Andy Schleck: Born to cycle, failing to thrive.

Cycling, a world crippled by recent scandals of doping, where the content of your blood is tweaked, manipulated to threshold limits, to find the numbers capable of winning. Where haematocrit is just as important as hours on the bike, and testosterone comes in small red pills to give a much needed boost. It is as much a part of cycling as arguably a pair of correctly fitting shoes, or even a domestique bringing you new water bottles from the team car; without paying attention to it, you can still race, but it will hurt a lot more!

Andy Schleck, in some ways was destined to race bikes. At 6ft 1” and weighing just 150Ib, he’s got the body of a cyclist, capable of effortlessly ascending the switchback climbs of the high Alps and Pyrenees. Schleck was born with cycling pedigree in his blood, both his grandfather and father raced bikes for a living and his brother Fränk Schleck rides alongside him for the same professional team; Radioshack-Leopard. Gustav Schleck, his grandfather, rode in the 1930s and his father Johny Schleck was a professional from 1965-1974, helping Jan Jansson and Luis Ocaña to their Tour de France victories, as well taking his own stage win in the 1970’s Vuelta a España and winning the Luxembourg National Championships.


Aged 18, Schleck’s talent was recognised by the infamous Cyrille Guimard, who described him as being “one of the biggest talents he had seen”. High praise from the directeur sportif of Tour de France winners such as Bernard Hinault, Laurent Fignon, Lucien Van Impe and Greg LeMond. Schleck joined VC Roubaix cycling club in 2004 as an amateur, won the under-23 National Road Race and Time Trial Championships, as well as his first stage race, Flèche du Sud. Spotted by Bjarne Riis, the Team CSC manager, he was signed as a stagiaire after Riis discussed Schleck with big brother Fränk, already riding for CSC. Schleck secured a professional contract and rode his first ProTour race, the Volta a Catalunya, aged just 19. In his first pro season, he won the National Time Trial Championships, not a bad start for a neo-pro. Season two, he took the Mountains classification in the Tour of Britain, as well as winning Stage 3 and 5 in the Sachsen Tour.

The 2007 season, Schleck’s third as a pro, saw his career progress to the next level. Riding his first Grand Tour, he won the Young Rider classification and came second in the overall. He secured fourth in the Giro di Lombardia and eighth in the Tour de Romandie. The following year, Schleck rode his first Tour de France, sacrificing his own chances to aid his brother, who pulled on the yellow jersey. Schleck was strong in the Alps, proving himself a tour contender by winning the Young Persons classification. In 2009, when Carlos Sastre left CSC/Saxo Bank, the Schleck brothers became joint team leaders and A.Schleck improved on his previous TdF result, winning the Young Persons classification and also securing a podium finish, second to Alberto Contador. One of the most controversial TdF races took place the following year, 2010. Schleck, whilst attacking Contador, dropped his chain. Under normal circumstances, as seen by Bradley Wiggins in his 2012 Tour win, GC contenders hold up the race if a competitor suffers a mechanical. Contador however, didn’t slow up to allow Schleck back into the race and took the Maillot Jaune in Paris. The controversy of his win was amplified by a positive drugs test for Clenbuterol, a hormone growth stimulant, leading to a back-dated suspension and the loss of his Tour win, which was retroactively awarded to Schleck.

Leopard-Trek, a Luxembourg-based team, was formed by the Schleck brothers and former Saxo Bank director Kim Anderson on 29th July 2010. This led to a highly successful year for Schleck in 2011; third in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, winner of the Mountains classification in Tour de Suisse and yellow jersey holder in the TdF. After a slow start to the Tour, Schleck entered the mountains at fifth overall. He lost two minutes on Stage 16, but alongside F. Schleck, and Leopard-Trek teammates, played out Stage 18 perfectly.
Stage 18, Thursday 21st July, Pinerolo to Galibier Serre-Chevalier, a 200.5km stage finishing on the Col du Galibier. One of the boldest attacking moves in recent Tour history took place on the slopes of the Izoard. With 65km left of the stage, Schleck attacked the lead group. Pierre Roland, domestique to French hero and current race leader Thomas Voeckler, jumped onto his wheel to keep check but when no one else followed, Roland dropped back leaving him alone. The main group, including the race leader Voeckler, eventual tour winner Cadel Evans, Contador, awaiting a drugs hearing and his brother decided to let the Leopard rider go. With 65kms left, riding alone, the breakaway wasn’t given much value. However, the intricate planning by team Leopard was soon realised. Two of their riders had made the earlier days break and were up the road from Schleck. When the radio crackled that he’d made his move, Joost Posthuma fell back and paced him up the steepest part of the climb, helping conserve valuable energy. Schleck then found his teammate Maxime Monfort, who guided him down the descent, a well known weakness of his. With Monfort’s help, Schleck caught the lead break before eventually dropping them on the run in to the Col du Galibier. Four minutes up on the chasing GC contender group, Schleck rode the Galibier alone and took the stage win. If it wasn’t for a gutsy performance by Evans, he may well have taken enough time to secure the Maillot Jaune for the run in to Paris. Instead, he came in two minutes seven seconds ahead and  F. Schleck, having had an easy day not wanting to ride to bring his brother back, conserved energy and took second on the stage. The next day, Schleck managed ninth on the climb up Alpe D’Huez and pulled on the yellow jersey with one day left to ride before Paris. The penultimate stage, a 43km time trial highlighted Schleck’s flaws and saw him relinquish the jersey, after just one day, to Evans. A third successive second place GC finish, but this time with his brother on the podium in third, the first time siblings have been present on the podium together.

The 2012 season brought the merging of Leopard Trek and Radioshack, forming Radioshack-Leopard, along with Johan Bruyneel as team manager. This was a merging that didn’t work for the Schlecks, with Bruyneel unhappy with joint team leadership, something they had proved effective in previous races. Bruyneel outwardly criticised the Schlecks, which Andy responded to, arguing these matters should be dealt with privately. It was no surprise to see Schleck struggle with his year, eventually pulling out of the Critérium du Dauphiné after a bad crash and fracturing his sacrum. Confident he would still have time to prepare for the Tour, with previous years opening races not always being successful, Schleck eventually pulled out on June 13th due to his injuries. He made his return in Beijing, but pulled out of the race after a week of racing and finishing 15minutes back on Stage 4, after being dropped on a Category 3 climbs. Bruyneel also resigned as team manager due to doping rumours linked back from the Armstrong affair.

Schleck entered the Tour down Under in 2013, his happiness at being back in the peloton evident, keen to ride on the front rather than just Jens Voigt. Normally protected by his teammates, Schleck wanted his own stint to take the full front of the wind, “suffering, that is what makes my shape better”. Schleck however, was dropped by the peloton on Stage 6 due to a mechanical and left the race, failing to appear for the team presentation that evening. The suffering was too much for Schleck on Stage 1 of the Tour de Méditerranéen as he dropped out due to a lower respiratory tract infection. Not the most promising of starts from a rider who was keen to work hard over the winter and take some wins in the early 2013 races.

So where next? The Luxembourg rider has gone from TdF contender, to Radioshack-Leopard domestique in just over a year. Granted a fractured pelvis kept him out of training and racing for an extended period and would always make a comeback harder, but should Schleck be struggling this much? Other riders injure and get back into a racing schedule and back to form far quicker; Wiggins third in the Vuelta after a fractured collar bone in the TdF. Contador, whilst not injured, took an extended period out of racing due to a drugs ban. The Spaniard, whilst still able to train, missed race time, invaluable to improving form, yet still returned in the 2012 Vuelta finishing first. Schleck however, could be his own downfall. His nonchalant attitude toward racing, only showing enthusiasm to the Grand Tours and the Ardenne Classics has seen a consistent string of bad results in pre-Tour racing, with Schleck somehow managing to peak each year come July. This attitude may have been acceptable in his earlier career, but aged 27, this work ethic is evidently hindering his race results.

Then there’s the drug scandal surrounding his team and brother. Fränk was charged and given a one year ban for testing positive to a diuretic, often used as a masking agent for other performance enhancing drugs, in 2012’s TdF. After mounting legal fees, healthcare advise and eventually losing his trial, F. Schleck is reportedly depressed. Motivation to ride must be somewhat decreased with his big brother and co-team leader out of competition until 13th July, therefore missing the centenary TdF. The lack of support from team manager Bruyneel, publicly criticising his riding ability, will also have dented his confidence, morale and motivation to get back to riding and winning races!

The root cause however, I believe is due to Schleck’s father Johny. Coming from a bike racing pedigree family, there must have been an emphasis on cycling in home life, and I imagine an inherent desire to please their father. Their once supportive ex-pro father is now urging the pair to quit cycling as a result of A.Schleck’s injuries, struggling form and F. Schleck’s drug scandal. With all of this occurring within a single season, I question if the motivation is still there for the TdF champion, or will we see the return of Schleck, a dominant force within the peloton.