenedge]

They seemed disappointed but gracious in defeat. Cadel would have been as well but would have railed against no one else chasing Andy stage 18.

 

[Roninho]

They seemed disappointed but gracious in defeat.

Yep, no whining etc. just disappointment but accepting it without a bad word.

Although on a short interview for dutch television it was quite clear that Frank was giving political correct answers when he was asked what he felt. He was like: "i'm very happy, we are both on the podium, yes i'm very happy". All with a face clearly very unhappy that they just lost the tdf.

But hey, a tough situation to be in and tbh with how the schlecks normally respond imo this was way better then i expected.

 

[Angliru]

from here:

Yes, indeed, extraordinarily gracious and sporting.

Now that's the Frandy I've grown to love!
One response was from the heart and the other was simply pr. We know which was which don't we?

 

[Spaniard]

The Schlecks hate in the forum is not related with their person, they seem nice guys, actually I think they are funny.

 

[HL2037]

After the last stage Andy was interviewed for danish tv. He said that he didn't mind coming in second this year as much as he did last year, because he knew that Evans was a stronger rider than him. Implying that Contador didn't deserve to win last year. Gracious I think not.

 

[Jeanne]

After the last stage Andy was interviewed for danish tv. He said that he didn't mind coming in second this year as much as he did last year, because he knew that Evans was a stronger rider than him. Implying that Contador didn't deserve to win last year. Gracious I think not.

does that mean chaingate is still in Andy's head

 

[veganrob]

I found Frank and Andy's talking themselves up during the Tour, and their Team's talking them up a bit unbearable.

If Andy or Frank had won, I would have been disappointed for Cadel, but they would have deserved it.

But I think the way a person responds to defeat shows their character. And full marks to Andy and Frank - I'm more impressed by them now, than by their performance during the Tour.

From Andy's twitter:



From Frank's:


Very magnanimous. Congrats to two brothers who are obviously really close, and to a team that has enough esteem for them to bury themselves for three weeks in the hope of victory.

It was a stupid tweet. How can you think anything from that?

 

[El Pistolero]

It's not hard to be gracious if you lose all the time.