# Andy?



## penn_rider (Jul 11, 2009)

Okay,, I love the underdog and I love a great battle, but something in me is sad that Andy had basically nothing at the ATOC. A great assent on Baldy wold have changed my mind but damn, the way Chris and Levi rode away from him is very demoralizing...


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## JSR (Feb 27, 2006)

I had the impression he was using the race as training. As such, he didn't really want to go 100%, probably having some power and/or heart rate metrics he prefered to maintain. 

i wouldn't worry about o'l Andy. He'll be ready to try for second place again!

JSR


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## dougydee (Feb 15, 2005)

penn_rider said:


> Okay,, I love the underdog and I love a great battle, but something in me is sad that Andy had basically nothing at the ATOC. A great assent on Baldy wold have changed my mind but damn, the way Chris and Levi rode away from him is very demoralizing...


I think he used it as a training ride. We'll have to wait to July to find out how he's going.


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## InfiniteLoop (Mar 20, 2010)

My guess is mostly timing, that where he's at in his prep for the TdF doesn't put him anywhere near peak condition right now and with that as his goal ATOC is kind of a training ride. We'll see come July.


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## terbennett (Apr 1, 2006)

I actually laughed about it because I'm a Leipheimer fan. Schleck is awesome but my buddy, that went to watch Stage 7 with me, was all about Schleck. He would not shut up about Andy Schleck. While, I kinda felt bad for Schleck on the climb, I laughed thinking about what my buddy was thinking as he watched it.


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## burgrat (Nov 18, 2005)

A lot can change in 5-6 weeks.


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## mohair_chair (Oct 3, 2002)

Imagine how demoralized Chris and Levi will be when Andy rides away from them in France.


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## atpjunkie (Mar 23, 2002)

*my guess is Andy*

is a couple weeks from peaking and was riding within a certain HR limit
he may have also had some jet lag


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## penn_rider (Jul 11, 2009)

Well,, secretly my underdog Chris won. He has been a favorite since Nutra Fig visited and rode with us in the mid 90's.. (I thought I was in heaven riding with Thurlow Rodgers!)... The then young Chris was a skinny animal that had the respect of every rider, funny yet quietly controlling.. Loved that moment....

Not sure I like the "ride a race to train" but I understand why it happens. Just hope that he puts something out there better than this...


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## Dajianshan (Jul 15, 2007)

Hmmm... I wonder if Contador is also just using the Giro as a training ride.


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## Sojourneyman (Jun 22, 2007)

He fared a fair bit worse in last years ToC if I recall correctly.


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## penn_rider (Jul 11, 2009)

Dajianshan said:


> Hmmm... I wonder if Contador is also just using the Giro as a training ride.



No,, just like his last meal...


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## Cni2i (Jun 28, 2010)

Seems like a lot of excuses for Andy. Chris and Levi just killed it IMO! Things may be different at this year's TDF, but lets just give credit to the American guys:thumbsup:


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## Gnarly 928 (Nov 19, 2005)

Andy Schleck should have dusted the two Old Guy has-beens even if he was out of shape. According to some, those two should be in rocking chairs with shawls over those old decrepit legs. A fresh young super hero like Schleck, shoulda rode away from them as part of his "training" they are such sucky riders any more. And Zabriskie isn't far behind them, on his way to a pension and Medicare...

Don't those guys know? It isn't right to go beating up on the kiddies like that...you should just bow out as soon as a New Guy starts to get the Hype...

This is a sarcastic post, by the way. 

I actually was hoping to see Schleck give it a go, and maybe he tried for a few hundred meters on Sierra Rd...I think he realized that Horner was still pretty dang strong....for an old guy, that is... So A.S. played the training card.

I don't see Horner or Levi being able to hold their obviously good form through to the Tour...


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## den bakker (Nov 13, 2004)

A bit late for the "why aren't the europeans taking this race seriously" threads compared to other years.


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## spookyload (Jan 30, 2004)

You don't peak in May if you want to win in late July. His goal is the Tour. End of story. Frank may have done better since he had a more agressive spring campaign, but I think he is resetting his training to support Andy in the Tour. Think back to 2004 When Mayo rode away from Lance in the Dauphine Libre on the climbs. Everyone was sure Lance would lose the tour. Mayo got crushed at that Tour and has done nada since. That was in early June. So my point is, someone who is training to win the tour is not in peak form in May.


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## ZoSoSwiM (Mar 7, 2008)

Didn't this discussion pop up last year when we thought Andy was a little slow early in the the season? He'll pop for July.. no doubt there! Contador seems to have come into form early.. Maybe he's semi peaked already and won't have the legs come July.


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## spade2you (May 12, 2009)

His form might still be building, although there's no race prep like....racing. I'm still a little surprised with his performance. 

Also, there's a difference between being good at ~1 week stage races vs. a grand tour.


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## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

den bakker said:


> A bit late for the "why aren't the europeans taking this race seriously" threads compared to other years.


/\this/\

training race for those that will be shooting for the top step in paris. national pride is on the line for the americans. 

if this were the tour of luxemberg, i would have expected andy and frank to do what levi and horner did.


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## JohnHenry (Aug 9, 2006)

i wish andy would have gone to giro for training


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## Kram (Jan 28, 2004)

There's training and there's burning yourself out. I think the smart move is to use a shorter race for training (like Andy did). Levi and Horner did so well because they were simply in better condition and peaking earlier than Andy. I did love seeing Horner on the podium, though.


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## Geoffersonspin (Feb 12, 2010)

I will certainly be interested to see how Chris and Levi do in the TdF. Chris is looking pretty good right now and definitely seemed to have an easy time on the climbs. Let's not forget he pulled a top 10 last year after doing domestique work for half the tour. I certainly thing he has the ability to put himself in an interesting position at the TdF this year. Win it? Very very doubtful, but he could certainly give us Americans a home grown boy (old man?) to cheer for.


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## coop (Jun 8, 2008)

The days of using the Giro for training are over. The past couple years have proven that the Giro organizers are putting on a more exciting (sometimes dangerous) race. If your going there to "train" you'll either crash out like VDV or not finish. May as well go to California and get some good racing miles in against lesser competition (no offense domestic teams) in an up and coming well organized race.

I'm more interested in seeing how AC recovers from the Giro.


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## Cableguy (Jun 6, 2010)

I didn't watch any of the ToC stages, but it seems pretty strange to think Andy got dropped because he is holding back and staying within some HR/power range... one of the main reasons for using a race to train is to potentially push yourself a little harder and further than you would otherwise. If he wanted to recover, he would be riding <70% max HR and probably be dropped shortly after the start of each stage. If he wanted to force adaptations, he would be pushing himself to the limit. I would think doing something inbetween would not be as productive.


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## AdamM (Jul 9, 2008)

Considering last year Schleck finished 24th, something tells me trying to translate TOC results over to the TDF is a waste of time. Radio Shack's top TDF GC options - Brajkovic and Kloden didn't even participate.


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## Sablotny (Aug 15, 2002)

Andy didn't have much to bring to the ToC last year, then shows up as the worlds second best climber at the Tour. Hmmm. Not a big fan of racers who save it for one ride a year. Nice to see that AC brings it to so many races.


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## albert owen (Jul 7, 2008)

Andy Schleck is Bromide in Human Form: Half-Man - Half-Sedative.


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## JoelS (Aug 25, 2008)

Eh, Andy is still in build up for the Tour. Didn't expect him to kill it at TofCA. However, the TofCA was a huge goal for team RS. It's no wonder that Horner and Levi were peaking in time for it.

Contador will have a lot of recovery to do in the month of June after the Giro. That's been an absolutely brutal race. 

July will be interesting.


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## minutemaidman (Jun 14, 2010)

You could see it in his face and body language. When he got dropped on the climb, he was very disappointed in himself, and felt shame.


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## baker921 (Jul 20, 2007)

weltyed said:


> /\this/\
> 
> 
> if this were the tour of luxemberg, i would have expected andy and frank to do what levi and horner did.


When at home Frank and Andy get the Tour of Luxembourg over before breakfast!


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## atown117 (Dec 1, 2008)

minutemaidman said:


> You could see it in his face and body language. When he got dropped on the climb, he was very disappointed in himself, and felt shame.


Isn't that how everyone feels when dropped from a climb? Even if he knew coming into he race he wasn't in top form because of his tour aspirations. I would still expect him to show disappointment. He is still a highly competitive bike racer after all......I would be more worried if he just shrugged it off and didn't care at all....


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