Andy Schleck a clear favourite for 2011 Tour
Andy Schleck comes from a cycling family. He and his older brother Frank won the national road cycling championships of their home country of Luxembourg together this year, with Andy winning the time-trial competition and Frank winning the road race, a feat
they previously accomplished in 2005, Andy’s first year as a professional. Their father Johnny and grandfather Gustav both raced the Grand Tours in their lifetimes.
Andy Schleck, two-time Tour de France runner-up and three-time best young rider, has named himself as a favourite for the 2011 Tour.
“I like this course,” he said. “The four uphill finishes suit me. Well, this year’s Tour did suit me as well. I can’t say the next one has been made for me, but it’s a Tour for climbers, so it’s good for me. The cobblestones made the 2010 Tour de France
special but that will be replaced by the wind in Vendée and Brittany. We have to remember that some riders have lost the Tour at the team time trial. I’m not afraid of the traps of the first week though. When I go to the Tour de France, it’s for winning.”
Team manager Brian Nygaard has confirmed that the route is extremely well-suited for the rider and that the debut season for the new Luxembourg cycling project could be a Tour-winning one. The manager was with the Schlecks and several other future team-mates
of theirs, most of them transferring from Saxo Bank, at the unveiling of the 2011 Tour route in Paris last week.
“I would be bullshitting if I said this wasn’t the perfect parcours for him,” said Nygaard. “It’s still nine months to go and a lot can happen in that time, but if you look at the parcours he as an athlete couldn’t ask for more. We have to be satisfied.
We won’t downplay his role as a favourite.”
Nygaard has gone so far as to make the bold suggestion that someday Andy and Frank Schleck might stand together on the podium at the end of the Tour de France. In 2010, Frank crashed out of the Tour after breaking his collarbone in the early cobbled stages,
so it’s anybody’s guess how he will perform next year.
The 30-year-old elder brother won the Tour de Suisse this year and finished in the top-five in the Tour in 2008 and 2009, having worn the yellow jersey for two days in the former and won a stage in the latter.
“The goal is to win the Tour de France. The dream is to get the two men on the podium in Paris,” said Nygaard to Sporten.dk. “You dream at night, you achieve the goals by day. It is a special scenario that would have both Andy and Frank on the podium. We
would not sacrifice the victory for it, but the possibility is there.”
The team’s senior sports director, Kim Anderson, is being a bit more careful of building too much expectation, fully aware that it’s rare for a team to take immediate results in its first season.
"My philosophy is that of course there is a lot of pressure on us, with more to come, but we must be careful not to let it run away with us,” said Andersen. “If you work through it 100 percent and coach riders properly, it will come, even if it might not
happen in the first week."
The team’s final line-up is yet to be released, but Nygaard has stated that it is primarily being built for the Tour. A strong classics squad was announced this week as was the full management staff, but the team’s title has not. Whether it will be titled
after a primary sponsor or funded by a pool and known as Pro Team Luxembourg is yet to be confirmed.
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