An interview with Andy Schleck, January 22, 2009
Gunning for greatness
The names Contador and Armstrong will be on everyone's lips come July and the Tour de France, but there is one rider who might just steal their thunder: Andy Schleck. Twice a Grand Tour's best young rider, he stood atop the Giro d'Italia podium at 21. As Cyclingnews' Shane Stokes found out at the Saxo Bank team camp in Majorca, Schleck the younger is not afraid to meet his destiny.
Will 2009 be the year a new champion will be crowned? Many are looking at the Astana team as the big challengers for the Tour de France, yet Luxembourger Andy Schleck could rewrite the script and spoil their party. Second in his first Grand Tour, arguably the strongest rider in last year's Grande Boucle, the Saxo Bank rider now has the experience to mount a serious challenge in cycling's biggest race.
Schleck is, for many, a future Tour winner. Famed French coach Cyrille Guimard suggested as such, and he is very entitled to his opinion; after all, he's worked with Bernard Hinault, Greg LeMond, Laurent Fignon and Lucien Van Impe, who between them won ten editions of the race. Guimard was also heavily involved with the French amateur team Vélo Club Roubaix, where saw Schleck's potential and steered him towards a pro career.
Considering what he's done so far, its easy to think of Schleck as an older rider than he actually is. He's finished second in the Giro d'Italia, fourth in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, fifth in the Olympic road race and sixth in the Tour de Suisse. Overall wins in the Flèche du Sud, the mountains classification of the Tour of Britain and white jerseys in the Tour of Italy and France are also on his palmares, as are two stages of the Sachsen Tour and the Luxembourg time trial championship.
Yet he's young enough to go for the white jersey again this year, and is a full two and a half years younger than Alberto Contador.
Missing one thing:victory
Of course, last year wasn't just about the Tour. He pinpoints his fourth place in Liège-Bastogne-Liège as another highlight, saying that being in the final shakeup with his brother Frank [who finished third] was emotionally rewarding.
"That was something special. I don't know if it ever happened that there were two brothers in a final of a race like that. Maybe a long time ago – I don't remember it happening. But it was something really special and cool.
"As regards the rest of the season, I was strong. But a lot of times I didn't [capitalize]...I did a lot of big races, and I am a little bit sad that I didn't have a victory. But it is not easy when you have the Tour as a goal, the Classics as a goal and the Olympics as a big goal.
"I was a little bit unlucky. For sure I was stronger than the year before, but I just didn't get a big victory. Also in the big races I sacrificed myself for the others...but maybe this year it is going to change. Since I started racing I have always made progression each season, so we will see."
He is clear about his attributes. "As everyone saw, I am really strong in the climbs. Without being arrogant, I think I have a good engine because I am good over three weeks. I never have problems, I am not sick... also even in the winter at home, I am never sick. I am just a healthy boy [laughs].
"Mentally, I think I am not that different from Frank. To do what we are doing, you need a strong character. You also need a certain discipline in your life, and to follow that. Okay, Frank is more disciplined than I am....but I think that he is also sometimes more stressed. Most of the time I take things easy. If I am training well and I know I am good shape, then I am probably not going to be worried about things."
Schleck said that he was satisfied with his form so far this year. He'll have built on it between now and when he will make his season debut in the Tour of California, before he returns to Europe for Paris-Nice, Milan-Sanremo and Criterium Internationale. After that the Tour du Pays Basques beckons as final preparation his first season target, the trio of Amstel Gold, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Preparing for the Tour will require a bit of assessing at that point. As things stand, he expects to miss the Tour of Romandie, and ride the Tour of Luxembourg and the Tour de Suisse as preparation for the Tour de France.
The Armstrong/Astana factor:
Like it or not, Lance Armstrong's return has dominated the headlines in recent months. The reaction has been varied, including that within the peloton, but Schleck is sure about where he stands on the issue.
"I really appreciate it. I think that it is his decision to make," he stated. "Many people say it is bad for cycling, but why should it be bad? I think it is good for the sport. I think he is doing it for proper reasons. He is saying that he is doing it for his cancer foundation. ... I think if I could do anything like that, I would do it immediately.
"I am actually looking forward to racing with him. For sure there are different views within the peloton. But this is my view. I was fourteen when he won his first Tour . ... I followed that a little. Then in my first year I raced against him in the Tour of Georgia. That was already something pretty big.
"Look, I am like the guy next door," he continued. "I don't have a big head, and people who have that are not my friends, anyway. So that is why I still have it in mind, 'Lance – f**king hell!" Now I can ride against him, actually compete against him. It is something great for me."
Schleck feels that it is not a given that the Texan will find Tour-winning form. "I don't say now he is going to win. That I don't say. It is not going to be easy for him, but I am sure he knows that. If he does the Tour, I think he will be 100%. It is possible that he will be there for his team, too."
Cyclingnews put it to him that the strength of the Astana team meant that Saxo Bank could perhaps sit back, make their rivals do all of the early running. But Schleck initially seemed to take that as a questioning of his own team's abilities, and went to length to stress the opposite.
"I feel that next year in the Tour, we will have Frank and I for the overall. We will also be going there with a really strong team," he countered, a little defensively. "I think the team this year is going to be even better than last year. Carlos was strong in the mountains, but he will not be there. Now we can take someone else who can ride on the flat, for example. Who can do three or four kilometres of the climb really hard, so our team is not going to be weaker. It is going to be stronger next year."
He also stresses that nothing is guaranteed, as regards the Kazakhstan-backed squad being favourites. "Astana will also go there to win the Tour. They have Contador who is probably right now the strongest rider in the peloton...he was last year, anyway.
"He has that on his shoulders and he will also know how to stand up in the Tour. However he is only human, and it could happen that he is dropped one day and loses five or six minutes. Or he could have a crash in the first week and lose the same amount of time. Then it will be us who have to take responsibility."
Either way, Schleck will once again benefit from less pressure than the other riders. Many fans – particularly those in Luxembourg – will look at his performances thus far in Grand Tours and dream big, but he can afford to relax and take it as it comes. He won't turn 24 until next June, after all, and very much has time on his side.
(First photo by UsaToday,second photo from Roberto Bettini).
Nessun commento:
Posta un commento