Random Post about Giacomo Nizzolo plus interview with Frank Schleck and Brice Feillu:

Surprisingly, miss Fede is already here, just 3 days after her last post, to write another entry on her blog. What a joy!
In this post I'm going to try talking about Giacomo Nizzolo, a neo pro of Team Leopard Trek.
Before of that, however, I'd like to congratulate Andrea Guardini for his Tour of Qatar victory. When he won all those stages at Tour of Malaysia, many people commented by saying 'Well, it's Tour of Malaysia, it isn't the Tour de France!'. Ok, Tour of Qatar isn't the Tour de France either, but the adversaries beaten by Andrea this afternoon were tough guys like Renshaw (GC winner), Haussler, Bennati (a good race for him), Boonen and so on. Therefore, chapeau to Andrea.
I must admit that I didn't follow the race live, I just saw the results on the Internet. However don't worry: March is finally approaching and in that month miss Fede will watch lots of cycling races live and will give you her boring opinions about them. I bet you're looking forward to that, aren't you? ;)
Before I start talking seriously about Giacomo Nizzolo, who was 5th in yesterday race at Mallorca Challenge (race that was won by Fischer), let me tell you a funny thing about this blog: the other day, someone came across it by typing 'Denis and Carlos naked' in Google. I'm shocked. Someone else instead has recently bumped into this webpage lost in the Blogosphere by looking for 'Stefan Denifl operation'. You're curious about that operation, eh? Well, I once read an interview in which Stefan mentioned it, but I'm not going to tell you where he needed to be operated...Mwhahahaha!

Anyway. Giacomo Nizzolo. Italian, born in Milan on the 30th January 1989, 184 cms of height for 72 kgs of weight.
This young rider is considered a good sprinter who can do well in long races. He got his first important results as a track rider. In 2007 in fact he was 2nd in the Italian National Championship of Keirin. In the very same year he was 3rd in the Team Pursuit at the Track World Championships for young riders. On that occasion Giacomo rode with Paolo Locatelli, Luca Pirini and the promising sprinter Elia Viviani. For your curiosity, the team who won the team pursuit at that edition of the Wolds was formed by Jack Bobridge, Leigh Howard, Glenn O'Shea and Travis Meyer.
The following year Nizzolo kept on racing on the track and he was 3rd in the Tre Giorni di Pordenone. He also won Trofeo Sc Marcallo, Memorial Crescenzo and a race in Magnago (race roads). As you can see, our boy got 3 good victories in his first year as a U23 rider and he did so in spite of a serious injury he got at the beginning of the 2008 season (I looked for more information about it, but I couldn't find any*).
In 2009 Giacomo got 9 victories (all together: 'Woooow!'). In fact that year he won Trofeo Papà Cervi, Gp dell'Industria, Coppa san Bernardino, Coppa Città di Melzo, Coppa Caduti Buscatesi, Circuito de Termen, Gp San Virgilio, Medaglia d'Oro Nino Ronco and Targa Libero Ferrario. Moreover, he was 4th in the Mediterranean Games, where he was beaten, amongst others, also by the above-mentioned Andrea Guardini.
The following year Giacomo got even better results. For example,he was 2nd in the Popolarissima di Treviso (beaten by Viviani), 9th in the GP Liberazione for U23 (one of the most important Italian races for young riders, which last year was won by the Slovenian rider Jan Tratnik), was 2nd in a stage of Giro Baby (beaten- again- by Guardini) and 5th in the European U23 Championship. Moreover, he won Coppa del Mobilio, Circuito San Donà di Piave, Coppa Quagliotti, Gp Ceda, Il Gandolfi, Circuito S.Urbano, Gp Fiera dell Possenta, Premio Rinascita, Trofeo Artigianato e Commercio Piombino Dese, Medaglia d'Oro Nino Ronco, Circuito dell'Assunta and Medaglia d'Oro Città Villanova (12 victories).
Last year Giacomo rode for Trevigiani Dynamon Bottoli together with Manuele Boaro, who became a pro with Saxo Bank this year. In 2009 instead he rode for Bottoli Nordelettrica Ramondi, while the previous year his team was Filmop Sorelle Ramonda Bottoli Parolin*.
Nizzolo took up cycling when he was 6, 'as a birthday gift'. Talking about his relationship with the track world, he says he's recently abandoned track racing, although he thinks that riding on a cycling track is very important for sprinters.
Talking about his hobbies, Nizzolo likes riding his motorbike, skiing, going out with friends and going dancing. Talking about his qualities, Giacomo says he's generous and honest. On the other hand, he's stubborn, he's often late and he 'sleeps too much'.
Speaking of his climbing abilities, Nizolo says he can resist on mid-difficult climb when he's in a good condition. His dream race is Milan-Sanremo and his model as far as cycling is concerned is Tom Boonen. He's got a girlfriend and, talking about Team Leopard, he said: 'The official language in the team is English, I'm getting better at it!'.

Talking about 2011, Giacomo says he's not going to take part in any Big Classic, but he's likely to race in a Grand Tour.

Speaking of his Leopard Trek captains, the Italian rider says that they've impressed him because of their confidence and because they seem to do everything in a very easy way. He likes the atmosphere of the team and he says that he's become a good friend of Bennati.
In the picture below, you can see Guardini and Nizzolo (the rider at your right) joking together before of a race. So, this was my little introduction to Giacomo Nizzolo. It's not very long, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway. Let's wish this boy a nice season!

Still talking about Leopard Trek riders, on http://www.lequotidien.lu/les-sports/20036.html there is a nice 'double' interview with Frank Schleck and Brice Feillu.
Here is a little translation of some parts of it.
Journalist: Do you remember your first conversation?
Brice Feillu: First conversation? Uhm...
Frank Schleck: I think it was after his victory at the Tour, in Arcalis. I went to congratulate him. Then we saw each other in Curaçao, where we both spent about 10 days of holidays.
J: (joking) And that was when Brice said: 'One day, I'd like to race with the Schlecks'. Right?
BF: Well, I've always thought that they're nice people, but now I've got to know them even better because we're part of the same team and I realise that they're really great guys. They're the ones who came up to me to talk. (Watching Frank) Frank, I'll pay you a beer later...
FS: Ok, thank you.
J: Do you have something in common?
BF: The weight. 67, 68 kgs.
FS: Oh no! I weight 64 kgs, you're a bit fatter than me and also a bit taller (ndr; they laugh).
(...) J: Brice, what does Frank represent for you?
BF: If someone asked me if I wanted to have the same career as Frank's, I would immediately sign a contract with that person. Frank's career isn't over yet, but I'd be happy to win as many races as he did in those last years. Frank is an example for many people. Frank, you realise this, don't you?
FS: No! But I'm proud to know that other riders take me as example. I'm proud of this. Brice was able of winning a Tour stage and now he says he'd like to have the same career, the same results as me. It makes me feel proud. And it makes me aware of the responsabilities I have in this team.
J: Frank, what do you think of Brice?
FS: He's a pure climber. When I had to think about this new team, I immediately thought about him. We know he'll help us in hard races and he's also got a very big potential. He's also in a very good team now, where he can develop his full potential (...).
(...)
J: Brice, when did you hear the names of the Schleck brothers for the first time?
BF: It must have been at a Liége-Bastogne-Liége. When they were amateurs, I used to take part in thriatlon competitions, so I didn't have a big bike culture...
FS: Attention to him, he's not bad at swimming. When we had a competition in Curaçao, he fucked me up. And I'm not that bad at swimming...
BF: It's true (he laughs). I love swimming, I think it is good for your body, especially during the winter. It was my first sport.
J: You can't remember when you first heard the names of the Schleck brothers.
BF: No, although I like cycling, I watch tv and read newspapers I can't remember exactly when I heard their names for the first time. Romain (ndr; Brice's brother, Vacansoleil's rider) and I couldn't avoid to pay attention to them, because they are brothers, just like us.
J: Do you remember Frank winning Amstel 2006?
BF: No, I know he's won it but I can't remember watching that race. I remember an open jersey. He once won an important race and he kept his jersey open. Was it at the Giro?
FS: No no, it was Alpe d'Huez, in 2006...
BF: It's funny, I remember about the open jersey...
FS: The open jersey, and you dare talking about that! When you won in Arcalis, your jersey was even more open than mine!
BF: Yes, that's true.
J: The sponsor complained about it...
BF: Yes, I was scolded. Well, on occasions like that, you're young and you don't always think about everything. It's true that, if I won an important race today, I would surely zip my jersey before of crossing the finish-line. But still, I didn't think about it that day. It is that kind of stupid things that young people do and that sponsors dislike.
J: Frank, when Brice won his Tour de France stage, Andy was fighting against Contador. Do you remember Brice's victory?
FS: After that stage, inside the bus, I watched the arrival of Brice. I's true that, however, we were more focused on Contador. Brice had got in a small breakaway and we didn't get worried about him. We focused on our race. On Contador, Evans and Armstrong. Brice got a brave victory.
(...)
Talking about racing for a non-French team, Feillu says: 'It widens your horizons. For example, I'm starting to understand English, although I don't speak it well. For me, it's a barrier to destroy.
FS: He doesn't always understand the orders from the radio. In Mallorca there were no radios, so everything was fine with him (laughs).
BF: Great thing, races without radios! Actually, cycling language isn't that complicated, but I have problems with more complicated discussions. It's a common problem for French riders. They ask me for advice, they have the same problem as me with the language. Racing for a non-French team allows you to discover a new universe, it isn't easy for everyone.
(...)

As you can see, I didn't translate the whole interview. I suggest you reading it in French because it's very nice. Moreover, I'm not sure about my translation: I did my best, but there may be some mistakes in it.
So, that's all for tonight, have a good weekend!

UPDATE*: 15 February 2011
A very kind reader, Bru, has told me that Nizzolo broke his right hand in a nasty crash at the beginning of the 2008 season. Moreover, in that crash the poor boy lost 3 front teeth and got a nasty wound on his face.
Moreover, Bru has told me that Trevigiani Dynamon Bottoli, Bottoli Nordelettrica Ramondi an Filmop Sorelle Ramonda Bottoli Parolin are all names for the same team.
Thank you very much for these information!!

The start of the season, interview with Frank Schleck, Sorensen's blog and more:

After a busy week in which we reflected more than usual about the pronounciation of the riders' names, miss Fede is back with another super-random post and is glad to announce that, finally, the 2011 cycling season has officially begun! Yayyyyy!
The first race of the year (apart from the Australian Championships) was Cancer Council Helpline Classic in Adelaide. The race ended in a sprint, which was won by the Tasmanian Matthew Goss for HTC Columbia.

2010 is over, but HTC Columbia keeps on getting great results in the sprints! Cavendish didn't have a good day, he eventually came 108th, but his teammates managed to get the Top 2 of the race anyway. Impressive, isn't it?
Talking about Cavendish, however, it must be said that Henderson crashed at the end of the race and his crash probably caused some problems also to other riders.
3rd in the sprint was Robbie McEwen (hope he'll win some races this year!), while 4th was a great Elia Viviani. 5th was Chris Sutton, while 6th was a very good Davide Viganò. Imo that was the best reply he could give to a Gazzetta journalist, who some days ago wrote: 'It's amazing how Viganò can manage to ride for such good teams although he has never got good results'.

Unfortunately I can't add anything new to what has already been said about the race, since I couldn't see it because of the time zone. Anyway, here you have some random randomness collected by me this afternoon.

INTERVIEW WITH FRANK SCHLECK:
http://www.tageblatt.lu/sport/radsport/story/21130532 : First of all, as you probably know, team Leopard Trek is having a training camp in Mallorca in these days. Photos are available almost everywhere and on the link above you can find some nice ones.

A Luxembourgian newspaper, Tageblatt (check link above again), is giving a lot of attention to Leopard Trek's training camp and is reporting the activities of every single day of training on its website.

On http://www.tageblatt.lu/sport/story/30253999 you can also find a great interview with Frank Schleck that was done by Tageblatt's Cristophe Junker. I found it very nice, so here you have a translation of some of its parts (I had to translate it from German, so I already apology for the eventual mistakes):
'Andy and I came here in Mallorca two, three days before of the other riders and I'm very happy about this. In this way we could ride our bikes for three days. You just need to look at the weather in Luxembourg to understand that it's very complicated to train outside in this period. Moreover, in December it snowed a lot in Luxembourg, so we had to catch up a bit with training before of the training camp (...). So far the time here at the camp has passed really fast. Our days are full of training, massages, interviews, photos...'
Journalist: the team has received a lot of attention from the press. Is it because it is the n.1 team of the world? Or is it a normal thing for a new team?
Frank: I think it's a combination of these 2 factors (...). Of course the 'new team' factor has been important. Moreover, in these team there are many strong riders and this creates a lot of interest in the team. We try to present us as very open people, we also try to be always very puntual at the interviews, not like I've done with you today (grins and looks at his wristwatch, ndr)'
(...)
Journalist: In March 2010 the Italian newspaper 'Gazzetta dello Sport' reported the first rumours about the creation of a Luxembourgian team.
'I will not deny that at the time we had heard something about the possible creation of a Luxembourgian team. People talked a lot about it, but these talks weren't interesting for us.
J: Why?
'Because there was nothing of concrete behind them'.
J: When did they become concrete?
'We had lots of talks and contacts going on with other teams, because many people were interested in making us sign a contract with them. What is happening right now, at the time it was just a dream, a dream that now has come true. After the Tour of Luxembourg we received a concrete offer. We were more than happy when we accepted it. 4 days later, we went to a training camp in Switzerland and we informed Bjarne about the offer we had received. We were 100% sincere with him and we informed him as soon as we could. Bjarne couldn't make us any offer, because at the time he didn't have any sponsor for 2011.
J: When did you hear the first rumours about Alberto Contador joining Riis?
'During the Tour de France, like everyone else. However, in the small article that appeared on la Gazzetta in March 2010, not only did they report many things about Luxembourg; they also wrote that Contador would have gone to Riis' team.
J: How is the relationship between you and Bjarne nowadays?
'There isn't any problem between us. Of course Andy and I were disappointed when Riis said that we had lied to him. In the meanwhile, however, we've got over it. (...)

'I still firmly believe that Andy and I are a bit late on our preparation. We miss kilometers. In the team, I actually feel like a captain. If there is a problem, the young guys come to talk to me. People respect me and I feel very well in this situation. This also derives from the fact that I feel very well in this team. I was surprised after today's test, it was very good. Andy and I were a bit afraid of it. However, during the winter I didn't put on weight, although I didn't pay attention to it'. (not: I'm not very sure about the translation of this part, if it's wrong please let me know)
J: What are the team's goals for the first weeks of the season?
A team is already 'down under'. Will Clark, who is a neo pro, won 5 races in 6weeks last year. And to win those races, you really need to be a good rider. I've seen him riding and I'm sure he has a bright future in front of himself. At Paris-Nice, Jakob Fuglsang and I will try to have good results, but we don't want to have pressure on us. If I get a good result there, good. If I don't, it won't be a problem.
J: What about Flavio Becca?
'My father has known him for a lot of time. He had the idea of creating this team. We owe him a lot.
J: How did you come to the team's creation? Did he phone you all of a sudden to tell you that he wanted to create a team?
'Yes, it was something like that. Like his father Aldo, he had always been a great cycling fan. His passion has become bigger and bigger over the years, and now it has brought him at this point. One day he gave us his word and, since he's a 'homme de parole', he respected it. This season we want to pay him back for what he did for us by creating this team'.
(Interview by Cristophe Junker)

NEWS FROM LEOPARD TREK TEAM:
Still talking about team Leopard Trek, the other day our blogmate Leela pointed out on her blog(http://justfuglen.tumblr.com/ ) a letter that Leopard Trek has apparently sent to the people who work in the cycling media. In said letter (read it on:
http://www.cyclesportmag.com/news-and-comment/cs-blog-an-open-letter-to-leopard-trek/ ) Leopard Trek guys pointed out that:
- you should never write Team Leopard Trek, but 'Leopard Trek team';
- you should pronounce 'Leopard' as LAY-oh-pard;
- you should never write Leopard-Trek.
- you should always write Leopard Trek in caps (LEOPARD TREK).
After noticing that I've made every single possible mistake while writing the name of this team, me thinks that I won't be following any of these rules on this blog. After all, I didn't receive any mail from LeOpArD TREK, did I? ;)

CHRIS SORENSEN'S BLOG:
Let's now talk about another team, Saxo Bank Sungard. Or, better, let's talk about one of its riders, Chris Anker Sorensen. Since the beginning of the new year, in fact, Chris updated his blog twice and his first 2011 post was really good. In it Chris talked about his 2010 achievements and here you have a partial translation of of it:
(achievements of the 2010 year):
'Won a stage in the Giro (...). Helped Matti B. to get a silver medal. Rode the Tour for the second year, this time without writing a book. I had 89 days of race and rode 33000 kms. I stayed in 80 different hotels during the year and had 193 travel days'.
'Changed Luxembourg with Lucca and Moyenne with Ciao' (...)
'Speaking of Bangkok, during the year I've often been told this joke by Richie Porte. "What is the capital of Thailand?", he asks. Then he yells "Bang Kok" and hits a certain part of his body (only Richie, who is a gentleman, actually does so)'.
'I broke a collarbone in Barcelona and slid into a wall on a descent towards Como'.
'I was in New York shouting "Deefence" in Madison Square Garden. It was during a basketball match and together with thousands other people, so I didn't do it because I'm mad (...)'
'I became really good at making risotto and got a good knowledge of Italian wine. Found out that I am completely hopeless to make cappuccino after visiting the real king of cappuccinos in Monsummano Terme'.

2011 KITS:
Last link for today, here's an artice by Cyclingnews about the teams' new kits: http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-2011-team-kits . I don't agree with saying that Radioshack's kit is the best one of 2011. Actually, I find it pretty unoriginal. Talking about other teams, I really like Quick Step kit and I'm pretty keen on Katusha's new one too. On the other hand, I think Lampre's jerseys are too flashy and I don't really like Liquigas' new ones. Btw, remember one thing: the day we're all awaiting, aka the presentation of Geox (former Fuji-Servetto), is the 31st of January. Will Geox guys shock the world with their kits for the second year in a row or will they improve? Me (together with Denis Menchov and Carlos Sastre) can't wait to know the answer.

PRONOUNCIATION ISSUE:
As I could see from the waterfall of comments that followed my last post, the pronounciation issue is a topic that interest everyone of us. Perhaps we could really have pronounciation classes, and now I'll explain you how.
Mar has said that she'll kindly do voice posts about the names of Dutch riders on her blog. If you want to ask her what the correct pronounciation of some names is, write her on her Tumblr (see 'my favourite blog' list at your right) and she'll surely help you.
As far as non-Dutch names are concerned, I think we could make a list of the most complicated names to pronounce (in our opinion) and divide those names in categories, according to their nationality. Then it would be great if a person from every country could tell us if the pronounciation of those names on Google Translater is right or not. If it isn't, those people could make us a big favour by posting a YouTube video in which the name of the rider is correctly pronounced. Anyone agrees?

(Pic 1 by AFP, Pic 2 by Jeff Lahr)

Interview with Frank Schleck (plus other random news):

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/a-new-chapter-for-frank-schleck (article by Daniel Benson)

With his 2010 season finished, Fränk Schleck is taking time out at home before he embarks on a new chapter in his career with the yet-to-be-named Luxembourg Project team.
The Tour de Suisse winner and brother of two time Tour de France runner-up, Andy Schleck, recently returned from the Worlds where he finished 16th in the men's road race. However, his top-five placing at the Vuelta drew the curtain on his time at Saxo Bank, ending an eight year partnership with Bjarne Riis. With new challenges on the horizon he's already looking ahead to the New Year and his new team.
"The goals will be the Classics and the Tour de France," Fränk Schleck told Cyclingnews. "I believe we can win the Tour next year but the opportunity to ride for this team came out of Luxembourg and obviously we are very proud of our country and want to be good ambassadors."
As yet the team's sponsor has to be announced, however team principle Brian Nygaard has made public several elements, including the managerial staff and partnerships with Luxembourg Mercedes and Trek. It is understood that both Schlecks will be joined by a large proportion of former Saxo Bank riders, while Maxime Monfort and Fabian Cancellara have also been linked with the team.
"It's not going to be 'the Schleck team' though. It's going to be a team that we're part of and we'll go for the Tour. I'm not going to lie and say that the team for the Tour de France won't see Andy and me being leaders but we'll have a strong team with a lot of good guys," Schleck said.
As for when the team's sponsor will be announced, Schleck is happy to leave everything to his management, instead concentrating on riding his bike and spending precious time with his young family.
"It's up to Brian [Nygaard]. I know they want to announce it very soon and it's up to Brian to do that. So far I've been concentrating on riding my bike. The managers handle the rest and I'm just happy to race my bike. That's how I want it to be for the next five or six years until I retire."
One thing Schleck won't want to repeat before ending his career is crashing out of the Tour de France. During the critical stage to Arenberg this year he hit the pavé, breaking his collar bone and putting an end to his Tour bid.
"What most people forget is that you need to recover physically and mentally. Mentally I thought I was still doing the Tour with team even though I was just watching them on television every day. It's been a long hard season. I'm very satisfied with how things have gone."

Would the race have been different if he'd not crashed seems irrelevant now, but coming into the race Fränk Schleck was arguably in the best form of his career, dishing out a regal performance to be crowned winner of the Tour de Suisse in June.
"I don't like to go back on things and give ifs and buts but for sure it would have been more exciting if I'd stayed in the race. Last year I almost finished on the podium and this year I think I could have done it. I was very good in Luxembourg and Tour de Suisse. What we saw at the Tour was exciting but I think there would have been even more suspense and excitement if I'd been there.
"Winning Suisse was a sign that I was in super shape. I'm very proud of winning that race. I've done it many times and I've finished well but to go there and win is different. It's a great race, beautiful climbs and always something any rider wants in his palmarès."
Despite his crash at the Tour de France, Schleck recovered in time for Vuelta. He lined up alongside his brother but with Andy breaking team rules and drinking alcohol in a bar he found himself a teammate short after Bjarne Riis ejected the younger brother from the race.
"Andy lost me in the Tour and of course I would have needed him in the Vuelta to help me. I would be lying if I said it was all fine. It was an issue when he was taken from the race and yes, there was a lot going on behind the scenes but I promised Bjarne and myself that that I owed him something and that I'd continue to focus.
"We'd worked together for eight years and we had a super strong team. Even though everyone there knew we were changing teams everyone was great and we stuck together without any questions. Every rider gave everything and you can't ask for more than that.
"At the end of the day I didn't have to agree with Bjarne, it wasn't my decision. Of course I have my opinion on it. As Andy said he made a mistake and has to live. No, I didn't agree with the decision but I respect it and had to live with it."

Fränk Schleck's time with Riis has seen the climber win a number of races including the Tour de Suisse, two stages in the Tour de France and Amstel Gold. While the Operación Puerto cloud will always be a low, the Luxembourg rider believes that the relationship between former boss and employee will always remain strong.
"I heading for new challenges - we both are - but we'll still respect each other on or off the bike," Schleck said, putting aside any of the perceived friction that was on display during the tail end of the season.
"Bjarne gave me a chance and I remember it like yesterday. I remember reading online that the CSC riders were preparing for boot camp and I was sat at home and didn't know if I was going or not. I almost gave up and then a day later Bjarne called me and told me to get on a plane. I was so excited when I was packing, I had to get everything, flashlight, everything. He gave me a chance to grow and gave me a good programme."
Next year, any respect will be put to one side when the Riis and the Schlecks will be part of different teams. At next week's Tour de France presentation in Paris, the Schlecks will sit aside Nygaard, while Riis, presuming he attends, will be without his leader, Alberto Contador, who is still fighting to clear his name from doping allegations.
As Prudhomme unveils his 2011 route both Schlecks and Riis, assuming Contador clears his name, will be already thinking of opportunities to take the fight to each other and win next year's race.
"Yeah, that's going to be strange because we had a great friendship. We've tried to be as professional as we could, at all times. I raced the Vuelta and gave my all and Andy is at Lombardia right now. I'm sure that we'll sit down with Bjarne for a beer after a race from time to time.
"Professional cycling is a competition but we have friends in the bunch and once you finish a race you leave everything on the road."

RANDOM NEWS:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/giro-del-piemonte-1-hc/results : Gilbert won Giro del Piemonte yesterday in front of Bertagnolli and Breschel. By the way me would like to share a thought for Solari, Puyol, Gallopin, Colbrelli, De Marchi and Favilli. These riders in fact were in a breakaway that, with 30 kms to go, had 4 mnutes of advantage on the peloton. Then, apparently, the organisation's car that they were following took the wrong road and the riders followed it. By the time the boys realised they had taken the wrong road, the peloton had already ridden past them and so all their efforts were in vain. Poor unlucky boys.

PERSONAL LOMBARDY PREDICTION: Gilbert, Kolobnev and Fuglsang. Attention also to Brajkovic and Horner.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/velo-retires-after-lombardy : Lombardia will be the last race of Marco Velo, an athlete who in his career won some Italian TT championships, helped Pantani on the climbs of the Giro and the Tour and then worked in Petacchi's lead-out train.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/di-luca-free-to-race-after-coni-reduce-ban : I'm speechless and, right now, too angry to write a decent comment about this story. I mean, what message do you send out when you reduce the ban of a rider just because he helped you in your investigations? If a rider dopes, it's obvious he knows where to get doping, and it's obvious he'll help you just to have his ban reduced! Stupid Italian justice...

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)

Liege-Bastogne-Liege Preview (post including the start list,some personal opinions of mine and random links):

Since my hell week is nearly over,me now has more time to write bullshits,ehm,cycling observations on this blog.Therefore,here's a long useless post about Liége-Bastogne-Liége,also known as La Doyenne.I'm sure you all remember what happened last year during this race: Andy Schleck attacked on the Cote aux Facons and he soloed to victory. This year things seem tougher for Andy and for his brother Frank,because there are lots of riders that are going really well right now.For example,Gilbert and Evans.But I could add also Ivanov, Kolobnev, Contador, Kreuziger,Valverde,Hesjedal and many others.In order to take a careful look to all the teams who are taking part in tomorrow's race,here's the provisional start list (taken from Cyclingnews and accompanied by the usual useless comments of mine).
ACQUA & SAPONE: Codol, Failli, Garzelli, Honig, Masciarelli, Paolini, Sarmiento.Garzelli was 2nd in Liége in 2002,Masciarelli is a strong climber and also Paolini could be dangerous.
AG2R LA MONDIALE: Bouet, Champion, Dupont, Gadret, Kadri, Lelay, Riblon, Roche.
ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI: Bertagnolli, Bertogliati, Bertolini, Ginanni, Margutti, Piemontesi, Solari, Wurf.Me predicts that someone will enter a breakaway,perhaps with other riders from a team like,say,Acqua & Sapone.
ASTANA: Contador, Fofonov, Gasparotto, Grivko, M.Iglinskiy, Jufre, Pereiro Sio, Vinokourov. What a team,Logic states. Vinokourov won a Liége back in 2005 (on that occasion second was Voigt and 3rd was Boogerd), Contador was 3rd in Fleche (and looked a bit disappointed for this result), Pereiro won TdF 2006, Gasparotto was 3rd in Amstel last week and Iglinskiy won Eroica. Vino is in good form,just like Gasparotto and Iglinskiy (the magic couple Enrico-Maxim is in a great form since March,to say it all). Contador is always in form when climbs are concerned, so I believe that in the last kms he'll surely be there with the group of the best riders.Anyway this team has so many good riders that it's hard to say who the most dangerous is.Contador keeps on saying that Liége will be just an "experience race" for him (but he said the same things also before of Giro 2008),while many people thought that Vinokourov would have abandoned Trentino during the last stage (in spite of being the GC leader) because he wanted to be at the top for Liége. Therefore,me thinks that Vino will be ready to give battle,even if Contador will be there as well in the end.And look out for the couple Gasparotto-Iglinskiy!
BBOX BOUYGUES TELECOM: Bichot, Charteau, Fedrigo, Gautier, Lefevre, Rolland, Trofimov, Voeckler. Pierrick is racing and me is happy.
BMC: Bookwalter, Evans, Frank, Louder, Morabito, Santambrogio, Zahner. The provisional start list also includes Santambrogio,but me doesn't know whether he'll really race because,from the theoric point of view,the team has suspended him before Flanders for that anti-doping investigation in Mantova.And if BMC had suspended Mauro's suspension (yes,I like stupid words play),Italian newspapers would all be cheering about that right now,wouldn't they? Anyway,this team features the promising Mathias Frank and,more important, the World Champion Evans. Poor Karsten Kroon broke his nose and other 2 bones in his face after a crash in Fleche (I wish him a fast and good recover),so the team captain will be this funny Australian man with a squeeky voice and a rainbow jersey.

CAISSE D'EPARGNE: Erviti, Garcia Acosta, Kiryenka, Lopez Garcia, Moreau, Pasamontes, LL Sanchez, Valverde. Here's another strong team.Kiryenka is oh so going to attack,while LL and Aliejandro,sorry,Alejandro (yes,it was another stupid word play with the fact that "Liége" in Spanish is "Lieja") will probably be there in the end.However I believe that Valverde (2006 and 2008 winner) will be the team captain,while the young LL will be a protected rider.
CERVELO: Deignan, Florencio, Gustov, King, Konovalovas, Sastre, Tondo, Wyss. Oh,Konovalovas is racing just like Wyss! Yes, Fangirl is happy. Anyway I believe the team's captain will be Tondo. "What about Sastre?",I hear you ask.Well, I believe that Sastre will just use Liége as a good test for understanding how his form is,and so he will probably leave the captain role to Tondo,the hero who last week drove for about 1600 kms in order to reach Maastricht before the start of Amstel (me is obviouly aware of the fact that,after writing these things, Sastre will show he is the team's captain since the very first km of race).
COFIDIS: Duque, El Fares, Kern, Kriit, Moinard, Moncoutie, Pauriol, Taramaae.Attention to Taramaae-he's not afraid of attacking and has the chance of getting a good result.
EUSKALTEL: Anton, Galdos, Isasi, Egoi Martinez, Oroz, Perez Lezaun, Sesma Sorbet, Velasco Murillo. Anton showed a great form in Fleche and he may double the show tomorrow in the last kms.
FRANCAISE DES JEUX: Cherel, Di Gregorio, Le Mevel, Meersman, Roux, Roy, Sulzberger, Vaugrenard.
GARMIN TRANSITIONS: Hesjedal, Kessiakoff, Lowe, D.Martin, Christian and Cameron Meyer, Peterson, Stetina. Hesjedal is a very good rider (2nd in Amstel last week),but also Kessiakoff is a good climber.
LAMPRE FARNESE VINI: Bono, Cunego, Gavazzi, Loosli, Mori, Pietropolli, Righi, Spezialetti. Cunego will probably feel the pressure of the fact that the Italians haven't won a Classic/Grand Tour since October 2008 ,just like the Gazzetta journalists love reminding to the readers every single day.He was 3rd in 2006 and I believe that,if he's in form, he can really do something good (although this week he didn't look very brilliant to me).As far as the others are concerned, Loosli is in super form.
LANDBOUWKREDIET: Bellemakers, Commeyne, De Waele, Delfosse, Dockx, Ricci Poggi, Scheirlincx, Verheyen. Well,a team whose name is "Landbouwkrediet" must have someone with surnames like Scheirlincx or Bellemakers in it,doesn't it? Although 'Delfosse' sounds like an Italian surname (it would mean 'of the ditches'),Sebastien is Belgian,just like Riccì Poggì,ehm,, Ricci Poggi is French.And then in this team there is also a rider called Bart (Dockx) and another one called Bert (De Waele).Anyway,talking about tomorrow's race,and not about the riders' surnames, me hopes that De Waele will get a good placement.
LIQUIGAS: Agnoli, Bellotti, Finetto, Kreuziger, Nibali, Pellizotti, Santaromita, Willems. Another very strong team, with the trio Pellizotti-Nibali-Kreuziger ready to give battle. Pellizotti however is getting ready for the Giro so I think he won't have a leading role.Kreuziger showed his form in Fleche,just like Nibali.They're both young,cunny,talented and brave,so I think that they'll be a danger for everyone tomorrow.
OMEGA PHARMA LOTTO: Aerts, Brandt, Gilbert, Kaisen, Moreno Fernandez, Peraud, Van Den Broeck, Van Goolen. Gilbert,the boy who lives near La Redoute,desperately wants to win this race after winning Amstel and so he'll give it all to try achieving this dream of his.He's a good climber,he's fast and he's got a great punch,so he'll be dangerous for everyone if he arrives in Saint-Nicolas with the best riders' group.The team will support him completely.
QUICKSTEP: Barredo, Cataldo, Chavanel, Devenyns, Devolder, Pineau, Seeldrayers and Van De Walle. Chavanel, Barredo and Van De Walle were seen at the head of the peloton during this week ,but I believe that the most dangerous in this team (together with them) is Seeldrayers. Devolder once wanted to win the Tour and has won 2 Tours of Flanders,but I don't know whether he'll be able to keep the pace on La Redoute.
RABOBANK: Freire, Garate, Gesink, Martens, Menchov, Moerenhout, Tankink,Ten Dam. Fangirl is happy because Menchov is racing (the Giro is approaching and I keep on annoying my sister about last year's result of that race),although the Russian who suffers from spring allergies (how I understand him!) has said that Liége will be just a test for him.Therefore,look out for Gesink.If he doesn't crash/puncture and if aliens don't kidnap him during the race,he could be dangerous.And I'm curious to see which role Freire will have.
SKY: Calzati, Carlstrom, Cummings, Froome, Gerrans, Lovkvist, Nordhaug, Wiggins.Oh,finally I have the honour of seeing Lovely Lovkvist's name in a start list.Wow. Wiggo is preparing the Giro,so he should be already in good form. Anyway I believe that the team's captain will be Lovkvist.
TEAM HTC COLUMBIA: Albasini,Guldhammer, Lewis, T.Martin, Monfort, Siutsou (how can he be in the start list if he broke his collarbone last month?),Van Garderen,P.Velits. Policeman Toni Martin (scoop from Miss Sansen's blog http://sansenmag.l%20ivejournal.com/182793.html ) will be the captain,whereas TJ Van Garderen showed a good condition in Tour of Turkey.
KATIUSHA: Ivanov, Klimov, Kolobnev, Mazzanti, Rodriguez, Vandenbergh, Vantomme, Vorganov. Kolobnev,Ivanov and Rodriguez showed an incredible form over the last days and they'll be at the front also tomorrow.Look out for them!
MILRAM: Frohlinger, Gajek, Gerdemann, Knees, Rohregger, Voss, Wegmann. Linus is going to be team captain's in Giro,so he should be already in good form.
RADIOSHACK: Busche, Hermans, Horner, Kloeden, Paulinho, Zubeldia. The Chinese rider Li resulted positive at the anti-doping after a race in March and was suspended by his team (news: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/radioshack-suspends-li-after-doping-positive ).This has obviously caused some exaggerated title on some websites (for example, "Armstrong ramt af dopinskandale" by http://www.sporten.dk/cykling ),but since my blogging idea about doping is "let's talk about it as least as possible",I will go on with the start list and won't spend useless words about this. Horner is in good form,so he'll probably be the captain together mit Andreas Kloden.
SAXO BANK: Didier,Fuglsang,Jorgensen,Andy and Frank Schleck,N.Sorensen,Voigt, Steensen. Yes,I know that Cyclingnews says that also Chris Anker will race tomorrow but believe me, he's not racing.In fact he received the "you can go back training on the asphalt" message from the doctors just yesterday,so I don't believe he'll immediatly come back racing in tomorrow's Liége. Anyway, the team is strong.Didier has showed his talent also during Fleche,Jorgensen and Steensen are precious helpers and I guess there's no need to talk about Nicki Sorensen,Voigt and Fuglsang to make you understand how good they are.The captains will be the Schleck brothers and hopefully Frank will be the one who'll raise his arms to the sky in Liége.
TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN-MERCATOR: Armee, Baugnies, Coenen, De Gendt, Jacobs, Neyens, Van Hecke, Vanspeybrouck.

So,this is the start list.Now it's time to try and give my race predictions,starting from last year's winner Andy Schleck.Last year Andy seemed stronger to me (yes,I know you disagree),although this year his motivation is probably as high as never because,apart from being the 2009 winner of La Doyenne,he's also just become uncle.Lots of people then expect a lot from him this year, but this shouldn't be a problem since it seems that Andy can stand pressure in a perfect way. However it is also true that this time the other riders will try not to let him get away from the group all alone.And if Andy arrives in Liége together with a guy like Valverde or Gilbert,well,he's likely to be outsprinted by them (at least in theory).Anyway this year the parcours seems even harder than last year's one and so Andy and his teammates will have more opportunities to make their adversaris become tired before they arrive in Liége.
As far as Frank Schleck,is concerned,I think he's even more motivated than Andy and on him there is less pressure than on his brother.His form is very good and I think that Andy tomorrow will race for daddy Frankie rather than for himself.Anyway the sprint problem worths also for Frank.In fact I believe that he can outsprint guys like Evans or,say,Kreuziger,but I don't think he has many chances against Gilbert or Valverde.
And here we come to Gilbert.He's very motivated,knows the race by heart,he's in a perfect form and has already won Amstel last week.He's fast and can keep a high pace on climbs,so he's one of my race favourites,although we must remember that a wrong day can happen to everyone (Philippe included).

Valverde, just like Gilbert, is fast and is a good climber,although his form doesn't seem as good as Gilbert's one. Attention also to his teammate LL Sanchez.
Evans is in a great form,but he has to arrive alone because he's not very fast.The same worths also for Kreuziger,Gesink and Nibali, while Cunego and Garzelli are riders who can get good results if they're on the right day.And then there are the Astana riders,aka Contador and Vinokourov. Vino always tries getting good results and has already won Liége,while Contador is there just to get more experience.Should we trust him?
Joaquim Rodriguez was second last year,but also Ivanov and Kolobnev will be very important for his team.
Then there are obviously the "outsiders" (if we can call them this way) like Igor Anton, Toni Martin, Hesjedal, Horner, Gasparotto, Iglinskiy, Lovkvist and De Waele (first names that came into my mind).Hoping that one of the Schleck will win,I close this post with a pic from last year's Liége and some random links about the brothers.

RANDOM LINKS:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/frank-schleck-sees-a-future-at-flanders : I totally agree with Frankie,especially when he talks about the management going to murder him if he decides to change his season schedule.
http://lequotidien.editpress.lu/index.php/les-sports/10852-Nous-avons-les-jambes.html :interview with Frank.
http://lequotidien.editpress.lu/index.php/les-sports/10851-Les-Schleck-centre-dbat.html :article about the Schleck brothers.
http://msn.tv2sporten.no/sykkel/schleck-gjoer-et-nytt-forsoek-paa-soendag-3191305.html : video interview featuring super cute Andy Schleck with unshaved upper lip.
http://www.saxobanktakingthelead.com/?p=2928 :ok, it's an interview with Jonas Jorgensen, not with the Schleck brothers,but you know I have a weakness for Danish cyclists who race for Saxo Bank team,so don't get angry at this poor mad Fangirl.

Wishing you all a good evening and a happy sight of 2010 Liége,I close this post.Allez Schlecks!

(pic by Bettini)

Interview and Article about Frank Schleck:

As usual,my translations from French into English aren't very good,so if you know French I suggest you taking a look at the original articles.

LINK N.1: http://lequotidien.editpress.lu/les-sports/8700.html (article written by Le Quotidien journalist Denis Bastien)

FRANK SCHLECK: "I'M CONFIDENT"
Frank Schleck is ready to race the Ruta Del Sol (21-25 February)."I'm going in Andalusia to train,not to win",he says.

Today,after 2 flights (the Luxembourg-Paris and the Paris-Malaga ones),Frank Schleck will arrive in Andalusia.La Ruta Del Sol starts on Sunday and the Mondorfois will be one of the strongest riders there."The race,and especially the first stage during which we'll face an uphill arrive,seems hard.Anyway I'm going to Andalusia to train,not to win",Frank says.
However Frank knows that over the stages,that are never totally flat,he should emerge as one of the best riders,since "the race is pretty hard everyday..."

Obviously,Frank Schleck doesn't hide his pleasure when he thinks about the possibility to race with a pleasant temperature,quite different from the one that prevailed in Luxembourg over the last days."It isn't easy to train on icy or snowy roads.We went to Maiorca five days before of the beginning of the Challenge Maiorca,therefore we managed to train well there.But since our return,the weather in Luxmbourg has been terrible,even if today (yesterday),I managed to train for 4 hours and a half with Didier Laurent.In two we worked well.Anyway our condition didn't get better since we left Maiorca".

Frank feels a sense of satisfaction when he talks about Mallorca."I think I did a good work.I'm gaining confidence.I've never had problems during that race.It's good to start the season well, although also in that race the results didn't matter a lot to me... "

Things will be different in Paris-Nice,the first goal of the season."It's true,the Paris-Nice will be my first serious test of the season,but if one day I find myself at the back of the race,I won't make a tragedy out of it.If I can,I'll try winning,but I'd like t to avoid getting too stressed.There is always a nice parcours in this race and I usually feel good during it.Anyway sometimes I wonder whether it would be better to delay the arrive of my first form-peak as much as I can. The Ardennes classics are still far away from here...I remember that last year Andy had troubles during the Tour du Pays Basque and that he won the Liège-Bastogne-Liege 15 days later... "
Taking abou form-peaks,Frank Schleck usually achieves a good level of form during the Classics and therefore he won't probably risk to peak too early in the season.Now anyway he will continue his preparation a little away from Andy,who is now in Maiorca. "We phone each other in the mornings and in the evenings.Andy is training well and his knee seems ok.The most important thing is that he's fine now",Frank confesses.Indeed,Andy will have enough time to recover before of the Ardenne's classics. LINK 2: http://www.lessentiel.lu/sports/sports/story/17373721 (article by Nicolas Martin)

Before of leaving Luxembourg on Friday in order to race the Ruta del Sol,Frank Schleck talks again about his 2010 goals.
How important is the winter for your preparation?
Frank Schleck: During the first month you can relax and avoid to think about cycling.It is easier if you end the season with a good result.This period can be useful to spend time doing thingsyou like doing,for example I fished a lot.I also went on holiday to Curaçao.During this break anyway we keep on training our bodies and then we take up cycling again.
Are you happy with the results you got in the Challenge Mallorca?
Yes.It was my first race of the season and at this time of the year I can't and I don't want to be in my top form.My first important goals will arrive in 1-2 months time,therefore what I did in Mallorca was ok.From the phisical point of view,I'm right where I should be.
You'll race La Ruta del Sol without Andy.Does his injury worry you?
No.This kind of things are annoying but they happen.Last year I had problems with my knee too.He's trainining in order to get the right form quickly and reach the right level for taking part in races.
What are your expectations for the Ruta del Sol?
It's a training race.I won't go there to win,but to train and to find the race rythm again.
Will it be a preparation for the Paris-Nice?
Paris-Nice isn't one of my goals of the season,but if my form is good I'll try getting results as good as last year's ones.
What are your biggest goals of the season?
They're the Classics,the Tour de France and the Worlds in Australia.
Do you share these goals with Andy?
Yes.We'll both try fighting for the victory in these races,although we know that there is always just one winner.Some changes during the season may also depend on the how things will develop.However, we'll both give our best during these races.
Do you think you can win the Tour?
I was 5th last year and I've aleady won stages of that race twice in my career.I'm always with the strongest riders.This means that I can win the Tour,therefore I'll give my best to try achieving that result.
What do you think of your team?
I think it is very good.2,3 riders left the team,but it is still as good as last year.Some young riders like Fuglsang will go very well this year and I'm sure that they'll replace the ones who left the team.
What do you think of the Saxo Bank's withdrawal from sponsoring the team?
I'm a cyclist and my job is to run as fast as possible.It's not up to me to think about this kind of things.Bjarne Riis is looking for sponsors and we just have to get good results in order to attract the attention of possible sponsors on us.

(pic from Cyclingnews)

«Andy ne fait jamais les calculs sans moi»

After the Le Quotidien interview with Andy,here's the one with Frank.Enjoy!
link: http://lequotidien.editpress.lu/les-sports/8177.html

Frank Schleck is almost thirty years old and is beginning its eighth season in the professional cycling world-the eight season with the very same team.Anyway,his motivation is still incredible.
Talking with him,we perfectly understood why,on Wednesday,his younger brother Andy had told us that Frank may be able to win the 2010 Tour de France.Calm,but extremely motivated, Frank Schleck seems ready for another great season.

Yesterday in Majorca the rain was falling behind the windows.When they noticed it,the staff of Team Saxo Bank quickly made a decision: day off for everyone.In fact the traces of the long training session of the previous day (which was 200 kms long) were still in the legs.
What are you going to do today?
Frank Schleck: We're all going to rest,since we've been training hard lately.We did the right thing when we left Luxembourg because of the bad weather.But this Friday,we'll be riding again.Five hours on the schedule.Then on Saturday we'll have a three hours training and on Sunday there is our first race of the year.
Are you eager to start your season?
Yes and no. On one hand,I'm afraid to be a bit behind in my preparation,since between all the training camps we always had to go back to Luxembourg and the weather was really bad there.Luckily in Fuerteventura we trained really well.Of course then the new season is starting and so there is always a little extra excitement.And,of course,there are also some extra doubts. We think: 'Will it go well? Will it go bad?',but I know there's no reason that it should go bad.In Majorca,I'm not racing for the victory although,in cycling,you can never know.We'll see what will happen...
Yesterday your brother Andy told us that you've changed a lot during the winter.Do you confirm it?
Again,yes and no.It is true that there are some new things (laughs).Martine and I are looking forward to becoming parents for the first time and obviously this gives me a lot of motivation. Then,to go back to cycling,last year I had to interrupt my season in September for undergoing knee surgery.I had to end my season very soon,so I am very motivated and I 'm really looking forward to the season's beginning in order to understand how my condition is.
What about training?
Frankly,I haven't changed my training a lot.Anyway the winter weather has been bad,so we had to adapt ourselves to it.I think I've trained even better than usual.We'll see whether I'll be able to go as strong as last year but,again,there is no reason that things shouldn't go as they did last year.
Andy thinks you may be able to win the 2010 Tour de France.What do you think of this fact?
Andy finished second in the Tour last year and of course he's really motivated.I really like one thing about him: he never calculates things without me.And I agree with him.I think we can do better than last year,when we rode the Tour and also the Classics and we were always together at the head of the race.As far as 2010 is concerned,I often think: Why can't I get to the Paris podium? And if I can arrive on the podium,what tells me that I won't be able to win it? Obviously I'd be very happy also if Andy found himself in a good position to win the race,and I know that the same worths for him.We both have good chances of winning. Of course in cycling you must always consider luck and bad luck.Anyway,Andy and I will do our best.
You became a professional rider in 2003...
Yes,this is my eighth season as a professional rider.Now I'm not afraid to take my responsibilities.I've improved a lot and I think I already know enough things about races.In this sport,you learn new things every year and this is always a big help.If I look back,I realize that I've learned a lot of things.Experience is useful.
What did you learn last year?
I learned a lot in 2009.I learned things from Lance Armstrong,who runs really well from the tactical point of view.I also learned some things from Alberto Contador,who has a different riding style if compared to Armstrong,and is not unbeatable.But I also learned that it is better to have friends rather than enemies in the peloton.We're adversaires,but it's good to respect each other. From this perspective,I also learned some things from Andy,who can always stay calm during the races.Watching him,I realized that if we stay calm,we can really give our best during the races...
What are your feelings for the 2010 season? And what about your team??
Personally,I'm pretty eager to start because I'm very motivated.For example,I'm awaiting to start the season in order to know how my condition is,so that I can decide how to train in the next weeks.The feelings I'll get in the race will tell me what I'll have to do to improve my condition over the next weeks.As far as the team is concerned,I'm not worried.I've said it a hundred of times,but I have the feeling that we're even stronger than last year.I give you two names to pay attention to: Matti Breschel and Jakob Fuglsang.Matti will be super in the North classics and Jakob will be at our side in the Ardenne.He'll be another important card to play for us.
New teams have been created and the transfers have changed a lot of things.Do you think that this has,in some way,changed the cards on the table?

You know,it's the same thing every year before of the seasonal start.It's true that Astana has changed and it's true that RadioShack and Sky are new teams.But last year it was Cervelo's turn to get into the circus,but things go on.There were riders before us,there will be riders also after us.I remember that,when Fabian (Cancellara) won Paris-Roubaix and I won the Amstel Gold Race,everyone started to talk about the new cycling generation.With Andy,second in the Giro and second in the Tour,we started to talk of another new cycling generation.Every year there are new things and things will always be this way.
You have been racing for the sam team since 2003,8 years ago...

Yes and I am really happy for this thing.I was able to grow in this team and to improve slowly over the years.Therefore I'll be really happy if we manage to go on even after the 2010 season (ndr; Bjarne Riis is looking for a new sponsor right now).I hope we'll manage to.What is sure is that Andy and I will always race together.Cycling will never get between us.We don't know where we'll race in the future,but we'll talk about it after the Tour,since our contracts ends after the Tour.
What are your hopes for the 2010 season?
I hope to repeat a season like the last one.I started getting good results after the 2005 season ad I haven't stopped yet.But this year I'd love to win Liège-Bastogne-Liège,since we'll have our baby ten days after that race.And then of course it would be nice to win the Tour or to finish on the podium.Last year I was fifth in Paris,off of the podium for just 40 seconds.Forty seconds, the delay that I had during the Grande Motte stage and during the team time trial. Well,we also have to be realistic.The riders who did well last year,Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador will be there,ready for the battle,also this year.
Without going too far: this Paris-Nice could bring you some good results...
Yes,there is a long story between Paris-Nice and me.I had a lot of 2nd and 3rd places last year and so I finished second in the GC.I like that race and it's always a very good test.It will be my first opportunity to get a good result.But beware,since I'd like to be in perfect condition for Liege-Bastogne-Liege,I won't enter a good shape too soon.I am motivated to do well in Paris-Nice,but I always am.Of course,I will be one of the favourites for the victory.
Laurent Didier,the new "little one",has joined your team as well recently.How is he going?

He's going very well,everyone likes him and,on his bike,he had a very good shape already during the training camp.He is very motivated and has trained a lot.Everything will go well for him.

Interview with Frank part 2:

His father and his brother were in front of the tv.At the last moment they had decided to stay at home,letting the colourful buses from Luxembourg ride towards Holland without them.It was the 16th of April 2006 and at that time just few people knew something about Frank Schleck. The most careful supporters had noticed him in the finale of the 2005 Tour of Lombardy,the one won by Bettini.On that occasion,the victory of the race was decided by a sprint and Riis’ rider came in 3rd,although he had given the impression of being the strongest climber between the riders that were with him in the last kms of the race.
In the Amstel finale,that day,things weren’t very different.Together with Frank there were Bettini,who kept on attacking,and Rebellin,that kept on stopping the Cricket‘s actions.There were Boogerd,who was as motivated as usual,and Wesemann,that was full of energy.But at a certain point,the lanky Luxembourgish moved to the left side of the road and attacked.
At home,on that couch that used to see at least a cycling race pro day,the old Johnny and the little Andy started to jump and scream.And evidently,their support arrived to Frank’s heart, since the young boy managed to achieve a wonderful solo victory,riding in a very determined way,just like his brother did the following year on the Zoncolan climb. “Let alone the supporters”,Frank says with a smile."The other riders knew me and,when I attacked,I could hear few screams before of leaving all the sounds behind me.That first victory made me understand that,after all,in these legs there is something worth working for. Obviously,when the other riders know you better,it is harder to make the difference.For example,if during the 2007 Liége I had been a bit less famous,perhaps Di Luca would have let me 5 seconds of advantadge and I would have won.But Danilo is a champion and he grabbed his chance of winning in a perfect way".

“Also Cunego knew me,that day on the Alpe d’Huez,and I knew him.At first we rode side by side,but then we started to study each other.He was riding with a very hard gear on and I thought that he was a really strong man.Every time we had to face a hairpine turn,he used to get up on his pedals and I could his leg swelling".
"I was trying to ride as agile as I could and to stay sitted on the saddle as long as possible.Then at a certain point I noticed that Cunego had begun to move himself on the saddle,just like you do when you start to feel uncomfortable on it because you‘re tired.And so I waited until the following turn and there I attacked with all my strength.I thought: 'if I turn my head and he‘s still behind me,I collapse on the asphalt'.After my attack I kept on watching the road in front of me until the last meters of the race; there I finally turned my head and I saw that Cunego wasn‘t behind me.And when I realised that I had won on the Alpe d’Huez,well,I was very happy".
This happened in 2006,in the Tour de France ruined by Basso,Ullrich and Floyd’s cases.

Now Frank seems to have freed himself from the armchair's torpor;he leans forward,with his folded arms on his knees.He’s got used to the interviews about his brother,but you can realise that this doesn’t annoy him because,he explains,"Andy’s not just my brother-he's also my best friend”.
“The little boy”,he says with a crafty smiles,"could win the Giro even this year,I’m sure of this. Last year he surprised even me.To say the truth,he actually made me cry.Last year,as he was climbing the Zoncolan,I was in Germany.The previous evening,instead of focusing myself on my race,I was very nervous because of that terrible Giro climb.I talked to Andy on the phone.I was so nervous...Instead Andy-I know him and he confirmed me that later-was as calm as usual.He knew that the decisive moment was arriving,but he lived it as a nice challenge.And watching him racing in such a determined way,I'm not ashamed of saying it,brough tears to my eyes and so I started to cry"."The Giro is a wonderful race.In Italy there are true supporters,but unfortunately the schedule decisions aren’t often made by the riders.I’m sure that my brother will try to convince Bjarne to bring him at the Giro,and I’m also sure that the 'Chief' hasn’t closed the 'Giro-door' yet,but I also know that our sponsor just cares about the Tour.”

After Frank’s victory on the Alpe d’Huez the old Johnny,convincted that he would have had to wait some more years before of witnessing Andy’s first great victories,went to Frank’s room,knocked on the door and found Riis inside it.They joked together and hugged each other as men from the North of Europe usually do,and then they started to talk about Frank’s chances of winning the Tour.They agreed that Frank could climb well and that he had some problems in the TTs,but they also agreed that,after all,there weren’t lots of TT specialists around.
“The Tour”,Frank says with realism,"is the race that every rider dreams of winning.There you always find lots of riders that suddenly begin to ride as strong as they’ve never done before.But I’m not Armstrong,the Tour isn't the only race I think about.I like the Classics.The Liége,yes,but also the Tour of Lombardy,the most wonderful race of the World.The lake,the woods,the sun that suddenly appears after a turn on the Ghisallo…Last year I was strong.Very strong.I’m not saying I would have won,but actually I couldn’t see anyone that could beat me.And instead I crashed.If I had had a bit more luck,I would have ended the 2007 season with a podium at the Worlds (ndr;in that race he was 4th behind Schumacher) and with a victory in the Lombardy Tour.You may think that my 2007 season was disappointing,but actually I’d be happy if I could get the same results also in 2008...”

"The Tour is great,but it leaves time and space also for other races.To win it you need experience,shape,a strong team and the right mentality.Then in 2008 there will be the Olympic Games,even if it won’t be easy to get used to different situations in just few week time".
The Schleck brothers will live the Beijing adventure together and it will be a bit like when,years and years ago,the 3 little Schleck brothers used to run around their father in the Luxembourgian woods,making all the wild animals run away.
Steve,the oldest brother,isn’t a cyclist anymore,but Frank pays a lot of attention to his advice.
“Our passion for cycling is very deep”,he smiles."Also after the end of our careers,we will all keep on using our bikes.When you grow up with other 2 brothers,you learn to take your space and perhaps Andy is the one who had more advantdges from this situation.Of course between us there aren’t just smiles and laughs.When I realise that the little boy is angry,I know that it’s better to leave him alone.And he knows that the same worths for me.Btw it's nice to discover that sometimes we think the same things at the same moment.It’s nice to get up the day when your new bike will arrive and realise that your eyes shine as they do on the Christmas day,when you open the presents.At our home we live cycling in this way and we couldn’t do any different".
“After toasting for my Amstel’s victory,my father immediately warned me not to forget who I was and where I come from.There are many people that change personality after the first few victories.Instead I like thinking that I haven’t changed at all.And I’ll take care of my brother,so that he won’t change after the first victories either.Big brother's word!”.

2008 article about Frank,part 1:

This is an article by Enzo Vicennati written in February 2008 for the magazine Bicisport (see http://fede-myblog92.blogspot.com/2009/02/interview-with-andy.html to read the article about Andy written by the same journalist).Part 2 is coming in the next days.

FRANK,THE BIG BROTHER WHO WANTS THE TOUR:
He’s the oldest of the Schleck brothers.He’s already won an Amstel Gold Race and the Alpe d’Huez stage at the Tour.He still remembers the day when his father asked him to take care of his brother Andy.The little boy wanted to become a cyclist.He used to follow Frank during the training sessions and he never gave in.The challenges.The talent of the young brother and the sacrifices of the elder.The common dreams.The excitement for the new bike and the excitement for the gifts under the Christmas tree.And now the project of the Tour,of the Liége and of the Tour of Lombardy,"the most beautiful race in the world".

5 years ago,few days after the beginning of the spring season,Johnny Schleck beckoned his son Frank.The boy left the bike that he was preparing for his daily training session and went near to his father.
“Look at your brother.Have you noticed how much he wants to go out training with you? And have you noticed how he rides uphill? That boy will go far,even Guimard thinks it.I spoke to him the other day and he told me that,in all his life,he's seen just other 3 riders as strong as Andy. And these riders were Hinault,Lemond and Fignon“.
Frank didn’t say anything,just nodded his head.He knew that Andy was a strong boy and that sometimes he would push himself beyond prudence's limits rather than give in.At that point, Frank thought about the beginning of his career.He remembered his sufference in staying away from home and the period he spent in Italy with Stanga.He remembered the few motivations he had in that period and the desire of giving up cycling-a desire that he felt when some French ds told him that they didn’t need him in their teams,because “we can find riders as good as you everywhere here in France”.If Riis hadn’t arrived,Frank admitted,his life would have been completely different.
"The youngest boys",he said to his father while laughing,"always find a smooth road in front of them".
“Hey,come here”,he said to his brother after few seconds.”Let’s see if you’re really as strong as people say..." Since the 2 Schleck brothers started to race for the same team,people can look at them and immediately understand what "being brothers" means,although they are deeply different from one another.In fact Andy seems to find easy things that for other people are terribly hard,whereas Frank seems a solid,calm,simple and stubborn man that knows he will have to work very hard to achieve the goals that already shine in the future of his younger brother.
"After all,Andy’s always been a big angel",Frank says with a smile."I immediately realised that he was stronger than me,a rider understands it if another cyclist still has something to give when all the other guys are already riding at full gas or are very tired.I immediately saw his talent and,even if I made a lot of promises to my father,I never managed to keep him in check.I’m always afraid that he can fall and get hurt.And I don't envy him at all,he's my brother! Perhaps having him at my side gives me even more motivation.Of course I’ve got lots of personal dreams as well.This year for example I’d like to win the Liége,the Lombardy and arrive on the Tour podium.I want to fight for my dreams and so,even if they won’t come true,I won’t have any regret,because I’ll know that I did everything I could to make them become reality“.
Although he can speak Italian well,Frank prefers to give interviews in English because he feels more confident when he speaks that language.His English is fluent and he talks in a calm and harmonic way.The armchair slowly becomes a confessional and you realise that all the miles he rode during the winter and during the races have allowed him to reflect on lots of things.He watches you in a serene and direct way,he often smiles and he faces every topic in a relaxed way.He remains calm even when we tell him that,after Riis’ confession in 2007,his team risked to fail.
“What happened with Riis has been shock",he admits,"but we rallied all together and we started to talk.What should have we done? There were some people who were really happy because they thought that Csc Team was going to disappear.We heard them as well,but what could have we done with them? Actually,at that point we did the only thing that true men do when they have to face hard moments.We watched each other in the eyes.We called Bjarne and we asked him what was going on.He told us his story and,all together,we decided to go on.Being filled with indignancy or turning our backs on Bjarne would have been a very hypocrite thing to do.We were very united and managed to leave the past behind".
“We are the only ones that can leave problems behind,it is useless to wait for someone else to come and help us.Lots of people talk,but we’re the only team that has done something credible in the war against doping and in fact now lots of other teams are using our same methods.We’re out from the doping crisis because we accepted it.If we had let panic or emotions take over us,like lots of people in the cycling world do when some things happen,we wouldn’t have been here now. But behaving like that would have involved the destruction of years of hard work.Inside the team there are men and women who have a family,we couldn’t accept to see things end in this way,just because of a bad story that happened 12 years ago..."
(pic by BCullinan/Pez)

A look back on 2007: an interview with Frank Schleck about his brother Andy:

Since it seems that I won't get any interesting news at least until the 30th of November 2009 (the day on which Team Saxo Bank's boot camp begins),I've decided to post a very old interview with Frank Schleck.This interview was made by the Italian journalist Paolo Broggi (and saved on a hard disk by me) in June 2007,when me couldn't know that the 2007 Giro and the rider who came 2nd in it would have had all this influence on me.You won't believe it,but until 2007 I was a pretty normal girl.For example,in 2007 I wouldn't have been terribly shocked if I had found out that my best friend didn't know what colour the Tour de France leader jersey was (thing that I found out last month and that left me terribly shocked).And in 2007 I would have never asked my parents to bring me to see the final Giro stage as Christmas present (thing that I did yesterday).Anyway,back to the interview: it is old,it's true,but I find it pretty interesting.Of course some things have changed also for the Schleck brothers in the last 2 years (Frank has got a girlfriend and doesn't live with his parents anymore),but I hope you'll enjoy it anyway.

FRANK SCHLECK: MY BROTHER ANDY:
The "Giro revelation" title completely belongs to this tall and thin (186 cm for 66 kgs) Luxembourgish boy with a childish face.
Andy Schleck is just 21 year old and has finished his first Grand Tour with the white jersey on his shoulders:he's the best young rider.
To find out more about this young rider,we asked for help to the person that knows him better than anyone else,his brother Frank.That,by the way,is a very good cyclist as well: born in 1980, last year he won the Amstel Gold Race and the Alpe d'Huez stage at the Tour and this year he came in 3rd in the Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
Every day,during the first part of the Giro,Frank Schleck turned the tv at his home in Mondorf-le-Bains on in order to watch the Corsa Rosa with his parents.Everyday,during the second part of the Giro,he ran in his hotel after trying the Tour de France climbs or racing in Germany because he didn't want to miss his brother's race.
"No,it wasn't a surprise to me.I knew that Andy would have raced an incredible Giro d'Italia, even if this was his first Grand Tour.I saw him improving in a great way already during the Classics.In the Amstel he rode pretty well,then he improved of 25% in the Fleche,then he improved again in the Liege,that he raced in a great way and in which he sacrificed himself for me.And then he finally reached his top form after the Tour of Romandie.I believe he raced a great Giro,showing that he's never afraid of attacking.This means he's a true champion".
JOURNALIST: Do you and Andy train together?
FS: "Yes,we always train together.We work in a very intense way,we motivate each other and we also help each other when we have problems.And we really train hard,so hard that no one in Luxembourg wants to train with us anymore.But perhaps it's better this way,because this has made us become even more united".
J: Therefore you're more than brothers...
FS: "Yes,we are definitely more than brothers.We are great friends,we know each other very well,we know what the other needs,we're always together.I consider it a big advantadge to be able to train with Andy.
J: Was your father the one that made you love cycling?
FS: "My father was a pro rider,he was one of Luis Ocaña's helpers in the Bic Team and he also rode with Mercx and Anquetil,therefore we started to love cycling also because of him.Anyway nobody ever forced us to race and for many years we considered cycling as a simple way to have fun.I started racing when I was 13,Andy started when he was 11.
J: Did you win a lot of races when you were younger?
"Yes,and Andy won more than me.If my memory doesn't fail me,Andy won the Luxembourgish national title in every category he ran in.He kept on winning also when I came to Italy,in Enrico Zanardo's De Nardi Team.I stayed there 2 years and to me that was a very hard period. Btw,those 2 years really gave me a lot: I like Italy because of the passion that Italian people have for cycling.Our sport needs countries like Italy,with appasionate and expert tifosi.
J: Did you and Andy speak often during the Giro?
FS: "Often? Very often! We used to talk to each other on the phone twice in the morning,before of the stage,and 2-3 times in the evening.We always talk about everything:about the races,about trainings,about life and about our friends.Even outside of the cycling world we are always together,therefore we always have lots of things to talk about.
J: What are your hobbies?
FS "We like going hunting or fishing in the woods near our village.We're two normal guys with both feet down on Earth.We still live at our parents' house and we like simple things.
J: Do you give Andy lots of advice?
FS: "Sometimes I give him some advice,after all I'm more experienced than him,but at the end it's always Andy that decides.Every single person has to find their way and Andy found his very soon.
J: But are there any difference between he and you?
FS: "Yes,for example he likes chips,but I love pasta.I learned it from you Italians".
J: And from the "cyclistic" point of view,what are the differences between you and your brother?
FS: "I used to think I was better than him as a climber,but after the Giro...well,after the Giro I had to change my mind.During this year Liége,I was with Rebellin,Boogerd and other strong riders and on the Redoute Andy attacked.Man,everyone tried to recuperate because they thought that I had attacked and it took them more than some seconds to realise how things were actually going".
J: When will we see you racing together in a Grand Tour?
FS "Perhaps next year.We'll surely be a great couple.Andy and I,together at the Giro? It will be difficult.If the April Classics are a seasonal goal for you,just like they are for me,you can't race them and then run the Giro in May: you need a rest period after the April rces.If the Giro was in September,it would be easier to see us racing together in it".
J: Have you got a girlfriend?
FS: "Andy hasn't.Me...Well,let's say I'm free.
J: Last question to Frank Schleck: this time the question regards just you.What are your goals for this year's Tour?
FS: "My goal is a place in the Top 10,hopefully with a stage win".

Interview with Frank part 2:

Here's the second part of the interview with Frank that appeared 4 days ago on Luxembourg Wort.In this second part of the interview Frank says he'll be in Curaçao (yay!) and talks about his plans for the 2010 season and about the operation he underwent in September.
NB: Before of publishing the translation of the article (I had to translate it from German to Italian and from Italian to English,so please don't get angry at me if I I've made some mistakes!) I must say a bit "Thank you" to Ilaria (http://allezandy.blogspot.com/) for having sent me the whole article.Grazie 1000!

Here's the translation of the article:Six weeks after having undergone an operation,Frank's knee is ok again."I can move my leg without problems and I can also train.The swelling has disappeared and I don't feel pain anymore".
Before of starting the preparation for the 2010 season,the Schleck brothers have decided to allow themselves some other days of relax."After a season that was very stressful also under the mental point of view,I think it's very important to switch off for a while.I took advantadge from the operation because I've managed to have more time to do the things I usually don't do during the season,or that I do just few times because I don't have enough time.Right now there is a journey to the Caribbeans on my schedule for the next days",says Frank.Yesterday (29th october) in fact Frank drove to Amsterdam in order to take the airplane that will bring him to Curaçao,in the Netherlands Antilles.At the moment Andy Schleck is in the USA and will fly to Curaçao from the United States.The Schleck brothers,together with other riders (this year the organizators of the Curaçao Criterium have invited also Contador,Cavendish and Hushvod to take part in the race),will spend some days in the paradisiacal island of Curaçao,lay on the beach and relax before of taking part in the Curaçao Criterium (7th November),a race that Andy Schleck won last year.
From the 10th of November until the 30th of November the 2 brothers will be in Luxembourg. Then they'll go to the Fuerteventura Island on the 30th of November in order to take part in Saxo Bank's traditional boot camp.The brothers will be able to come back to Luxembourg after 2 weeks.During the first week of the boot camp the riders will have to face a series of proofs. During the following week instead they'll train normally.After spending the rest of December in Luxembourg,the Schleck brothers will face the beginning of the 2010 season.

"The first goals of the year are going to be the Ardenne classics.The second goal will be the Tour de France.The World Championships in Melbourne are a goal as well:it's always an honour to wear the jersey of the Luxembourg national team".
"This year we had our seasonal debut in the Tour of California,but next year this race will take place in May and so we'll probably have to start our season with an European race.The Mallorca Challenge (7-11 February) will probably be our first race of the year.We'll have a training camp in the Balearic Islands before of taking part in the Mallorca challenge and after that race we'll run the usual races we take part in during the spring.For example,we'll race the Paris-Nice.We haven't decided the complete schedule for 2010 yet,for example we aren't sure if we'll take part in the Tour of Flanders or in the Vuelta a Pays Vasco.Anyway,before of July we'll also go to see some Tour de France stages,although we still have to decide whether we'll go to see them before of the Tour de Suisse or after the Paris-Nice".
Frank talked about the 2010 Saxo Bank team as well."We're gonna have a very strong team also in 2010.Yes,Karsten Kroon and Kurt-Asle Arvesen were very important riders and they've decided to change team,but there are some very strong young riders that will close the hole left by Kurt and Karsten.Matti Breschel and Jakob Fuglsang for example will surely get even better in the next season.And I think that also the new entry Laurent Didier will integrate in the team without any problem.I also think that I'll be able to have an even bigger role in next year team.We've got a very strong team".

(Interview from Luxembourg Wort 30-10-09-Pic by Serge Waldbillig)