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Andy Schleck

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Andy Schleck
Schleck at the 2013 Tour de Suisse
Personal information
Full nameAndy Raymond Schleck
Born (1985-06-10) 10 June 1985 (age 39)
Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
Height1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Weight68 kg (150 lb; 10 st 10 lb)[1]
Team information
Current teamRetired
DisciplineRoad
RoleRider
Rider typeClimbing specialist
Amateur teams
2004VC Roubaix
2004Team CSC (stagiaire)
Professional teams
2005–2010Team CSC
2011–2014Leopard Trek
Major wins
Grand Tours
Tour de France
General classification (2010)
Young rider classification (2008, 2009, 2010)
3 individual stages (2010, 2011)
Giro d'Italia
Young rider classification (2007)

One-day races and Classics

National Time Trial Championships (2005, 2010)
National Road Race Championships (2009)
Liège–Bastogne–Liège (2009)

Andy Raymond Schleck (pronounced [ˈɑndi ˈʀɑɪmont ˈʃlæk]; born 10 June 1985) is a Luxembourgish former professional road bicycle racer. He won the 2010 Tour de France, being awarded it retroactively in February 2012 after Alberto Contador's hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.[2] He has also been the runner-up at the Tour twice; in 2009 and 2011. He is the younger brother of Fränk Schleck, also a professional rider between 2003 and 2016. Their father Johny Schleck rode the Tour de France and Vuelta a España between 1965 and 1974.

Early years and family

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Andy Schleck was born in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, and is the youngest of Gaby and Johny Schleck's three sons. His older brother Fränk Schleck was also a cyclist on Trek Factory Racing, and his oldest brother Steve Schleck is a politician in Luxembourg. Andy's father, Johny Schleck, is a former professional cyclist and rode the Tour de France at the service of 1968 winner Jan Janssen and 1973 winner Luis Ocaña, and also managed to finish in the top 20 twice: 19th in 1970 and 20th in 1967. He won a stage in the 1970 Vuelta a España and the Luxembourg National Championships. Johny's father, Gustav Schleck, also contested events in the 1930s.[3]

Career

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Amateur career

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Andy Schleck joined the VC Roubaix cycling club in 2004, and caught the attention of Cyrille Guimard, a sports director who became famous as the directeur sportif for several Tour de France winners, including Bernard Hinault, Laurent Fignon, Lucien Van Impe and American Greg LeMond. Guimard described Schleck as one of the biggest talents he had seen and compared him to Laurent Fignon.[3][4]

Still an amateur, Schleck won the 2004 Flèche du Sud stage race at 18. As the Danish national team were in the race, word spread to the Danish Team CSC manager Bjarne Riis. Riis asked Fränk, already on Team CSC, about his brother, and Andy started as a stagiaire for Team CSC on 1 September 2004.[5]

Team CSC (2005–2010)

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2005–2008

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Schleck secured a professional contract with Team CSC in 2005, and made his debut in a ProTour race at age 19, in the 2005 Volta a Catalunya.

Schleck at the 2008 Tour de France

He and Fränk shared the 2005 National Championships, Fränk taking the road race and Andy the individual time trial. In 2006, Schleck crashed in the GP Cholet and took an eight-week break before returning for the Volta a Catalunya in May. In July, a few days after his brother won the Alpe d'Huez stage of the Tour de France, Andy won the major mountain stage in the Sachsen Tour, followed by the final stage, finishing 23rd overall.

In 2007, he won the young rider classification in the Giro d'Italia and was second in the general classification behind Danilo Di Luca. He finished fourth at the Giro di Lombardia after helping his brother Fränk, who crashed with six kilometres to go.[6]

In 2008, Schleck finished 4th in the Liège–Bastogne–Liège. His success continued in the Tour de France, in which he finished 12th overall, winning the young rider classification ahead of Roman Kreuziger and helping CSC win the team classification and Carlos Sastre the maillot jaune.

2009

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In 2009 he achieved the biggest victory of his career at that point, when a strong April culminated with an impressive victory in Liège–Bastogne–Liège, as he became the first winner of the race from Luxembourg since Marcel Ernzer in 1954.[7] A few days before he had finished runner-up in La Flèche Wallonne.

Schleck wearing the white jersey at the 2009 Tour de France; he leads Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador during the climb of Mont Ventoux.

In the Tour de France, he finished the race in second place, behind Alberto Contador and ahead of Bradley Wiggins, along with finishing Stage 17 in 3rd place behind his brother Fränk Schleck, who won the stage, and Contador. He again won the young rider classification in the process.

2010

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Schleck at the 2010 Tour de France; he is wearing the white jersey of the young rider classification leader.

In the Tour de France, he was much closer to the victory – against Alberto Contador again – but took what was at the time second place (by 39 seconds) and won the young rider classification for the third time in a row. Schleck was involved in a controversial incident on the Port de Balès during stage 15 while wearing the maillot jaune and attempting to extend his lead. He was riding with incredibly good form and with 24 km to go Schleck attacked at the front of the group of favorites dropping some riders but the main favorites contained this initial attack. With 22 km to go he attacked again and initially there was no response from his rivals but almost immediately his chain fell off.[8] His main rival for the Tour, Alberto Contador, did not stop even though he likely knew that Schleck had a mechanical issue and had not cracked. Samuel Sánchez and Denis Menchov attacked as well leaving Schleck behind as Contador took the lead from Schleck. Some sections of the media saw Contador's behaviour as unsporting and felt he should have allowed Schleck to regain the lost time. However, some sections of the media and members of the peloton did not have a problem with Contador's attack. The incident also produced the iconic quote "If you draw your sword and you drop it, you die", from Ryder Hesjedal.[9] Schleck lost 39 seconds on that stage in the mountains, the same number of seconds by which he eventually lost the Tour de France. Schleck was only the second man to ever win the white jersey for best young rider 3 times; the first was Jan Ullrich who won between 1996 and 1998. He also won two mountain stages, and rode in the yellow jersey for six days.

In February 2012 after Contador's CAS hearing Schleck was retroactively awarded the 2010 Title.[10]

Leopard Trek (2011–2014)

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On 29 July 2010, Schleck and his brother Fränk announced their departure from Team Saxo Bank at the end of 2010. They formed a brand-new Luxembourg-based team with former Saxo Bank director Kim Andersen.[11] Alberto Contador was hired to replace Andy Schleck as part of a two-year contract signed with Team Saxo Bank.[12][13][14] In October 2010, the management of the new Luxembourg team revealed the team's website, labeled Leopard True Racing, leading to speculation that the team would race under that name.[15][16] The team's name, was later announced by Jakob Fuglsang as Leopard Trek.[17]

2011

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Schleck at the 2011 Tour de France

In April 2011, Schleck finished third in Liège–Bastogne–Liège. He then won the mountains classification of the Tour de Suisse. In the Tour de France, Schleck had a slow start but came to the mountains 5th overall. Through the Pyrenees Andy moved up to 4th overall. After losing almost 2 minutes on Stage 16, he finally won the mountainous 18th stage of the race on the Col du Galibier with a long solo breakaway ride. The day after, he finished 9th overall in the 19th stage of Alpe d'Huez to take the yellow jersey from Thomas Voeckler, but he was overtaken by Cadel Evans in the penultimate stage of the tour, an individual time trial, placing Schleck in second place going into the final stage in Paris once again. His brother, Frank, also made the podium making them the first siblings ever to both make the podium in Tour history.

2012

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For the 2012 season, Leopard Trek merged with Team RadioShack to create RadioShack–Nissan, with Johan Bruyneel becoming team manager. In May, Schleck was awarded the overall classification win at the 2010 Tour de France after original winner Alberto Contador lost his legal battle relating to a doping offence. The ceremony was held in his home country of Luxembourg.[2] At the Critérium du Dauphiné prologue, Schleck criticized Bruyneel for having spoken critically to the media of both Schleck brothers, saying that those matters should be dealt with internally, not in the media.[18] In the race itself, Schleck had to abandon after losing a significant amount of time on the general classification and crashing heavily on the fourth stage individual time trial, worsening a knee injury and suffering a fracture of the sacrum.[19] He stated that he still had ample time to prepare adequately for the coming Tour de France, as it occurred often in recent years that he did not perform well in the races leading to the Tour.[20] On 13 June Schleck announced that he would not start in the Tour de France because of the injuries sustained at the Critérium du Dauphiné.[21]

In October he attempted a comeback in the Tour of Beijing.[22]

2013

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Schleck competed in the Tour Down Under, but had to withdraw on the final stage due to mechanical issues. He was nearly 40 minutes behind the leader in the general classification, and as such, would have finished last.[23] Finishing 91st at the Gran Premio Città di Camaiore in February,[24] Schleck completed his first UCI-categorised race since the 2012 Liège–Bastogne–Liège, a little less than a year later.[25] Schleck, however, withdrew again at Tirreno–Adriatico, the Tour Méditerranéen, and the Tour of Oman,[26] but managed to finish 57th at the Critérium International.[27] Following the Critérium International, Schleck was again unable to finish at the Amstel Gold Race,[28] although he later finished 86th at La Flèche Wallonne,[29] 41st at Liège–Bastogne–Liège,[30] and 25th at the Tour of California.[31] Schleck then rode the Tour de Suisse in preparation for the Tour de France.[32] While only finishing 40th in Switzerland,[33] Schleck rode a season best of 20th at the Tour de France.[34]

Retirement

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Schleck abandoned the 2014 Tour de France, suffering with injuries sustained as a result of a crash during stage three.[35]

In October 2014, Schleck announced his retirement, citing a knee injury.[36] In March 2015 Schleck announced plans to open a bike shop and café in Itzig, Luxembourg.[37] The shop opened in February 2016, and also includes a small museum with souvenirs from Schleck's racing career.[38]

Equipment

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Schleck used 172.5mm crank arms on his bike, which were considered small for a man of his height.[39]

Career achievements

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Major results

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Yellow Jersey signed by Andy Schleck (2011)
2004
National Under-23 Road Championships
1st Road race
1st Time trial
1st Overall Flèche du Sud
2005
1st Time trial, National Road Championships
7th Grand Prix de Wallonie
9th Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
2006
Sachsen Tour
1st Stages 3 & 5
8th Overall Tour of Britain
1st Mountains classification
2007
2nd Overall Giro d'Italia
1st Young rider classification
4th Giro di Lombardia
8th Overall Tour de Romandie
2008
1st Young rider classification, Tour de France
1st Stage 1 (TTT) Tour de Pologne
4th Road race, Olympic Games
4th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
6th Overall Tour de Suisse
9th Rund um den Henninger-Turm
2009
1st Road race, National Road Championships
1st Liège–Bastogne–Liège
1st Stage 2 Tour de Luxembourg
2nd Overall Tour de France
1st Young rider classification
2nd La Flèche Wallonne
4th UCI World Ranking
8th Monte Paschi Strade Bianche
10th Amstel Gold Race
2010
1st Time trial, National Road Championships
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Young rider classification
1st Stages 8 & 17
5th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
9th UCI World Ranking
9th La Flèche Wallonne
2011
1st Mountains classification, Tour de Suisse
1st RaboRonde Heerlen
2nd Road race, National Road Championships
2nd Overall Tour de France
1st Stage 18
Held after Stage 19
Combativity Award Stage 18
3rd Liège–Bastogne–Liège
8th Overall Tour of California
2014
3rd Road race, National Road Championships

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

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Grand Tour 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
A pink jersey Giro d'Italia 2 — — — — — — —
A yellow jersey Tour de France — 12 2 1 [a] 2 — 20 DNF
A red jersey Vuelta a España — — DNF DNF — — — —

Monuments results timeline

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Monument 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Milan–San Remo — — — — 128 DNF — — — —
Tour of Flanders Did not contest during his career
Paris–Roubaix
Liège–Bastogne–Liège — — 46 4 1 5 3 50 41 DNF
Giro di Lombardia 63 — 4 — — DNF — — DNF —
Legend
— Did not compete
DNF Did not finish

Notes

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  1. ^ Awarded retroactively by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)

References

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  1. ^ a b "Andy Schleck profile". Archived from the original on December 27, 2013. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  2. ^ a b Shane Stokes (May 29, 2012). "Andy Schleck awarded yellow jersey for 2010 Tour de France9". Velo Nation. Velo Nation LLC. Retrieved December 24, 2012.
  3. ^ a b "Giro d'Italia: The rise of another Schleck". cyclingnews.com. June 4, 2007. Retrieved February 4, 2009.
  4. ^ "Schleck Brothers Confirmed For Tour Of Ireland". Irishcycling.com. August 17, 2007. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved January 26, 2011.
  5. ^ Andy Schleck: Not Unlike his Brother Fränk, 19 May 2006 Archived October 16, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ "www.cyclingnews.com presents the 101st Giro di Lombardia". Autobus.cyclingnews.com. October 20, 2007. Retrieved February 23, 2012.
  7. ^ "Schleck impresses with Liege win". BBC News. April 26, 2009. Archived from the original on April 27, 2009. Retrieved April 27, 2009.
  8. ^ "Contador in yellow as Schleck suffers untimely mechanical at the Tour. France's Voeckler wins the stage". velonews.com. July 19, 2010. Archived from the original on July 24, 2010. Retrieved July 28, 2010.
  9. ^ Rogers, Neal (July 20, 2010). "Opinion: It's wrong to vilify Alberto Contador". VeloNews. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
  10. ^ "CAS Sanction Contador With Two Year Ban In Clenbuterol Case". Cyclingnews.com. February 6, 2012. Retrieved February 23, 2012.
  11. ^ Devaney, Jason (August 31, 2011). "Cycling Road Schleck's confirm departure from Saxo Bank". Universal Sports. Archived from the original on March 4, 2012. Retrieved February 23, 2012.
  12. ^ "Contador signs for Saxo Bank team". BBC News. August 3, 2010.
  13. ^ Richard Moore (August 3, 2010). "Alberto Contador to leave Astana and replace Andy Schleck at Saxo Bank | Sport". The Guardian. London. Retrieved February 23, 2012.
  14. ^ Greg Johnson (September 30, 2010). "Alberto Contador Suspended Over Traces of Clenbuterol From Tour de France Test". Cyclingnews.com. Archived from the original on February 27, 2011. Retrieved January 26, 2011.
  15. ^ "Could the Luxembourg team of Schleck brothers be named Leopard True Racing?". Velonation.com. Retrieved January 26, 2011.
  16. ^ "leopard.lu". leopard.lu. Retrieved February 23, 2012.
  17. ^ Daniel Benson (December 13, 2010). "Luxembourg Team To Be Called Team Leopard". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved January 26, 2011.
  18. ^ "Andy Schleck has a dig at Bruyneel at Dauphiné prologue". Cycling News. June 3, 2012. Retrieved June 10, 2012.
  19. ^ "Andy Schleck abandons Critérium du Dauphiné". Cycling News. June 9, 2012. Retrieved June 10, 2012.
  20. ^ "Andy Schleck: You can do a lot in three weeks". Cycling News. June 10, 2012. Retrieved June 10, 2012.
  21. ^ "Andy Scheck with sacral fracture out for Tour de France". radioshacknissantrek.com. June 13, 2012. Archived from the original on August 14, 2012. Retrieved June 13, 2012.
  22. ^ "Despite quitting Tour of Beijing and losing team boss, Andy Schleck happy to be racing". Velonews. October 13, 2012. Retrieved April 2, 2013.
  23. ^ Kogoy, Peter (January 28, 2013). "Andy Schleck snubs post-race presentation". The Australian. News Limited. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
  24. ^ RadioShack-Leopard-Trek (February 28, 2013). "Gran Premio Città di Camaiore at RadioShack-Leopard-Trek". Retrieved April 8, 2013.
  25. ^ Shane Stokes (February 28, 2013). "Schleck 'heading in right direction' as rider completes first full UCI race since last April". VeloNation. Retrieved March 14, 2013.
  26. ^ Manny D'Enef (April 1, 2013). "Desperate for race miles, Schleck to start Paris–Roubaix". VeloNews. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
  27. ^ "Critérium International – 2013". Letour.fr. December 1, 1994. Archived from the original on March 28, 2013. Retrieved April 2, 2013.
  28. ^ "2013 Amstel Gold Race results". Archived from the original on April 17, 2013. Retrieved April 14, 2013.
  29. ^ "La Flèche Wallonne 2014". La Flèche Wallonne 2014. Archived from the original on April 20, 2013. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  30. ^ "Liège - Bastogne - Liège 2015: Results | Cyclingnews.com". Cyclingnews.com. Archived from the original on January 10, 2012. Retrieved 2015-12-16.
  31. ^ "Results: 2013 Amgen Tour of California, stage 8 - Page 2 of 6 - VeloNews.com". VeloNews.com. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  32. ^ "Andy Schleck happy with form at Tour de Suisse | Cyclingnews.com". Cyclingnews.com. June 13, 2013. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  33. ^ "Tour de Suisse 2013: Stage 9 Results | Cyclingnews.com". Cyclingnews.com. June 16, 2013. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  34. ^ "Classifications stage 21 – Versailles > Paris Champs-Élysées". Tour de France 2013. Archived from the original on July 19, 2015. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  35. ^ "Andy Schleck abandons Tour de France". July 8, 2014. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
  36. ^ Nigel Wynn (October 9, 2014). "Andy Schleck retires from professional cycling". Cycling Weekly. IPC Media Sports & Leisure network. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  37. ^ "News shorts: Andy Schleck to open bike shop". cyclingnews.com. March 3, 2015. Retrieved March 4, 2015.
  38. ^ "Andy Schleck's bike shop finally opens and he'll be working there full time". Cycling Weekly. February 9, 2016. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  39. ^ "An SRM Power Meter Is Mounted Up With Dura-Ace 7900 Chainrings. Surprisingly Given Andy Schleck's (LEOPARD TREK) Height, The Crankarms Measure Just 172.5mm In Length. Photos". Cyclingnews.com. January 12, 2011. Retrieved January 26, 2011.
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