Two nice interviews with the Schleck brothers:

August is a strange month for cycling lovers. The Tour in fact is over, but other races have already tried to take its place in the afternoons of cycling supporters. Tour de Pologne, Tour of Portugal, Tour of Denmark, Eneco Tour... All these races have some good riders taking part in them, but they're usually considered just as a springboard for the Worlds (and for the Vuelta) .

This year the parcours of the Worlds doesn't look particularly difficult, so everyone is paying a lot of attention to the sprinters. Talking about sprinters: Romain Feillu has recently broken his collarbone, Cavendish and all his teammates have lost their main sponsor and Paolo Bettini is thinking about the Italian teams for Copenhagen. He's said that Bennati will be the team leader in the pro race, but he's also stated that Andrea Guardini (who, this year, got 9 victories in the pro category) is likely to become the captain of the U23 Italian team. Still talking about sprinters, Marcel Kittel and Peter Sagan have recently ruled the Tour de Pologne. Yesterday Marcel won the last stage, whereas Peter won the overall classification by crossing the finish-line in second. They both rejoiced as they crossed the finish-line and this created a very funny situation: two young riders with a bright future (and a great present), both rejoicing at the same moment, in the same race, by raising the same arm. Lovely.

However, given that I couldn't follow any of the above-mentioned races in a very careful way, and that imo it's still a long way to the Worlds, here I go with two interviews with the Schleck brothers, which our friend Claudia pointed out in her last comments.

First of all, some of you may know that my first post on this blog was an interview with both the brothers. Given that I still find it very interesting, here it is.  Since it was written in 2008, remember that some answers may not be that true anymore. However, enjoy it!!

INTERVIEW 1:

A face to face, frank and sincere, between two very strong riders, that make a whole country dream. They are the Schleck brothers: young, handsome and talented boys. Thanks to them, their parents, their team, their fans from all over the world can dream.A face to face like the “Iene”’s ones (ndr; “Le Iene”-”The hyenas”-is an Italian programme) between two polite boys that want to be "hyenas” just when they’re riding their bikes.
Name?
F:Frank
A:Andy
Date of birth?
F: 15th April 1980
A: 10th June 1985
Ideal weight?
F: 63 kg
A: 65 kg
Height?
F: 186 cm
A: 186 cm
When did you start racing?
F: I started racing when I was 13 year-old. I’ve been racing for the last 15 years.
A: I started when I was 12 year-old, but in a serious way just when I was 16.
What have you done of important in the world of cycling until now?
F: I’ve won an Amstel Gold Race and the Alpe d’Huezs stage in the 2006 Tour de France. I was also 3rd in the 2006 Pro Tour Ranking.
A: Last year I was 2nd in the Giro d’Italia and 4th in the Tour of Lombardy.
What are your goals for the 2008 season?
F: The Ardenne’s classics, the Tour de France, the Olympics, the Worlds and the Tour of Lombardy.
A: My schedule is almost the same: Ardenne’s classics, Tour de France and Olympics.After that race I’ll decide if I’ll continue until the Tour of Lombardy or not.
What is your dream’s race?
F: The Olympics.
A: The Tour de France
A race that you hate?
F: The Tour of Romandy, I don’t have any doubt about this. I really like Switzerland, but I’ve run that race for 3 times and for 3 times I had to retire because of a flu or of an injury.
A: Don’t tell me about the GP of Cholet. I took part in that race twice and I crashed both times. I’ve sworn it to myself: I’ll never take part in that race again.
Who are the most dangerous adversaries?
F: Bettini, Rebellin and Valverde.
A: Contador for the Grand Tours, Re­bellin for the classics. Valverde for both.
Your friends inside the peloton?
F & A: The best are our teammates Cancellara, Kroon, Voigt and O’Gra­­dy, but they’re not the only ones.
Your enemies?
F & A: We’ve got lots of adversaries but we haven’t got any enemy.
What kind of rider is your brother?
F: We’re very similar to each other, we both go very well in the classics and in the Grand Tours.
A: He’s very intelligent in every kind of race, he can improve in time trials, the only thing for which he doesn’t have talent is the sprint.
Something good about your brother’s personality?
F: He takes things easy, whereas sometimes I think too much.
A: I’m younger than him, but we’re very similar, so I think that when I’ll be his age I’ll be just like him, so I can’t say anything particularly good about his character.
A defect?
F: He’s too untidy.
A: Sometimes he’s too nervous.
Do you envy your brother because of something related to cycling?
F: No, we’re very similar.
A: No. If he was fast, I would have liked to be as fast as him, but he’s not fast, so I don’t envy him anything.
Where do you live?
F: In Mondorf, alone, where also Andy and my parents live.
A: I still live with my parents in Mondorf, but I’ve just bought a house and I’m moving there.
What’s your favourite country?
F: Luxembourg. I really like Italy, but if I lived there with my teammates, I would feel as if I were on a permanent training camp. I’m happier when I’m close to my friends and, first of all, to my family.
A: Luxembourg: I like the mentality and the way of living. But I put Italy at the 2nd place. It’s a very fascinating country.
Do you prefer blonde or dark haired women?
F: Dark haired.
A: Blonde.
What’s your favourite dish?
F: Pizza, fries and hamburgers.
A: French fries and hamburgers.
What’s your favourite sport besides cycling?
F: I like speedskating.
A: Ice-hockey. I played it until I got 17 and I was in the young national team.
Hobbies?
F: Hunting and fishing.
A: Fishing more than hunting.
Who was your hero when you were a child?
F: Johnny Cash and Ray Charles.
A: James Dean.
Your hero in cycling?
F: Bettini, Indurain & Rebellin.
A: Miguel Indurain, without any doubt.
What type of car do you have?
F: A Volkswagen Passat.
A: A Volkswagen Touran.
Politics: Left or Right?
F: Left. Our eldest brother, Steve, is a politician and he’s in the Luxembourgian Socialist Party.
A: Left.
Do you believe in God?
F: Yes. I’m not a fanatic, but I think people need to follow a trace during their life.
A: I’m a believer and a practising Christian.
What will you do when you give up cycling?
F: I love animals. I may do something for them in the future.
A: I hope I’ll have enough money to avoid doing a hard job. I'd like to live in a forest, inside nature, and I'd also like to travel around the world fishing. Fishing is one of my greatest passions.
What would you like to say to the Italian fans?
F: Sooner or later I’ll take part in the Giro d’Italia. I like your mentality, your passion, the big love you have for beautiful things and for cycling in particularly.
A: I want to come back at the Giro and I’m sorry I will not be able to come back already this year. However I’ll come back to win that race.

(Interview by Francesco Cerruti of 'Tuttobici')

After this look back in the past, and after an obvious question about the brothers' taste (Frankie likes dark-haired women and ended up with a blonde, Andy likes blonde women and ended up with a dark-haired one), here we go with a more recent interview , which I've just finished to translate. Enjoy!

INTERVIEW 2:

Tics and tricks for Andy Schleck: On the bike, in the hotel or at the table, the Luxembourgian has some little manias and rituals.
Andy Schleck isn't a monk in shorts. The night we met in Italy, you could tell from his breathe that he had just drunk a beer. We met on the night before a race, so that was pretty surprising. "I train hard to win, but I also enjoy life", Contador's main rival justified himself with a smile. Andy Schleck, 26, still can't choose between success and pleasure.

Schleck spends 6 months pro year travelling and he finds his peace in his house in Mondorf-les-Bains, a Luxembourgian village close to France. He lives in the same street as his brothers Steve and Frank, their parents and the Danish rider Jakob Fuglsang, a family friend. "As he lives in the flat above mine, we often see each other. He loves challenging me at Guitar Hero!", Andy says with a laugh.

Whereas some riders count the number of spaghetti in their plate, Andy has a very personal preparation to the Tour: his mother's French fries. "It has become a tradition", Andy says before admitting that the fries make him gain weight. "But that weight increase is due to the major amount of muscles in my legs, not to an increase of the fats in my body!", he laughs, delighted.

"He doesn't refuse a glass of champagne for a birthday, but Andy is a model of professionalism between March and September", his teammate Maxime Monfort says. "He enjoys life in the winter and in his off-peak periods, but that's what he needs to be at 110% for the Tour".Raised in a rural area, the Luxembourgian has always loved nature: he hunts regularly and he goes fishing in his pond on the Moselle. He usually catches pikes. "I'm the one who catches the fish, but it's my mother who cooks them," says the Epicurean single (ndr; we all know that OGL isn't single anymore, don't we?).

Andy really loves his parents, who live 200 meters far from him. At their home, in the room where Andy lived when he was a teenager, their parents have put all the medals and photos of his successes. "I wouldn't feel comfortable with all those things in my house. However, I'll make an exception: when I win the Tour, the trophy and the medal will end up in my house. I've already booked a place for them!"The Schleck brothers never leave each other. So when Frank, 31, abandoned the Tour in 2010, Andy suffered a lot because of it. "I missed Frank during the stages and especially before and after them. We need to talk, to make signs to each other. When he's not with me, I am worried for him. In March, for example, I was at Tirreno - Adriatico but I was only thinking of his crash in Paris - Nice. Without him, I'm not relaxed. "During the Tour, the brothers share a room and the little manias "of an old married couple," as Andy himself says. "Frank always sleeps by the window, I sleep next to the door."

As well as sharing hotel rooms, the brothers also share a child. Well, almost: Leea is the daughter of Frank, but Uncle Andy is completely crazy about her. "Andy almost spends more time than Frank with the little one," Johnny Schleck, the head of the clan, jokes. "In the evenings spent in hotels far from home, when Frank calls his wife and his daughter on Skype, the one who spends the most of the time time in front of the webcam is Andy!"Andy once had "a good luck necklace", but he lost it in the depths of the ocean during a holiday. During the Tour, he created a little reassuring routine which begins at breakfast: "Bread, a great cheese omelet and a lot of rice. I usually don't eat that much in the mornings, so I must make a big effort to eat a breakfast like that." On the team bus, Andy has a place in the back, between Fabian Cancellara and Stuart O'Grady, who are the two techno DJs of the team. "Techno is good for finding the race rythm". Every day after the stage, Andy authomatically dials the telephone number of his father. "I don't phone him to talk about the race, but to keep in touch with the real world. In the spring, we talked mostly about the Arabian revolutions." After that, it's massage time: the massage is accompanied by music. "It's my soigneur who chooses the songs. This year I really liked the Kings of Leon."The young team Leopard, who is "like a group of friends," often ends dinner with a glass of wine. "It doesn't damage the form. Actually, it's good for the health and for the morale," Andy, delighted to discover the French wines during the Tour, states.Johnny Schleck adds: "At Saxo Bank, Andy and Frank often discussed wines with Bjarne Riis, who has a great wine knowledge". From the Danish manager, the brothers inherited the immense desire to win. But still, this didn't become an obsession.

(Interview by Mickaël Caron - Le Journal du Dimanche)

Great Top 3 on Mur de Bretagne:

Philippe Gilbert has had a very good Tour de France so far. On Sunday he wore the yellow jersey - which he accompanied with dyed blonde hair and with a yellow wrist watch. On Monday instead he wore the green jersey, accompanied by a green wrist watch. And today, on his birthday, he wore the polka dots jersey, which he accompanied with a white wrist watch. But still, today wasn't a very good day for PhilGil. In fact, although he was one of the favourites of the day, he didn't manage to outsprint Evans on the first uphill finish of the Tour. And to say that it was even his birthday, poor Phil... But still, I'm sure he won't get depressed by this.

The epilogue of today's stage probably surprised many supporters. Not only Phil the Cannibal didn't win, but Thor Hushovd managed to keep the yellow jersey. And guess who won? Cadel Evans, who right now has become one of the most dangerous contenders for the final victory. However, what impressed me the most today was the way Evans got his victory: by outsprinting Contador in the very last meter of race.

Yes, Contador. I thought he could have done something good today, especially because he wanted to give a strong signal to those who have already counted him out of the race for the podium. Therefore, he was in the first positions of the peloton even before the start of the Mur de Bretagne.

Until that moment, few things had happened. Cunego had crashed before the beginning of the race, LL Sanchez had punctured and Johnny Hoogerland (together with Izagirre, Kadri, Erviti and the engineer Jeremy Roy) had gone on a breakaway. A pretty normal day at the Tour, in other words.

The few particular things to point out this afternoon were the funny pursuit of the peloton starring Romain Feillu in the last kms of race and, most important, Van De Walle's retire from the race. Jurgen abandoned the competition as a consequence of his crash on the first day of race and is now on his way to Belgium to have his left aductor examined.

Actually, Italian spectators had another thing that made today's stage pretty peculiar. In fact, Rolf Sorensen spent a few minutes of his busy afternoon in the van of Italian tv, commenting the race and remembering his goold old times in the peloton as a teammate of Davide Cassani. 

As predictable, as soon as I saw Rolf I started screaming: 'Susanne, where are you??' and I also started to think about how Sorensen managed to escape from the van of the Danish tv in order to go chatting with Cassani. 

After some minutes, Rolf had to abandon the Italian comment of the race because his colleagues were looking for him. But still, before going he said that Danish tv is doing a great job with broadcasting the Tour and added that they're broadcasting it all. One of the Italian chronists let him say those things but, as soon as Rolf disappeared from his sight, said that, in reality, no one broadcasts more hours of race than the Italian tv. Now me expects Rolf to give a reply to this statement in the next few days ;)

Anyway, back to the stage. In the last 10 kms of race, LT took the lead of the peloton. In the meanwhile, also Mollema showed himself at the head of the race.

When the final climb began, everyone could see Contador getting closer and closer to the head of the peloton which, in that moment, was controlled by the Lotto guys (Vanendert, Sieberg and Lang did a great job this afternoon). Unfortunately, LT wasn't visible anymore, although Frankie managed to reappear at the head of the race very soon. But still, Andy had already lost his way in the peloton and so, when Contador attacked in the steepest part of the climb, the young Luxembourgian leopard couldn't do anything but watch.

Gilbert, on the other hand, immediately jumped on Alberto's wheel and was followed by Evans, Kloden, Frankie (yay!), Uran, Samu Sanchez, Vinokourov, Van den Broeck and Hushovd (!!). Then it was Uran's turn to attack, although his try didn't have any luck. Therefore Contador tried escaping again, but he was followed by the other riders also on this occasion. As a consequence the race ended in a sprint, which saw Cadel Evans getting the victory right in front of Alberto. Alberto who, thinking he had won, raised his arms to the sky before being frozen by a bad stare coming from Evans (I'm exaggerating).

Talking about Contador's second placement, I think we can all say that it was caused also by the fact that he kept his hands on the upper part of his handlebar while sprinting - a beginner's mistakes, according to Cassani, which made him miss the stage victory.

Scrolling down the stage classification, we can see that third this afternoon was a great Vinokourov, 6th was a super Hushovd (the rider who impressed me the most this afternoon, there are no words to describe what he did!) and 7th was Frank Schleck. All those riders had the same time as the winner.

Wiggins and Basso, on the other hand, crossed the finish-line 6" after Evans, whereas Horner, Leipheimer and Schleck finished the stage 8" after the first 10 riders.

Of course, everyone has already started to say that today's stage showed us that Contador is very strong and that Andy Schleck is really weak. Personally, I feel like underlining the fact that Andy doesn't like short climbs, so he doesn't usually ride that well on them. But still, I must admit that, imo, OGL made a mistake at the start of the climb: he wasn't in the first positions of the peloton. As a consequence, when Conti attacked, he couldn't follow him.

I found Andy's wrong position inside the peloton a bit strange, since LT had been at the head of the group for some kms before the start of a climb. But still, all of a sudden, it became impossible to spot Leopard riders at the head of the bunch. In the following seconds, Frank had to struggle hard to go back to his original place, whereas Andy didn't make it. Actually, I'd like to know what caused the guys to get so scattered through the peloton in the last kms of race.

Anyway, although Contador gave a good signal, I think we can say that today's stage wasn't completely negative for los Schlecks. In fact, Frank was simply fantastic, whereas Andy (in spite of everything) could limit his time loss in a great way.

(Pic by Sirotti)