Old nice interview with Frank Schleck:

April 2010 is ending ."And then?",I hear you ask. Well ,if April is ending it means that May,aka the Giro month, is beginning. Therefore this blog will probably be absolutely Girocentric for the next month and so miss Fede thinks she won't be able to dedicate a lot of attention to the Schleck brothers for at least 3 weeks.To excuse myself with all the Schleck supporters out there, here's a little 2006 article about Frank Schleck that emerged yesterday from my hard disk. It comes from Tuttobici, it was written by Bibi Ajraghi and in my opinion, although it is pretty short, it gives many good information about Frank. As well as that, this article is also interesting because it was written when Frank had just won Amstel Gold Race and was still a pretty unknown rider. Therefore, when asked about his sportive dream, Frank says that he dreamed of arriving in the Tour de France Top 5. A dream that he fulfilled, if we look at last year's result...As well as that,me believes that hearing him talk about the 19 year old (at the time) Andy is pretty funny,if we consider how things actually went some years after.Anyway here's the article,hope you enjoy it!

Mondorf-les-Bains,a village in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg,is the reign of the Schleck family. Johnny,the father,was Luis Ocaña's helper in team Bic and raced with guys like Mercx and Anquetil. His sons,Frank and Andy,both race in Ivan Basso's Csc. Frank,the oldest brother, got some good results already in 2005; after winning the national road race Championship in fact he was second in Zurich GP and in Giro dell'Emilia before coming 3rd in Tour of Lombardy.

This year,after 4 years spent racing in the professional category,he won Amstel Gold Race and by doing so he completed his path to become an important character in the World of Cycling.

Jens Voigt ,a Csc rider, says that Frank is a very generous boy."I'm sure-,the German explains,-that if someday my car breaks down in the middle of the night,Frank would immediately come to help me,no matter where he is when I call him".
Another example of Frank's sensibility? Last year,together with his girlfriend Martine,he organised a spinning show in order to raise funds for the people whose villages were destroyed by the 2005 tsunami in Asia.All the money the couple managed to raise (25.000 euros) were then given to Unicef.

The two Schleck brothers,be they racing or be they at home,are always together and during races they're always roommates.
"Andy isn't just my brother",Frank told Nicolas Perthuis,a Velo Magazine journalist,"he's also my best friend".
Anyway many people say that Andy is the true phenomenon of the family and that,although he's just 19,he already behaves as a leader.
"Everything has always been much easier for Andy than for me.For example,I really suffered when I was trying to become a pro,while he didn't have any problem at all in that.In addition,he has a very happy-go-lucky personality and this helps him a lot.I am much more nervous than him. Anyway I'm really happy to know that people think he's a phenomenon."
Why was it hard for you to become a pro?
"Because I couldn't find any team.They told me that there were at least 50 riders who could ride as well as me. Then,when I was hopeless and had already decided to come back studying,on a November afternoon the phone rang.It was Bjarne Riis and he told me that the next morning at 8 I would have had to get an airplane in order to reach Saxo Bank's boot camp.And he told me to put also a pen in my suitcase,because I would have had to sign my contract.I was really super happy".
Since then,Frank has tried to learn everything he could from his teammates.
"From Voigt,who I nicknamed 'the king of pain',I learned how to find motivations and how to push myself over the limit.From Zabriskie I learned how to concentrate myself before a time trial. And from Basso I learned how to be a leader".
Voigt adds: "With Frankie I have to be careful when I talk,because I feel the influence I have on him. He wants to learn everything he can,from the little tricks to all the other things that are useful to improve. He's scrupulous and he pays attention to everything: he studies the qualities and the defects of his adversaries and this has allowed him to improve and to become more independent from the tactic point of view.Nowadays,when we're racing,he doesn't ask me anymore whether he can attack or not,he just attacks.And this means that,in his mind,he's become a leader".

Let's go back to Schleck and Basso,his captain.
"Ivan is unique.I will never forget what happened last year,during 2005 Giro,in the stage that ended in Limone Piemonte.On Col di Tenda the road was extremely steep and Ivan kept on addressing me by screaming : "Still 500 meters! Still 500 meters!" We went on like that,with me pulling at the head of the peloton and him screaming behind me,for 2 kms.At that point,with 7 hairpin turns to go,Ivan came close to me,he gave me a pat and he attacked,all alone,in order to win.I was extremely tired and so I stopped at the side of the road to rest a while and eat something.I remember that Cunego and Simoni looked at me in a very amazed way when they noticed me,but I was happy because I had done everything I could for Ivan who,in order to thank me,after the stage gave me a Maglia Rosa as a gift".
Talking about jerseys and races: they told us that the jersey with which you raced the Giro di Lombardia is still intact,with the number 215 still attached.
"I will wash that jersey when I win Tour of Lombardy.After all,if you don't have any dream,you can't improve yourself.I learned it from Bjarne.He has a secret dream as well,you know,he'd love to win all 3 Grand Tours in just one season and,believe me,he will do everything to fulfil that dream".
And what's your dream now?
"Someday I'd love to end up in the top 5 in Tour de France".

(Pics by Bettini: the first one refers to 2005 Giro dell'Emilia, won by Simoni and in which Celestino came 3rd; the other one was taken during 2005 Tour of Lombardy)