luxroadie

Ok - I live in Lux. Have for seven years. I'm a cycling fan since before I can remember. I grew up in NYC and knew more about Sean Kelly than any other sport (besides the Yankees - I lived for those teams).

But I'll say it now - loud and proud. Andy and Frank Schleck are the biggest bunch of wannabies and cry babies. Yes - decent palmares. Yes Andy is the latest in a line of many 'back door winners' of the TdF (and placed SECOND in his first damn Giro ... think of his WASTED potential!!!).


Still - the truth hurts but it will set you free. Neither Frank or Andy have it. No fire in the belly. No "Lance like focus". They are great riders. Amazing ambassadors to cycling. Huge influences on tons of kids in Lux who look up to them the way kids look up to Jeter or Kobe - they give kids in Lux/Bel/France hope, dreams, targets.

But as pros they don't have it - and now I'll admit never will. Frank cares more about being with Andy (hence my acceptance and willful use of the term Frandy). Frank ditched his PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBLITY to put a thumb in Bruyneel's eye. Johan must be thinking of ways to sack Frank or Frandy together.

What was admirably at first (brotherly support etc) moved to weird (as in Angelina Jolie tongue kissing her brother) to beyond weird.

Stephen Roche can waste time with articles about Cavendish - but can't spare ink to comment about a rider whose entire team held him as a (rightly so) contender but who abandons to "train with my brother - a better use of my time"?

Drugs may keep away sponsors - attitudes like Frandy's keep away fans. I've bought Frandy a beer - at 1am in Lux city the day prior to a race in Spain. When he told me that I actually felt like I had let down the country (by helping Frandy avoid his work duties). Of course he raced - with excuses - and didn't do much to show for the cost of the trip.

Lance once shat on a teammate for having 10 espressos during a ride. Taught him a lesson by practically making him puke that week riding in the mountains near Gerona. Frandy - he/they don't know that level of commitment.

Frandy reads these posts - at least the elder. I hope this is the one that catches his/his/his eye. I hope it sparks something in him/him. Because it is clear Bjarne Riis nor Johan Bruyneel can/have/ever will.


Frandy reminds me of the other sports-waste-of-life in my fan collection (I left NY in 1985 and moved to Boston where I became a member of Red Sox Nation). Frandy is the cycling equivalent of Josh Beckett.

100% direct comparison - Frank and Josh. Both with potential but who act like petulant children - who act as if they are entitled to millions.

So - addi Frandy. Go fishing or man up and ride.

ultraman6970

To me, they just suck, even more now with the last incident in the Giro.

Wonder what cancellara thinks about them...

I dont like lance but i give him that he was tough and had dedication for his profession... lance wanted a come back to get in shape again, the TdF would be a good one just to teach a good lesson to the "care bears." I was JB i would leave them both out of the Tour... in a matter of fact with the demostration voigt and grandpa horner gave to everybody you can't leave them off the roster for this year's TdF.

reef58

Funny how the second best TDF finisher for the past 3 years "just sucks" as it was put. Can the same be said for all of the other riders except the winner? Andy is young and he is a poor time trialer, but a good climber. I doubt he will ever be good at time trials. Maybe one day he will be adequate, but he is tall and lanky.

He was pretty close to winning outright in 2010, but he screwed up on the shift. Had that not happened it would have been close, but AC was a bit stronger than Andy.

Bottom line he is very talented, makes some mistakes, and last year was way too focused on Contador even after it was clear he was done. He forgot about Cadel. Maybe he will learn.

I will admit the brotherly relationship seems a bit weird.

ultraman6970

Bacciagalupe

You don't get to 2nd place in the most prestigious racing event in the world -- twice -- and once, by one of the narrowest margins in Tour history -- by not wanting to win.

Back in the 60s, there was an infamous rivalry between Jacques Anquetil and Raymond Poulidor. Anquetil was conservative and elegant; today we might see him as lacking the drive and focus to win. Poulidor was aggressive, wore his suffering on his sleeve, and was more popular. Their rivalry was so great, that in Tours where Anquetil knew he couldn't win, he would go out of his way to screw Poulidor out of a victory.

Poulidor never won the TdF; Anquetil was the first man to win five. Who would you rather be?


I don't see any reason why Frank has a "professional responsibility" to go for a walk. He made a decision years ago to put his own career on the back-burner in order to advance Andy's chances. Maybe he made the wrong choice, but it's his choice to make.

It's possible that Brunyeel can't stand the Schlecks; perhaps he has good reason to feel that way; perhaps RS should never have merged with LT. Regardless, they're stuck with each other, and wound up with a lot of great riders on one team. Andy Schleck is one of the few cyclists who can actually match Contador on the mountains, and with Contador out, the 2012 Tour is RSNT's to lose.


How is acting like a raging a****** and treating your lieutenants like garbage an example of "commitment?"

ultraman6970

The issue in question are not their abilities but their wuzzyness. For the record any of you remember when contador signs AS to stop with his hand?? That whole stage was weird because AS was like nervous waiting for something to happen and when it happens looks like he forgot the script and AC told him to stop and he did, was pretty weird... even if you guys see the Alpe d'Huez 2011, that one was weird as well, because you can't let AC to just go like that ever but they did... AC was not doing well but what if he was coming back to form just that day??

The other main issue is that both relies in the mountains to win, the problem is that pretty much all the TdF winners are all arounders. Since they dont want to improve nothing else than the mountains there is a big attitude problem that is very annoying. Clear examples of this, Lucho Herrera back in the day did not TT neither rode in the flats, but the next year he was TTing pretty decently for a guy with his limited abilities.

The other more clear example is contador himself, he did not TT either. After a year under JB he was TTing with the bests, Sagan won a climb stage and had several flats in the ToC and he did not complain about it, he climbed and chased back the peloton basically alone to win the stages w/o saying a single word. Then you have the youngest of all... Taylor P... he hit the deck like 5 times in a row, he has been racing with stitches in his ankle and still in the race, he did not complain as any of these two sissies do all time and for everything... it is just plain annoying for the fans. Ok you don;t know how to shift the bike... but dont complain about it, is not our fault or other racers fault, nor the mechanic's fault either.

...is too cold for me!!!...my @ss hurt!!!...this downhill is too steep and that scares me, would you please take this down hill off for next year so I could look good???... I don't know how to shift, alberto why you did not wait for me or attack me when my bike is working ok next time??? ...I don't TT, that's why i did lose time!!!... Rasmussen was trying to delay me when we all hit the deck, that's not fair :...(!!!! and the last one... Oh looks like my shoulder hurts a tiny bit, i'm going to leave the whole team hung because my little brother needs me to train for the TdF next month, byee... say JB don't get mad ok?, my little brother needs me... byeeee...

Plain wussies man...

curiouskid55

wtf has andy been doing since he dropped out of his last big race? Whats wrong with him? sick? injured? has he been racing ? i search velo news and only get stories from 2011. No clue what Linus G has been doing all year either. Thr idiots running big time cycling think its a great idea to sit down the greatest current rider (AC) and now #2 (AS) is off the radar? What is going on in the european peloton? Everyone constantly sick or injured. Gilbert? Cadel? AC? AS? Thor? Is every star in racing spending the whole season sittiing on a toilet with diareaha? Between injuries and illness will the tour be all B squads?

ultraman6970

BMC is pretty bad this year, looks like the whole team is just tired so doubt they will do something in the TdF. As for the other guys you mentioned are really with the shiatzzz seated in the toilet 80% of the time. Makes no sense to me either.

Commodus

eh, I don't know how whiny they really are. I think they just get a lot more press than most others.

I'm not going to sit here in the air conditioning and criticize Frank for pulling out either. He's injured, I don't know how bad it is. I don't think anyone on here does either.

Bacciagalupe

Again, it seems like people voiced a similar distaste for Anquetil, who did not attack, controlled the mountains, was booed by the public, and won the TdF 5 times.

Not to mention attacking the entire peloton on the Galibier required some pretty big stones.


Most of the peloton, including Cadel Evans, made the exact same mistake as Andy: They didn't realize Contador was cooked. Most of the other riders figured it out and/or gambled on it days before Andy did.

And yes, iirc on one stage Schleck and Contador did work together briefly, much in the same way Contador and Sammy Sanchez worked together on several stages. Such is racing.


Yes, TT's and descents are definitely problematic. Yet despite those weaknesses, the guy keeps coming in second, often by narrow margins.


I really don't see the Schlecks being "wussy." Let's not forget that Frank had surgery on his shoulder in 2010, after crashing hard on the pavé during the Tour de France. (I'm pretty sure if you smashed your shoulder and required surgery two years ago, and dislocated it again this week, you wouldn't be on your bike -- you'd be begging for Oxycontin.) Meanwhile, Giro withdrawals include Pozzatto (broken wrist), Kennaugh (gluteus muscle pull), not to mention Goss, Renshaw, Bos and Haedo (they weren't even injured... they're just sprinters).

And I have to tell you, it really amusing to see people moan and whine about a pair of cyclists who allegedly moan and whine. Pot, kettle, black...

hyhuu

Calling him whiny if you want but a wuzz??? Really?? I can't imagine anyone riding in tDF a wuzz let alone the one who podiumed.

Keith99

Few thought Anquetil a wuss. An Arrogant bastard perhaps. When one looks at his accomplishments, how he did it and what he cared about he was basically Lance.

And he did a better job than Lance did. Anquetil kept Poulidor from ever wearing yellow. Not at the end of the TDF, ever, not one single stage. Lances foil actaully won the TDF once and wore yellow a few times.

Wildwood 

+1
Have you ever had a new boss forced upon you when you thought you had things perfectly in control? Isn't any fun, maybe even de-motivating.
No, much of this problem is chemistry (me thinks) between JB & Frandy.
Makes for somewhat interesting drama.

H

papawoody

<a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&amp;v=7KSmE2u3rKo" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&amp;v=7KSmE2u3rKo">

ultraman6970

Genius!

slcbob

papawoody, that clip made my day. I haven't seen bike parody even close to that since the days of the Kaiser Jan MySpace page, and I think that eclipsed them in one fell swoop.

seanthebear

rubber dinghy rapids......that was genius. "At least we still have Jens Voigt. We'll send him on the attack everyday and he can eat small animals in front of the cameras".

reef58

That video rocks

ultraman6970

The most incredible is that he will be doing stuff like that every single day. For RS to win the TdF this year they need to start chasing from day one, since pretty much all the GC guys can climb and TT better than any of the bros, they can't let them go in the mountains either. All the GC guys can let any of the bros go for not so much time but Radio shack doesnt have that advantage at all. Is going to be interesting.

luxroadie

FRANDY! "It's ok Andy - Kim is a strong man" - LOVE IT!!!!!!!

eddiepliers 

I loved that part!

papawoody

lol that video is chock full of little gems ! funny every time ....

benlees

It is amazing how many different topics have been "explored" by using that footage.