FriendlyFred

Watching the Prologue this morning - during the prerace chatter from the Versus announcers, they did a piece on the mess that is Radio Shack and mentioned Frank Schleck had outright told team management he didn't want the responsibility of being the team leader. Did anyone else hear that? With Andy Schleck out, Frank is the logical choice as the team's GC man. Who else is there? Chris Horner and Kloden are both too old and don't have any realistic chance to win or even podium. I had always liked Frank much better than whiny Andy, and had hoped with Andy out, Frank would go for it and really ride for himself, for once. Oh well, some people are leaders and some people are followers.

Wildwood 

It may be the Leader/Follower thing, or maybe nobody on the team wants to support him, or maybe the relationship with mgmt has killed his ambition. Ever feel jerked around?

Whatever the reason, it is a shame Frank didn't step up. I would agree that Horner & Kloeden are long shots to be top ten. Stage wins are the only hope for disfunctional RadioShack/Leopard/Nissan.

DLBroox

Can a guy that is that pitiful at time trials be a real contender for the GC anyway?

cbuddy2005

Not worth a terd w/o his brother to plan two-against-ones in the mountains.

DLBroox

It will be revealing won't it?

ruindd

Frank would have to really kill it in the mtns to stand much of a chance this year, there's just too much TT. His TT has gotten a lot better relative to how it was. He showed pretty good form in the Tour de Suisse. Him and Andy have been making more and more very aggressive moves on big climbing stages. I would guess that Johan has been trying to get them to race to their strengths (climbing). Frank made that big attack it TdS and andy made that ridiculous attack last year in the TdF (and won the stage). Maybe everyone will let frank go on a mtn day because they know they can make back time on the TT. The only reason Cadel won the tour last year is because he finally manned up and chased down Andy when he attacked a climb. In the end cadel was the only one that could actually chase down Andy and he got himself yellow because of it. If Cadel/Wiggins have trained too much for TT and not climbing, Frank might have a chance to attack a long way out and get enough time.

I didn't hear Frank's quote today, so I can't say anything about that. Cyclists usually don't show their cards until the last moment though. They always say that they aren't sure about their form and that they don't know how they'll do. Frank might just be playing coy so he doesn't get marked out.

DXchulo

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/schl...tour-de-france

Lots of dumb quotes in there, but this one says the most.

metabike

Not too surprising when you consider what Bjarne Riis had to say about Frank in his memoir.

gear

Just imagine how all the domistiques (who would love to get a chance to lead a team) view Frank's attitude.

reef58

What did he say?

Picchio Special

It may also have to do with the stick Frank took from Bruneel earlier in the season. He just may not be that interested in being the guy whose responsibility it is to bail Johan out.

diphthong

think their gc chances are cooked. kom and team overall are possibilities and think their best potential lies in attacking/animating on the medium mtn and high mtn stages. don't think that any of the other teams will take any of radio shack's riders gc chances seriously unless kloden finds himself 1.5-2 minutes or more up due to crashes, bad weather, opportunistic break, etc...

metabike

Basically that when facing critical situations, Frank was a lackadaisical rider who had to be cajoled into going on the offensive. His attitude wasn't hidden and didn't lend itself to garnering "to the end" support from his mates. I will add a caveat: Riis came across as someone with a lot of hard feelings and grudges towards a number of people, so this could just be sour grapes based on his bitterness at the Schlecks jumping to Leopard Trek.

reef58

Thanks for the reply!

I could see that with Frank, but I don't know him, so it is speculation. The brothers are talented, but do seem odd.

squeegy200

Did I see Chris Horner bring Frank back to the peloton in stage 1?

What was that about?

Sea Green Sky

He needs a good smack from Merckx or somebody. Some of today's cycling "stars" are just whiny little b*tches compared to the hard men of the previous century. Thank goodness we still have guys like Jens, Voeckler, Hoogerland, etc. in the peloton.

ultraman6970

Was about Horner being too nice as always.

Keith99

Perhaps they would realize he has a brain.

Felice Gimondi had very similar concerns going into the 1965 TDF. But Gimondi was a lot more aggressive in his concerns. He refused the position until he had a contract for the next year.

gear

So you think Frank is holding of on going for GC because he wants a longer contract with Radio Shack? I don't think so.

dstrong 

Thanks to Fabian's tremendous Prologue, Radio Shack actually looks like a team that has its stuff together...for now. They've rallied around the yellow, keeping him out of trouble, while keeping themselves safe also. They haven't a chance in hell for GC...Frank would have to have 10 - 15 minutes on the other contenders...but for the casual observer, watching Fabian and team in yellow day after day makes 'em look pretty good. They aren't the team of controversy that began the tour.

Keith99

Hardly,

But he could still have a conern about being made into a scapegoat. A well founded concern considering other things JB has done recently.

DiabloScott

Perhaps Frank will accept his role as GC leader if RS lets him OUT of his contract for next year. It's a strange new world.

curiouskid55

Vesus? do you live in a time warp?

seanthebear

I think Frank's off the case. Pending the TT results its very likely Zubeldia will be the new GC leader for Radioshack. Hardly surprising since he's going great guns. They'll maybe let Frank carry some water.

Shifty

Wow, FS was no where to be found today, sitting at 16th place. Jens V was there to pull him to the front, but Frank missed the train. Hat's off to Jens, what a strong ride.