Andy Schleck “is not serious enough” to win the Tour de France, Bjarne Riis
Andy Schleck’s former team manager, Bjarne Riis, has suggested that Andy needs to work harder for the coming Tour de France in order to take the overall victory. He stated that Andy “is not serious enough” for the grand tour.
Andy came close to the victory on three different occasions. He finished second during 2009, 2010 and 2011 Tour de France.
Riis mentioned that there are no doubts about Andy’s abilities but he also has a tendency of losing his concentration at crucial moments.
Andy was looking good during the Tour de France 2009 as he finished second to Alberto Contador after the final general classifications.
He finished second with 4 minutes and 11 seconds behind Contador and also won the young rider’s classification.
It was almost the same situation as Andy had to beat Alberto to make it his first Grand Tour win at the Tour de France 2010. However, the Spaniard proved too good for the Schleck and won the race to make it two in a row.
Andy finished 39 seconds behind Contador and achieved the second position in the final general classification, along with young rider’s classification.
He wore the yellow jersey for six consecutive days, stage 10-15 and won stage 8 and stage 17 at the Tour de France 2010.
Bjarne Riis said, “He may never reach his great goal of winning the Tour de France because he is not serious enough. But he is still young, and he becomes more mature with age. His problem is just that he races in the period when Alberto Contador also races
- and he finds he can't beat Alberto”.
The 26-year-old had yet another chance during the Tour de France 2011. He successfully managed to overcome his old rival, Contador with a huge lead of almost 4 minutes.
However, his efforts could not win him the tour. It was the Australian rider, Cadel Evans, who shattered Andy’s dreams by winning the contest with a lead of 1 minute and 34 seconds.
The Luxembourg cyclist is working on his skills against the clock as there is almost a 100 kilometre of time trialling during the Tour de France 2012.
His main rivals for the coming Tour de France are the current winner Cadel Evans and two-time champion Alberto Contador, provided the latter clears the doping allegations.
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