Frank Schleck preparing to lead Team RadioShack-Nissan in Jakob Fuglsang absence
Team RadioShack-Nissan was aiming to ride the Giro d’ Italia under the watchful leadership of Jakob Fuglsang.
However, Jakob’s crash during a training ride ahead of the Tour de Romandie has ruled him out of contention for the Italian race.
His exclusion from the race created an alarming situation for the Belgian team and it decided to give the leadership roles to the elder Schleck brother, Frank.
Schleck has rode the Giro before and finished at the 42nd overall position during the 2005 edition of the race.
He was not mentally prepared for such a big responsibility but has to accept the decision made by his team.
Frank told Le Quotidien, “It was a big surprise for me because I didn’t expect to have to replace Jakob”.
“Since 2006, I’ve had the habit of taking a week off after the classics and then preparing for the Tour de France by way of the Tour of Luxembourg and the Tour de Suisse”.
The cyclist started training on Saturday afternoon, right after he was informed about Fuglsang’s condition, and that he had to lead the team in Italy.
The Luxembourg professional cyclist has started training for the first Grand Tour race of the year but has also warned that he might not be at the best of forms during the early stages of the race.
The 32-year-old is currently ranked amongst the favourites to secure an overall victory at the Giro.
The cyclist has noted that he has not registered any wins in the season yet and therefore is not very confident ahead of the Italian race.
“I’m being classed among the favourites for this Giro because of my palmares, but I shouldn’t be ranked as a favourite”.
“But I’m the leader of the team, and like I said, I’ll do everything to figure well in this Giro”.
Frank’s major goal was to ride the Tour de France in support of his brother Andy Schleck and is still determined to ride the French Grand Tour later on.
He occupied the third overall spot at the most recent version of the French Grand Tour with his brother Andy occupying the second position.
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