Well done, Figgy my pet, for sending in the link to the Trek Tours Andy Schleck specials: yes folks, your chance to ride with Our Andy - well, you might see his backside for a moment as he pedals away from you, bearing in mind that Andy a year out of training and with a knackered knee is probably still four times better than the keenest amateur.
He's signed up for two Trek tours so far, presumably if they are booked up almost immediately - as they probably will be - he'll be doing more later on.
The first one is the 18th May, the Mallorca 4-day Ride Camp for a mere $1099, with Andy joining the tour for day 2, and joining the group for dinner on day 3.
Then in June there is the 5-day Etap du Tour escapade, with Our Andy popping up on day 4 to join the riders on Race Day, as they do some climbing. Really good value for $4999. I think. I have no idea what people would pay for a normal 5-day holiday in France, and presumably you get added value from bike fittings, advice from Trek guides etc.
So, what do we think? Will it be booked by serious cycling fans? Or will it be filled with girlies squeeing, and pretending that they are comfy in their brand new lycra? I'd love to see it!! *laughs*
Showing posts with label Andy Schleck. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Andy Schleck. Show all posts
Wednesday, 18 February 2015
Sunday, 21 December 2014
Andy's writing a book!
Well, I know what will be on my Christmas list for next year - Our Andy has announced that he's thinking of writing a book!
There's a very welcome article on Cycling News this morning, in which Andy mentions that he has a job, but can't tell us about it yet - ooh, I hope he's going to be a commentator for Eurosport, wouldn't that be fab? He'd be brilliant at it (said she, loyally).
Seriously, I have no idea if he'd be good at it or not , but I suspect that he would. I was really impressed with Juan Antonio Flecha, ex-Sky rider, the one who got boomphed by the car at the Tour in 2011....
....here is the wicked moment, as if we needed reminding - Flecha was hit by the car, Johnny Hoogerland was catapulted over the barbed wire fence leading to 37 stitches and a new pair of shorts, and Tommy Voeckler kept on cycling.
Flecha popped up at a couple of races as a commentator, and he was really, really good! Nice voice, insightful, interesting, and at the end of the race we got some footage of him chatting, and now that his hair has grown long again, he had turned into a good-looking dude!
Anyway, if Flecha can do it, I think Andy would be even better: after all, he speaks four languages fluently, every rider in the peloton would talk to him, just think what great post-race interviews he would get!
Andy mentions that he was very depressed for a couple of months after retiring *sends virtual hug* but he's feeling better now, he's been working at the gym, and has taken up roller-skiing, and is now thinking about writing an up-beat book about the good times with Jensie and Stuey and so on.
That's a book I'd like to read! Lots of photos, please, Andy, lots of photos.
There's a very welcome article on Cycling News this morning, in which Andy mentions that he has a job, but can't tell us about it yet - ooh, I hope he's going to be a commentator for Eurosport, wouldn't that be fab? He'd be brilliant at it (said she, loyally).
Seriously, I have no idea if he'd be good at it or not , but I suspect that he would. I was really impressed with Juan Antonio Flecha, ex-Sky rider, the one who got boomphed by the car at the Tour in 2011....
Flecha popped up at a couple of races as a commentator, and he was really, really good! Nice voice, insightful, interesting, and at the end of the race we got some footage of him chatting, and now that his hair has grown long again, he had turned into a good-looking dude!
Anyway, if Flecha can do it, I think Andy would be even better: after all, he speaks four languages fluently, every rider in the peloton would talk to him, just think what great post-race interviews he would get!
Andy mentions that he was very depressed for a couple of months after retiring *sends virtual hug* but he's feeling better now, he's been working at the gym, and has taken up roller-skiing, and is now thinking about writing an up-beat book about the good times with Jensie and Stuey and so on.
That's a book I'd like to read! Lots of photos, please, Andy, lots of photos.
Friday, 15 February 2013
Andy will march back in March.
It's official - Our Andy has finally admitted that he's been a sicky boy, and there is no point rushing back into races when you are not properly prepared.
We all know that he had a major injury last year with the fractured sacrum/pelvis which, in retrospect, must have been all the more annoying as there were no outward, visible signs of damage. It must have been a bit hard to have to say "it hurts, it hurts" without there being any blood or bandages to show for it.
Then he came back in the Tour Down Under, not really prepared: I think Jensie's comment made it plain that Andy had not been training hard enough to be in good condition for a race. Whether we think Andy didn't train because he was worried about not being fully recovered (as indicated in his interview early in the Tour Down Under), or whether he didn't train enough because he was lazy and un-motivated (Sporza et al) is a matter of opinion.
In my opinion, obviously, I tend to believe what he has said in person, to a camera, rather than what some magazine somewhere has said, particularly when they are repeating what someone else has said.
Then there was the Tour of the Med, where he had to drop out on the first day with a respiratory infection, which was yet another blow for him, and yet more ammunition for the Schleck-knockers.
But, today, better news: Radioshack have apparently announced that he's not racing again before the end of the month. This makes a lot of sense - having been ill, he certainly won't be in race-fit condition, and he wasn't quite race-fit before the illness.
It therefore seems sensible to take a fortnight off, and get back in training.
There's nothing about this on the Radioshack site, btw - they don't seem to talk about him very much - so we have to assume that the quote came via the press office.
“We were happy to see Andy doing well in training the last few days,” explained RadioShack Leopard manager Luca Guercilena. “There is however a big difference between training and race situations."
“We want to prevent a relapse because of the race. Andy’s main goals are situated later in the season. It’s better that we are cautious now instead of taking steps backward.”
So, fingers crossed everyone that he doesn't get knocked off his bike in training!
We all know that he had a major injury last year with the fractured sacrum/pelvis which, in retrospect, must have been all the more annoying as there were no outward, visible signs of damage. It must have been a bit hard to have to say "it hurts, it hurts" without there being any blood or bandages to show for it.
Then he came back in the Tour Down Under, not really prepared: I think Jensie's comment made it plain that Andy had not been training hard enough to be in good condition for a race. Whether we think Andy didn't train because he was worried about not being fully recovered (as indicated in his interview early in the Tour Down Under), or whether he didn't train enough because he was lazy and un-motivated (Sporza et al) is a matter of opinion.
In my opinion, obviously, I tend to believe what he has said in person, to a camera, rather than what some magazine somewhere has said, particularly when they are repeating what someone else has said.
Then there was the Tour of the Med, where he had to drop out on the first day with a respiratory infection, which was yet another blow for him, and yet more ammunition for the Schleck-knockers.
But, today, better news: Radioshack have apparently announced that he's not racing again before the end of the month. This makes a lot of sense - having been ill, he certainly won't be in race-fit condition, and he wasn't quite race-fit before the illness.
It therefore seems sensible to take a fortnight off, and get back in training.
There's nothing about this on the Radioshack site, btw - they don't seem to talk about him very much - so we have to assume that the quote came via the press office.
“We were happy to see Andy doing well in training the last few days,” explained RadioShack Leopard manager Luca Guercilena. “There is however a big difference between training and race situations."
“We want to prevent a relapse because of the race. Andy’s main goals are situated later in the season. It’s better that we are cautious now instead of taking steps backward.”
So, fingers crossed everyone that he doesn't get knocked off his bike in training!
Sunday, 27 January 2013
Andy Fails To Make Friends Down Under..
Oops, bit of a disaster on the final day - it's been a bit tricky to piece together what actually happened, but it does appear that Andy had a mechanical quite early in the race, a chain problem - and we all know how he feels about chain problems - and abandoned the race.
Personally, I would have thought more of him if he had taken a new bike and pedalled on to the end: it would have been proof that he was not in pain, and that he had finished with the whole "Andy Schleck Abandons Race Again" theme from last year.
OK he would have come in last in the GC, and possibly last on the day. And yes, I can see that would have been a little embarrassing for a top rider such as Our Andy. And yes, I wasn't there on the day, and don't know all the ins and outs.
But several of the Australian papers were saying that at the end, when RadioLeopard had won the team classification and were called up on stage for the presentation, "no-one knew where Schleck was" and they implied that there was a bit of a panic, with team-mates calling Andy on his mobile, and no-one knowing what was going on, until the RadioLeopard press officer confirmed that he had returned to the hotel.
Andy, mate, what were you doing? You could at least have hung around at the finish to cheer on the others, sign a few autographs, do a few interviews, that sort of stuff. Disappearing back to the hotel makes him look as though he was grumpy, or injured, or upset: that sort of thing.
And at this time, with last season being what it was, I think that the Schlecks need all the friends they can get.
Earlier in the week, Andy gave a very nice interview in English (Yay! Pets Andy) in which he says how hard it has been to come back from last season, in particular from the injury, but also from the problems with Mr Bruyneel, and with Frankie's test result.
Snippets of gossip from the interview include the fact that he didn't watch much of last year's Tour - he said that once it was clear that he would not be on the team, he took his girlfriend off to Majorca to get away from it all.
He also said that having support from his family was very, very important, and said that he had a very good girlfriend that supported him, no matter what he did.
So, still seeing TinkerJill, then!
(And a good thing too!)
There was one audio interview with Jensie, but I couldn't get it to work properly - quotes in various reports seem to indicate that Jensie has Had A Word with Andy, and has told him to pull his socks up and get on with training and racing. I'll be interested to hear that interview, I'm hoping that once I'm back home on my own PC I'll be able to get it to work.
*little laptop puffs and wheezes with the effort of having to do all this work*
And it does indeed appear that the RadioLeopard kit has gone from red - Shack colours - to orange. Anyone out there know of a likely sponsor whose house colours are black, white and orange???
Personally, I would have thought more of him if he had taken a new bike and pedalled on to the end: it would have been proof that he was not in pain, and that he had finished with the whole "Andy Schleck Abandons Race Again" theme from last year.
OK he would have come in last in the GC, and possibly last on the day. And yes, I can see that would have been a little embarrassing for a top rider such as Our Andy. And yes, I wasn't there on the day, and don't know all the ins and outs.
But several of the Australian papers were saying that at the end, when RadioLeopard had won the team classification and were called up on stage for the presentation, "no-one knew where Schleck was" and they implied that there was a bit of a panic, with team-mates calling Andy on his mobile, and no-one knowing what was going on, until the RadioLeopard press officer confirmed that he had returned to the hotel.
Andy, mate, what were you doing? You could at least have hung around at the finish to cheer on the others, sign a few autographs, do a few interviews, that sort of stuff. Disappearing back to the hotel makes him look as though he was grumpy, or injured, or upset: that sort of thing.
And at this time, with last season being what it was, I think that the Schlecks need all the friends they can get.
Earlier in the week, Andy gave a very nice interview in English (Yay! Pets Andy) in which he says how hard it has been to come back from last season, in particular from the injury, but also from the problems with Mr Bruyneel, and with Frankie's test result.
Snippets of gossip from the interview include the fact that he didn't watch much of last year's Tour - he said that once it was clear that he would not be on the team, he took his girlfriend off to Majorca to get away from it all.
He also said that having support from his family was very, very important, and said that he had a very good girlfriend that supported him, no matter what he did.
So, still seeing TinkerJill, then!
(And a good thing too!)
There was one audio interview with Jensie, but I couldn't get it to work properly - quotes in various reports seem to indicate that Jensie has Had A Word with Andy, and has told him to pull his socks up and get on with training and racing. I'll be interested to hear that interview, I'm hoping that once I'm back home on my own PC I'll be able to get it to work.
*little laptop puffs and wheezes with the effort of having to do all this work*
And it does indeed appear that the RadioLeopard kit has gone from red - Shack colours - to orange. Anyone out there know of a likely sponsor whose house colours are black, white and orange???
Saturday, 26 January 2013
Last but one...
...and one day to go.
Go, Andy! Stick with it!
Yes, with just one more day of racing in the Tour Down Under, RadioLeopard are leading the Team classification, Jensie is getting more publicity every day - and quite right too, go Jensie! - and Andy is still going, Yay,!
Keep those pedals turning, Andy my pet, keep them turning - I don't care if you come in last, but I will be very happy indeed if you finish the race, in one piece, and hopefully without pain in the pelvis area.
I am sure that there are going to be people criticising him for not "having a go" at winning, but I for one will be more than happy just to hear that Andy finished the race safely.
*sings Eisen Andy song*
Go, Andy! Stick with it!
Yes, with just one more day of racing in the Tour Down Under, RadioLeopard are leading the Team classification, Jensie is getting more publicity every day - and quite right too, go Jensie! - and Andy is still going, Yay,!
Keep those pedals turning, Andy my pet, keep them turning - I don't care if you come in last, but I will be very happy indeed if you finish the race, in one piece, and hopefully without pain in the pelvis area.
I am sure that there are going to be people criticising him for not "having a go" at winning, but I for one will be more than happy just to hear that Andy finished the race safely.
*sings Eisen Andy song*
Wednesday, 23 January 2013
Seven minutes Forty-Eight seconds...
Not a brilliant day for Andy, but at least RadioLeopard had three guys in the final sprint.
Andy came in with the 6'19" group, along with Stuey - probably having a chat on the way, do we think? Annoyingly, we have no TV coverage, and no video coverage either. Sigh. Never mind, we can see enough from the photos to think that the RadioLeopard kit is not much changed from last year, but it does look a bit too "orange" as opposed to "red". But this could just be the light - sometimes our coverage of Quatar has strange washed-out colours due to the bright light.
There was one clip on good old Steephill TV, showing Andy holding a kangaroo, apparently it's called "Schlecky". Chorus of "Aaaaw!" from the Schlecklanders. We have to assume that this is a tribute, not some obscure insult...
...meanwhile here in sunny England, yesterday we nearly saw the sun:
Yes, that strange orange thing is the sun, attempting to rise and burn off the fog.
By lunchtime it was glorious:
Today, not so nice: grey cloud, fog, more snow, and LLB and I decided to be adventurous and go for a walk up to Monsal Head, but it took us so long to get through Deep Dale- here is the entrance and, as you can seen, not much of a path to follow -
... that we had to abandon that plan, change direction, and head for Sheldon for lunch. To get there we had to go for a scramble up an incredibly steep slope: clearly marked as Public Footpath but no-one else had been up it, and the undisturbed snow gave us no clue as to where the actual path was.
This photo doesn't really show quite how steep it was, but it's pretty enough to be worth including:
So that was our exciting day in the snow for today.
It's been snowing lightly all day, and the forecast for tomorrow is more snow for us, and "lumpy" for them.
Andy came in with the 6'19" group, along with Stuey - probably having a chat on the way, do we think? Annoyingly, we have no TV coverage, and no video coverage either. Sigh. Never mind, we can see enough from the photos to think that the RadioLeopard kit is not much changed from last year, but it does look a bit too "orange" as opposed to "red". But this could just be the light - sometimes our coverage of Quatar has strange washed-out colours due to the bright light.
There was one clip on good old Steephill TV, showing Andy holding a kangaroo, apparently it's called "Schlecky". Chorus of "Aaaaw!" from the Schlecklanders. We have to assume that this is a tribute, not some obscure insult...
...meanwhile here in sunny England, yesterday we nearly saw the sun:
Yes, that strange orange thing is the sun, attempting to rise and burn off the fog.
By lunchtime it was glorious:
Today, not so nice: grey cloud, fog, more snow, and LLB and I decided to be adventurous and go for a walk up to Monsal Head, but it took us so long to get through Deep Dale- here is the entrance and, as you can seen, not much of a path to follow -
... that we had to abandon that plan, change direction, and head for Sheldon for lunch. To get there we had to go for a scramble up an incredibly steep slope: clearly marked as Public Footpath but no-one else had been up it, and the undisturbed snow gave us no clue as to where the actual path was.
This photo doesn't really show quite how steep it was, but it's pretty enough to be worth including:
So that was our exciting day in the snow for today.
It's been snowing lightly all day, and the forecast for tomorrow is more snow for us, and "lumpy" for them.
Tuesday, 22 January 2013
One minute, twenty nine seconds...
Yay, Tour Down Under has started today - so far in the UK we have no coverage of it (mind you, LLB and I are away on holiday, so our viewing options are a bit restricted) but I can tell from good old Steephill TV that Andy came in 105th today.
Now that sounds quite bad, but he is only a minute and a half down, and looking at the time gaps, he came in the fourth or fifth group home? Something like that, anyway. He was the last of the RadioLeopards to come home, oops, but he said "Today was not an easy day."
He also said "It’s early in the season so I’m still finding my way in the peloton, but perhaps I will find that I have the legs on tomorrow’s climb.”
Fingers crossed for tomorrow, then!
Meanwhile, in Sunny England:
This is what we encountered on Sunday, at a place called Lathkill Dale: the sign on the way in says "Beware, Mines".
Not the sort that go "Boom!" when you tread on them, but very old lead mines, also known as "holes in the ground".
When walking in this area in the summer, people are advised to keep an eye open for disused mines, ie holes in the ground.
Bit difficult to see them under all this snow!
Yesterday, we bravely ventured up the fields behind the holiday cottage, where no-one had been before, being very careful at the top, where we remembered that there were mines (we've been to this same area several times, so we know it quite well) and using walking poles as useful hole-in-the-ground detectors.
The stile (arrangement for getting over dry stone walls) was completely invisible, but we knew where it ought to be, so we scrambled over the wall in the right place, dropping down the other side into thigh-deep snow drifts.
Here is the view looking back - you see those two wooden posts? They are five feet tall, and the wall between is just over four feet tall. Those huge holes in the snow are from our legs.
The snow has drifted up to the top of the wall!
But never mind, we said to each other, we are safe now, we are in the lane, which has walls on each side, and there are bound to have been lots of people walking along it, not like the fields that we have just waded up.
Ah.
Our mistake.
This is the lane, four feet deep in snow, you can see on the left that the snow has actually drifted up to and over the wall.... and no-one has been along here today.
Did we turn tail and flee?
Did we rush back to our nice warm holiday cottage?
No, we did not, for we are brave Schlecklanders - well, I am a brave Schlecklander, and LLB is always game for a laugh - so we started along the lane.
In some places it was only a foot or more deep, but some of the drifts were well over thigh-height for me, so it was quite an adventure! And then we came across these strange beasts:
.
Yes, they are reindeer. In England.
Presumably the farmer keeps them for some special reason - I have no idea.
I share this with you so that you know why I don't have much info on what Andy's up to - although I would say, if you have missed it, it's worth checking the newly-renamed RadioLeopard site, they have galleries of photos from the training/team building sessions, and some of those are quite nice. As I only have my little laptop up here, I can't cut-and-paste photos in quite the normal way, so you will have to go and look at them for yourselves.
So, fingers crossed for a good day for Andy tomorrow, in the Tour Down Under, and no more snow for us!
Today, we woke up to find that the snow had stopped, and the sun was trying to shine.
Now that sounds quite bad, but he is only a minute and a half down, and looking at the time gaps, he came in the fourth or fifth group home? Something like that, anyway. He was the last of the RadioLeopards to come home, oops, but he said "Today was not an easy day."
He also said "It’s early in the season so I’m still finding my way in the peloton, but perhaps I will find that I have the legs on tomorrow’s climb.”
Fingers crossed for tomorrow, then!
Meanwhile, in Sunny England:
This is what we encountered on Sunday, at a place called Lathkill Dale: the sign on the way in says "Beware, Mines".
Not the sort that go "Boom!" when you tread on them, but very old lead mines, also known as "holes in the ground".
When walking in this area in the summer, people are advised to keep an eye open for disused mines, ie holes in the ground.
Bit difficult to see them under all this snow!
Yesterday, we bravely ventured up the fields behind the holiday cottage, where no-one had been before, being very careful at the top, where we remembered that there were mines (we've been to this same area several times, so we know it quite well) and using walking poles as useful hole-in-the-ground detectors.
The stile (arrangement for getting over dry stone walls) was completely invisible, but we knew where it ought to be, so we scrambled over the wall in the right place, dropping down the other side into thigh-deep snow drifts.
The snow has drifted up to the top of the wall!
But never mind, we said to each other, we are safe now, we are in the lane, which has walls on each side, and there are bound to have been lots of people walking along it, not like the fields that we have just waded up.
Our mistake.
This is the lane, four feet deep in snow, you can see on the left that the snow has actually drifted up to and over the wall.... and no-one has been along here today.
Did we turn tail and flee?
Did we rush back to our nice warm holiday cottage?
No, we did not, for we are brave Schlecklanders - well, I am a brave Schlecklander, and LLB is always game for a laugh - so we started along the lane.
In some places it was only a foot or more deep, but some of the drifts were well over thigh-height for me, so it was quite an adventure! And then we came across these strange beasts:
Yes, they are reindeer. In England.
Presumably the farmer keeps them for some special reason - I have no idea.
I share this with you so that you know why I don't have much info on what Andy's up to - although I would say, if you have missed it, it's worth checking the newly-renamed RadioLeopard site, they have galleries of photos from the training/team building sessions, and some of those are quite nice. As I only have my little laptop up here, I can't cut-and-paste photos in quite the normal way, so you will have to go and look at them for yourselves.
So, fingers crossed for a good day for Andy tomorrow, in the Tour Down Under, and no more snow for us!
Today, we woke up to find that the snow had stopped, and the sun was trying to shine.
Friday, 18 January 2013
Right! That's that over and done with...
...so Armstrong has confessed.
He doped.
He lied.
He cheated.
He bullied people.
And I was wrong when I said that his Oprah appearance was just going to be a "fluff" programme where he turned on the charisma and made it sound as though he was not such a bad guy after all.
Right, moving on:
Hello, Schlecklanders! Greeting from England: see that white blob just beyond the low wall? That's my car.
It's been snowing for a couple of hours, and it's forecast to go on for two days solid, stop for a day, then another several days of it. We're not set up for it, you know! We don't have a chance to get used to it, we're not like those tough folk in Canada or Sweden (for example) - most years, we barely see any snow at all. And tomorrow LLB and I have a 175 mile journey right up the middle of the country. Lovely!
Meanwhile, what of Schleckland?
Well, it hasn't felt right, to be writing about Our Andy while Frankie is still waiting with the Doom of Damocles hanging over his head. It felt particularly wrong to be thinking of writing any humorous at this time. And of course we haven't had much input, as there's not much going on - apart from team-jumping, sponsor-abandonment, and prep for the Tour Down Under.
Ahh, the Tour Down Under. On the BBC news today, squeezed right down the bottom under screaming headlines of "Snow paralyses UK!" "schools close due to snow!" (most school children in the UK can WALK to their schools, huh, when I was at school we didn't get a day off just because of snow, we were expected to get there and get on with it, grumble grumble) "Someone Killed Due To Snow" etc etc, there was a tiny mention that Sydney is having the scorchingest day ever.
Wonder how early Andy and the others are going to go out there to acclimatise? Mondorf - pause while I check the traffic cameras - looks pretty much like England at the moment, so let's hope they've already gone out there.
I thought I remembered a mention that Andy was planning to go to Australia a couple of weeks early, anyone know if he did?
He doped.
He lied.
He cheated.
He bullied people.
And I was wrong when I said that his Oprah appearance was just going to be a "fluff" programme where he turned on the charisma and made it sound as though he was not such a bad guy after all.
Right, moving on:
Hello, Schlecklanders! Greeting from England: see that white blob just beyond the low wall? That's my car.
It's been snowing for a couple of hours, and it's forecast to go on for two days solid, stop for a day, then another several days of it. We're not set up for it, you know! We don't have a chance to get used to it, we're not like those tough folk in Canada or Sweden (for example) - most years, we barely see any snow at all. And tomorrow LLB and I have a 175 mile journey right up the middle of the country. Lovely!
Meanwhile, what of Schleckland?
Well, it hasn't felt right, to be writing about Our Andy while Frankie is still waiting with the Doom of Damocles hanging over his head. It felt particularly wrong to be thinking of writing any humorous at this time. And of course we haven't had much input, as there's not much going on - apart from team-jumping, sponsor-abandonment, and prep for the Tour Down Under.
Ahh, the Tour Down Under. On the BBC news today, squeezed right down the bottom under screaming headlines of "Snow paralyses UK!" "schools close due to snow!" (most school children in the UK can WALK to their schools, huh, when I was at school we didn't get a day off just because of snow, we were expected to get there and get on with it, grumble grumble) "Someone Killed Due To Snow" etc etc, there was a tiny mention that Sydney is having the scorchingest day ever.
Wonder how early Andy and the others are going to go out there to acclimatise? Mondorf - pause while I check the traffic cameras - looks pretty much like England at the moment, so let's hope they've already gone out there.
I thought I remembered a mention that Andy was planning to go to Australia a couple of weeks early, anyone know if he did?
Wednesday, 19 December 2012
Frankie: today's the day.
At least, we hope that today will be the day... the day that Frankie gets a decision, one way or the other, on his "adverse finding" for a non-banned substance at the Tour.
And we all hope that the decision will be for either no ban, or for a short ban that will allow him to race again as soon as the season starts.
Fingers crossed for you, Frankie!
Andy has already announced that he'll be going over to Australia early, in order to get used to the weather and the time difference, ahead of the Tour Down Under. I expect all Schlecklanders in the area to get out their cameras and try to spot him out training...
Meanwhile, the Dark Lords of Katusha are spitting mad to be denied a Pro Team licence, despite - they say - filling all the UCI criteria. They are not happy.
I still think that there has been an admin cock-up on the part of the UCI - well, it wouldn't be the first, would it? - and that they have made a mistake. This could mean that one of the lowest teams gets a massive disappointment, if the UCI have to put Katusha back in, as they will presumably have to push out one of the other teams to make room for them. Argos and - sharp intake of breath - Stinkoff are the most likely to get the shove, I would have thought.
Or, of course, the UCI could just change their own rules, and have 19 teams this year, instead of 18?
And we all hope that the decision will be for either no ban, or for a short ban that will allow him to race again as soon as the season starts.
Fingers crossed for you, Frankie!
Andy has already announced that he'll be going over to Australia early, in order to get used to the weather and the time difference, ahead of the Tour Down Under. I expect all Schlecklanders in the area to get out their cameras and try to spot him out training...
Meanwhile, the Dark Lords of Katusha are spitting mad to be denied a Pro Team licence, despite - they say - filling all the UCI criteria. They are not happy.
I still think that there has been an admin cock-up on the part of the UCI - well, it wouldn't be the first, would it? - and that they have made a mistake. This could mean that one of the lowest teams gets a massive disappointment, if the UCI have to put Katusha back in, as they will presumably have to push out one of the other teams to make room for them. Argos and - sharp intake of breath - Stinkoff are the most likely to get the shove, I would have thought.
Or, of course, the UCI could just change their own rules, and have 19 teams this year, instead of 18?
Wednesday, 21 November 2012
Andy Schleck and Jil
Oh, naughty me, I just can't resist boosting my search figures by giving this post a provocative title!
There is no real news to report or comment on today: but I am feeling happy, happy, happy, as I have finally taken my exam. Yes, folks, the stressful bit is over. The studying part was great, I really enjoyed that, but I have hated doing the revision, and preparing for the exam. However, it's all behind me now, and I can relax.
This means that I can now blog without guilt!!
In celebration, I spent some time going through the photos that Barbara kindly pointed out to us: in case you didn't see the link in her comment (*pats Barbara on the back*) it's here: Julien Garroy photographer. Get a cup of tea before you start, as there are hundreds of them! (cries of "Lovely!" from the fangirls.)
As always, some of them caught my eye, so I repeat a few of them below, in no particular order, just for the fun of it.
Ah, the famous double-act. Nothing will part these two!
Not even Mr Bruyneel (allegedly) poisoning one of them.
But the question remains, who is Two of Two? Or are they actually One and Two of Three? Do we count Steve in this?
(Note, for non-Star-Trek fans, this is a reference to the Borg, an alien race consisting of.. oh, look it up for yourself!)
Ah, now this one made me laugh for several reasons.
Not least because TinkerJil appears to be wearing a Luxembourg garter.
Well, look, she does!
I am guessing that this is an early photo of her with the family, as she is unceremoniously shoved on the outside of the row. Not between Andy and Mamma Schleck, as you would expect her to be, and as Martine is invariably shown.
I wonder who contrived the seating arrangement? Mamma Schleck? Maybe it's those shoes? Not the style, very nice, but the colour... my dear, turquoise, with a white dress? It would possibly work if she were wearing a red hat (Lux colours, you know) but that does not appear to be the case.
To be fair, I have to say that I am not at all sure what colour shoes I would wear with a white frock, having never had such a thing: I mean, white stilettos - no. Far too "Essex Girl". Black shoes? Hmm, that's probably what I would go for: that, or tan/beige. Anything but turquoise. If I wore a bright colour in the shoes, it would have to match an accessory - handbag, belt, scarf, or something. Red would work, apart from looking a little trampy... it's not an easy question, is it? Poor TinkerJil, did the best she could, and here we are, criticising her from three hundred and eighty miles away.
("Fringe! Fringe!")
Right, moving on, here's a classic "OMG, what were you thinking?" moment. What was she thinking? (Not Gabi, the woman with the large frontage next to her) "Here are my breasts" would appear to be the theme of the day.
But as we know, it didn't work, Andy doesn't go for much, much older women ("Drat!") even if they do have massive racks. Although, actually, we know that he and Jakob do sometimes get distracted...
So, what message is Andy receiving? "Excuse me, Mr Schleck, sir, there's a bunch of young women outside who say that Auntie Coug said it was all right for them to grab you after the presentation..."
This next one pleases me immensely, as I have often asked the question - has Andy ever ridden on the track? I had assumed not, in fact I rather thought they didn't even have a velodrome in Luxembourg, since the last one fell apart from disuse in 1952.
A little research indicates that there have been plans for the last 10 years to build a new velodrome, but they haven't come to anything yet. Earlier this year, January in fact, there were plans drawn up to build one actually in Mondorf, which makes a lot of sense - but the plans seem to have stalled, and I guess the problems that Andy and Frankie are having are not helping.
So here is Andy following the Derney bike, and I am manfully going to resist commenting on his position. All I will say is that Team Sky have a really solid track background... and it shows.
Ah, but this one is nice, isn't it? Ah, happy days.
Well, that's all for now, I leave you with the thought of all the Leopard riders getting out the scissors and chopping off the yellow Livestrong band from their jersey's left sleeve.....
.
There is no real news to report or comment on today: but I am feeling happy, happy, happy, as I have finally taken my exam. Yes, folks, the stressful bit is over. The studying part was great, I really enjoyed that, but I have hated doing the revision, and preparing for the exam. However, it's all behind me now, and I can relax.
This means that I can now blog without guilt!!
In celebration, I spent some time going through the photos that Barbara kindly pointed out to us: in case you didn't see the link in her comment (*pats Barbara on the back*) it's here: Julien Garroy photographer. Get a cup of tea before you start, as there are hundreds of them! (cries of "Lovely!" from the fangirls.)
As always, some of them caught my eye, so I repeat a few of them below, in no particular order, just for the fun of it.
 |
| "We Are 'Bourg" |
Not even Mr Bruyneel (allegedly) poisoning one of them.
But the question remains, who is Two of Two? Or are they actually One and Two of Three? Do we count Steve in this?
(Note, for non-Star-Trek fans, this is a reference to the Borg, an alien race consisting of.. oh, look it up for yourself!)
Not least because TinkerJil appears to be wearing a Luxembourg garter.
Well, look, she does!
I am guessing that this is an early photo of her with the family, as she is unceremoniously shoved on the outside of the row. Not between Andy and Mamma Schleck, as you would expect her to be, and as Martine is invariably shown.
I wonder who contrived the seating arrangement? Mamma Schleck? Maybe it's those shoes? Not the style, very nice, but the colour... my dear, turquoise, with a white dress? It would possibly work if she were wearing a red hat (Lux colours, you know) but that does not appear to be the case.
To be fair, I have to say that I am not at all sure what colour shoes I would wear with a white frock, having never had such a thing: I mean, white stilettos - no. Far too "Essex Girl". Black shoes? Hmm, that's probably what I would go for: that, or tan/beige. Anything but turquoise. If I wore a bright colour in the shoes, it would have to match an accessory - handbag, belt, scarf, or something. Red would work, apart from looking a little trampy... it's not an easy question, is it? Poor TinkerJil, did the best she could, and here we are, criticising her from three hundred and eighty miles away.
("Fringe! Fringe!")
Right, moving on, here's a classic "OMG, what were you thinking?" moment. What was she thinking? (Not Gabi, the woman with the large frontage next to her) "Here are my breasts" would appear to be the theme of the day.
But as we know, it didn't work, Andy doesn't go for much, much older women ("Drat!") even if they do have massive racks. Although, actually, we know that he and Jakob do sometimes get distracted...
So, what message is Andy receiving? "Excuse me, Mr Schleck, sir, there's a bunch of young women outside who say that Auntie Coug said it was all right for them to grab you after the presentation..."
This next one pleases me immensely, as I have often asked the question - has Andy ever ridden on the track? I had assumed not, in fact I rather thought they didn't even have a velodrome in Luxembourg, since the last one fell apart from disuse in 1952.
A little research indicates that there have been plans for the last 10 years to build a new velodrome, but they haven't come to anything yet. Earlier this year, January in fact, there were plans drawn up to build one actually in Mondorf, which makes a lot of sense - but the plans seem to have stalled, and I guess the problems that Andy and Frankie are having are not helping.
So here is Andy following the Derney bike, and I am manfully going to resist commenting on his position. All I will say is that Team Sky have a really solid track background... and it shows.
Ah, but this one is nice, isn't it? Ah, happy days.
Well, that's all for now, I leave you with the thought of all the Leopard riders getting out the scissors and chopping off the yellow Livestrong band from their jersey's left sleeve.....
.
Wednesday, 14 November 2012
Andy Schleck's engaged?
No, don't panic everyone, it's another one of those misleading "Wedding Fever grips Luxembourg" titles.
As you will know, I am often fascinated by the search terms used by non-regular viewers to get here: that's people who don't normally come here, but who have typed something into Google which lead them here.
I was just checking who was reading the blog at this very moment, and these are the search terms:
OK, predictably, "Andy Schleck girlfriend" is still up there in the top 10, although we are now getting "Andy Schleck engaged" and "Andy Schleck fiancee" as well, which shows how people are thinking.
Then we have Christian Knees bike, errrr, I am not quite sure how that search string would get you here.
Then two actually using Eisen Andy, which is odd: I mean, if you know the name of the blog, you know where it is, I would have thought? Oh well, I don't mind.
But "nasty cucumber"?? Have I ever written anything about a nasty cucumber? There was that Schpleculation about Andy watching the Lux children's TV show with the presenters dressed up as, er, what were they again? Blackberries? But I am certain I have never written about cucumbers, nasty or otherwise.
*pause while I just quickly type it into google for myself*
Woooooooah.... *round eyes* well, that's a search term I would strongly not recommend. Three straight pages of what are clearly links to obscene stuff, a couple of references to videos of making your little brother eat cucumbers covered in things like melted cheese and ketchup, yuk: one chirpy little gardening link to "How to protect your cucumbers from beetles", then another eleven pages of sites you really would not want to visit. So much for AVG's "safe search" mode!
I gave up after 14 pages, so I have no idea how someone came here from using that search term. Whatever you were looking for, matey, this is not it!!
As you will know, I am often fascinated by the search terms used by non-regular viewers to get here: that's people who don't normally come here, but who have typed something into Google which lead them here.
I was just checking who was reading the blog at this very moment, and these are the search terms:
OK, predictably, "Andy Schleck girlfriend" is still up there in the top 10, although we are now getting "Andy Schleck engaged" and "Andy Schleck fiancee" as well, which shows how people are thinking.
Then we have Christian Knees bike, errrr, I am not quite sure how that search string would get you here.
Then two actually using Eisen Andy, which is odd: I mean, if you know the name of the blog, you know where it is, I would have thought? Oh well, I don't mind.
But "nasty cucumber"?? Have I ever written anything about a nasty cucumber? There was that Schpleculation about Andy watching the Lux children's TV show with the presenters dressed up as, er, what were they again? Blackberries? But I am certain I have never written about cucumbers, nasty or otherwise.
*pause while I just quickly type it into google for myself*
Woooooooah.... *round eyes* well, that's a search term I would strongly not recommend. Three straight pages of what are clearly links to obscene stuff, a couple of references to videos of making your little brother eat cucumbers covered in things like melted cheese and ketchup, yuk: one chirpy little gardening link to "How to protect your cucumbers from beetles", then another eleven pages of sites you really would not want to visit. So much for AVG's "safe search" mode!
I gave up after 14 pages, so I have no idea how someone came here from using that search term. Whatever you were looking for, matey, this is not it!!
Tuesday, 13 November 2012
Dear Employer,
I write to you on behalf of your employee, Brisbane Gal, to notify you that she will be unavailable for work for the period of January 22nd to about, ooh, let's say the 30th, allowing for a couple of extra days to recover afterwards.
As I am sure your Human Resources manager will have told you, Brisbane Girl is a hard-working and valued employee, with an exemplary attendance record, and she has taken all necessary steps to cover her work in her planned absence.
Thank you for your co-operation.
Bris Gal's Auntie Coug.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There, that should do it?
Yay, share the joy, Andy's going Down Under! (no silly jokes, please.) Yes, it's true, he will be starting his season rather earlier than usual, so we won't have to wait until the middle of March to see him in action again.
I wonder if he'll be going over there a week or more early, to acclimatise: and in which case, do you think he'll be staying with Stuey? And hey, wouldn't it be fun if Jakob could take his new Astana kit for an outing as well?
Fingers crossed......
As I am sure your Human Resources manager will have told you, Brisbane Girl is a hard-working and valued employee, with an exemplary attendance record, and she has taken all necessary steps to cover her work in her planned absence.
Thank you for your co-operation.
Bris Gal's Auntie Coug.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There, that should do it?
Yay, share the joy, Andy's going Down Under! (no silly jokes, please.) Yes, it's true, he will be starting his season rather earlier than usual, so we won't have to wait until the middle of March to see him in action again.
I wonder if he'll be going over there a week or more early, to acclimatise: and in which case, do you think he'll be staying with Stuey? And hey, wouldn't it be fun if Jakob could take his new Astana kit for an outing as well?
Fingers crossed......
Thursday, 25 October 2012
Andy's looking forward to the Tour!
Good boy! *pets Andy*
Why this sudden demonstration of affection for Our Andy? It's due to the report out today with his response to the Tour 2013 parcours announcement, and the current doping scandal.
And they gave us a nice picture, he's actually smiling!
So, next year's Tour route has been announced: it's a lot lighter on the TTs, and has four good mountain top finishes, and generally speaking it suits Our Andy a great deal more than last year's one.
He's already in training, he says he still has pain from that broken pelvis, but says "I can ride my bike relatively well." Phew, I think if I had a cracked pelvis I would be taking it very, very gently for months and months.
You have to admire the dedication of these athletes, getting out there and getting on with it, don't you?
Andy has, as we know, already said that he's not giving up cycling, even though Papa Schleck has recommended it, and we are all glad to hear that - although not wishing any disrespect to his father, this is one time when I am glad Andy is making up his own mind. I don't think it would be much fun writing a blog about a traffic cop in Luxembourg....
And when faced with the "inevitable" questioning about doping in cycling, he says:
“What has happened in the past has been really bad. We cannot just put it aside. But on the other hand: most of these things are from the past and we need to draw a line,” he said. “The young generation, and I count myself in that, has nothing to do with this past and we are the victims of it, in a way.
“So I'm saying: let's not forget about what has happened, but let's take lessons from it and move on."
Why this sudden demonstration of affection for Our Andy? It's due to the report out today with his response to the Tour 2013 parcours announcement, and the current doping scandal.
So, next year's Tour route has been announced: it's a lot lighter on the TTs, and has four good mountain top finishes, and generally speaking it suits Our Andy a great deal more than last year's one.
He's already in training, he says he still has pain from that broken pelvis, but says "I can ride my bike relatively well." Phew, I think if I had a cracked pelvis I would be taking it very, very gently for months and months.
You have to admire the dedication of these athletes, getting out there and getting on with it, don't you?
Andy has, as we know, already said that he's not giving up cycling, even though Papa Schleck has recommended it, and we are all glad to hear that - although not wishing any disrespect to his father, this is one time when I am glad Andy is making up his own mind. I don't think it would be much fun writing a blog about a traffic cop in Luxembourg....
And when faced with the "inevitable" questioning about doping in cycling, he says:
“What has happened in the past has been really bad. We cannot just put it aside. But on the other hand: most of these things are from the past and we need to draw a line,” he said. “The young generation, and I count myself in that, has nothing to do with this past and we are the victims of it, in a way.
“So I'm saying: let's not forget about what has happened, but let's take lessons from it and move on."
Tuesday, 23 October 2012
Papa Schleck tells Andy "Give it up, boy!"
What's all that about?
Apparently Johny Schleck has been talking to a French publication about the state of cycling these days.
As an aside, am I the only one who thinks of Johny Schleck as Joe-nee? Here in the UK, the name is John with one "n", and the casual version is Johnny with two "n"s. Pronounced Jonn-ee. But with only one "n" it just doesn't look right, and I think of him as Joe-nee, as in Joni Mitchell. ("Big yellow taxi")Is that just me?
Anyway, leaving aside the pronunciation of his name, he has suddenly told the press that he thinks Andy and Frankie should give up cycling.
This seems a bit of an odd thing to say, just at this time: clearly he is bothered by the doping scandal, well, aren't we all, and clearly he is concerned about Frankie and his personal doping scandal. He tells the paper that Frankie is "depressed", and has spent a lot of money on fighting the accusations.
But he was a pro cyclist at a time when doping was accepted. I seem to remember, when I first started following Andy Schleck, reading interviews where he said that he was determined from the beginning that his boys would be "clean" riders, and I have often read references to them being part of the "new generation" of clean riders. It was one of the things that made me want to follow the Schlecks: the idea that their parents were also from the sporting world, as they were both professional athletes - they would know all about the pressures, and would ensure that Andy and Frankie were aware of the pitfalls of doping,and were never pressured to become part of it.
So why would he decide that they should throw away everything they have worked for, all their lives, just now?
It seems a bit odd.
OK, Frankie is going through a terrible experience right now, and Andy has certainly had a horrible, horrible year, but that is only one year: they will get through it, things will get better. Frankie is probably approaching his peak cycling years now, and Andy is just getting better every year (said she, loyally, ignoring the total lack of results from 2012).
Elle made a good point in the comments on the last post, in that our boys have indeed pissed off some big names in cycling, not least being Mr Bruyneel and his entourage. "The Schlecks are not easy to work with" he said earlier this year, ha! ha! "Not easy to bully", perhaps?
But this is not a reason for giving up - not now, not when it is all at the tipping point (I think) and is going to get better. No, stop laughing, or making cynical noises, I really feel that this scandal is going to be the one that fixes cycling: sometimes you have to shake something to its core in order to shake some sense into it.
The next couple of years are going to be a bit lean on the sponsor side, I suspect, and it is entirely possible that the ProTeam league might go down to maybe 10-15 teams for a while, but I don't think this signals the end of cycling, do you?
Especially as Mr Bruyneel is going to be, er, very busy for the forthcoming months: hopefully far too busy to be interfering with Andy and Frankie. I know it's rude of me, bearing in mind that I've never met the guy, but I have formed an opinion about him, and I would be very happy to see him thrown out of cycling: or at the very least, sidelined for the duration of a long-drawn-out investigation ("Ha! See how you like it, matey!) that keeps him away until certain contracts expire, and certain riders are free once more.
So come on Andy, just this once, don't listen to your Papa.
Besides, what would they do?
If he doesn't want to ride, then presumably he wouldn't want them to be any part of it: so would we end up with Frankie working in the casino in Mondorf? Andy commuting to an office job in Lux city? What a terrible thought!
Apparently Johny Schleck has been talking to a French publication about the state of cycling these days.
As an aside, am I the only one who thinks of Johny Schleck as Joe-nee? Here in the UK, the name is John with one "n", and the casual version is Johnny with two "n"s. Pronounced Jonn-ee. But with only one "n" it just doesn't look right, and I think of him as Joe-nee, as in Joni Mitchell. ("Big yellow taxi")Is that just me?
Anyway, leaving aside the pronunciation of his name, he has suddenly told the press that he thinks Andy and Frankie should give up cycling.
This seems a bit of an odd thing to say, just at this time: clearly he is bothered by the doping scandal, well, aren't we all, and clearly he is concerned about Frankie and his personal doping scandal. He tells the paper that Frankie is "depressed", and has spent a lot of money on fighting the accusations.
But he was a pro cyclist at a time when doping was accepted. I seem to remember, when I first started following Andy Schleck, reading interviews where he said that he was determined from the beginning that his boys would be "clean" riders, and I have often read references to them being part of the "new generation" of clean riders. It was one of the things that made me want to follow the Schlecks: the idea that their parents were also from the sporting world, as they were both professional athletes - they would know all about the pressures, and would ensure that Andy and Frankie were aware of the pitfalls of doping,and were never pressured to become part of it.
So why would he decide that they should throw away everything they have worked for, all their lives, just now?
It seems a bit odd.
OK, Frankie is going through a terrible experience right now, and Andy has certainly had a horrible, horrible year, but that is only one year: they will get through it, things will get better. Frankie is probably approaching his peak cycling years now, and Andy is just getting better every year (said she, loyally, ignoring the total lack of results from 2012).
Elle made a good point in the comments on the last post, in that our boys have indeed pissed off some big names in cycling, not least being Mr Bruyneel and his entourage. "The Schlecks are not easy to work with" he said earlier this year, ha! ha! "Not easy to bully", perhaps?
But this is not a reason for giving up - not now, not when it is all at the tipping point (I think) and is going to get better. No, stop laughing, or making cynical noises, I really feel that this scandal is going to be the one that fixes cycling: sometimes you have to shake something to its core in order to shake some sense into it.
The next couple of years are going to be a bit lean on the sponsor side, I suspect, and it is entirely possible that the ProTeam league might go down to maybe 10-15 teams for a while, but I don't think this signals the end of cycling, do you?
Especially as Mr Bruyneel is going to be, er, very busy for the forthcoming months: hopefully far too busy to be interfering with Andy and Frankie. I know it's rude of me, bearing in mind that I've never met the guy, but I have formed an opinion about him, and I would be very happy to see him thrown out of cycling: or at the very least, sidelined for the duration of a long-drawn-out investigation ("Ha! See how you like it, matey!) that keeps him away until certain contracts expire, and certain riders are free once more.
So come on Andy, just this once, don't listen to your Papa.
Besides, what would they do?
If he doesn't want to ride, then presumably he wouldn't want them to be any part of it: so would we end up with Frankie working in the casino in Mondorf? Andy commuting to an office job in Lux city? What a terrible thought!
Sunday, 21 October 2012
"Wedding fever grips Luxembourg"
*raised eyebrows* Surely not?
Found this on the BBC news website this morning:
Phew, it's ok, it's not Our Andy and TinkerJil, it's the crown prince getting hitched.
Other news to be reported today: cycling continues to reel from the Armstrong thing: like Jimmy Savile, he's been judged "guilty" even though there hasn't been a court case, and cycling is falling apart at the seams all around.
Rabobank are withdrawing from sponsorship, which is such a shame as they are one of the longest-running pro-team sponsors, 17 years so far, with the most consistent kit. Luckily they are taking their contract and responsibilities seriously, and are continuing to pay the team for next year, but are taking away their name.
Bert Bruggink said " the USADA report into doping by Lance Armstrong and the US Postal Service team was the reason for the decision."
Thanks, USADA.
Found this on the BBC news website this morning:
Phew, it's ok, it's not Our Andy and TinkerJil, it's the crown prince getting hitched.
Other news to be reported today: cycling continues to reel from the Armstrong thing: like Jimmy Savile, he's been judged "guilty" even though there hasn't been a court case, and cycling is falling apart at the seams all around.
Rabobank are withdrawing from sponsorship, which is such a shame as they are one of the longest-running pro-team sponsors, 17 years so far, with the most consistent kit. Luckily they are taking their contract and responsibilities seriously, and are continuing to pay the team for next year, but are taking away their name.
Bert Bruggink said " the USADA report into doping by Lance Armstrong and the US Postal Service team was the reason for the decision."
Thanks, USADA.
Sunday, 14 October 2012
Would anyone really poison Frank Schleck?
It seems like a ridiculous thing to say: I find it hard to believe that Johan Bruyneel, no matter how aggrieved he felt with either of the Schlecks, would stoop to actually poisoning them.
I can almost - almost - understand the idea of someone in his position giving a rider an illegal drug in order that they would fail a doping test, just out of spite.
I can certainly imagine one team setting out to "dope" a rival rider: or a demented fan (or cycling hater) doing something like that - if you remember, when Frankie's adverse finding was first reported, that was our main thought, that Frankie had accidentally taken a bidon meant for someone else.
Whether it was a doping rider's usual "special" bidon, or merely a randomly contaminated bidon, both suggestions were equally valid: likewise whether it was meant for Frankie, or whether he grabbed it by mistake, again, we would never know.
But in all those cases, it would be done by someone outside the team. I find it very hard to believe that anyone in the management would do anything to harm one of their own riders - I believe the phrase is "cutting off your nose to spite your face."
It's not as though Shack have so many UCI points that they don't need any more.
But even if that were the case, and it was done by someone within the team, either by Mr Bruyneel, or at his direction - to give Frankie something that could possibly kill him? There's a world of difference between giving a rider something that would cause him to fail doping, and something that might cause his heart to fail.
I don't quite see that happening.
But as Inge said (comments, last post), it's a bit of a coincidence that Frankie's hearing was postponed for a week, and within that week, we have had the suggestion - it came from L'Equipe, which I would have thought was a fairly respectable sports journal - that it was deliberate poisoning, to prevent him from being attractive to any other teams.
(As though he would leave Andy behind, pffff!)
Meanwhile, Andy has had some reasonable days of riding in Beijing: we haven't seen much of him, and he didn't quite finish the race, but the DS on the Shack site said that he'd had four good days of racing, and would now be going straight on into training, through the winter, in the sure and certain hope that next season would be considerably better than this one, in every single way.
Meanwhile, somewhere in Beijing:
Reporter: So, Andy, what's all this about Mr Bruyneel poisoning your brother?
Andy: *stony silence*, face somewhat reminiscent of small child presented with spoonful of stewed prunes and wordlessly conveying the message "no, I won't eat it."
Is that Sprite he's drinking?
Oh, and what's that on his upper lip? No, Andy, not another attempt to grow the Caterpillar of Doom, please!
I can almost - almost - understand the idea of someone in his position giving a rider an illegal drug in order that they would fail a doping test, just out of spite.
I can certainly imagine one team setting out to "dope" a rival rider: or a demented fan (or cycling hater) doing something like that - if you remember, when Frankie's adverse finding was first reported, that was our main thought, that Frankie had accidentally taken a bidon meant for someone else.
Whether it was a doping rider's usual "special" bidon, or merely a randomly contaminated bidon, both suggestions were equally valid: likewise whether it was meant for Frankie, or whether he grabbed it by mistake, again, we would never know.
But in all those cases, it would be done by someone outside the team. I find it very hard to believe that anyone in the management would do anything to harm one of their own riders - I believe the phrase is "cutting off your nose to spite your face."
It's not as though Shack have so many UCI points that they don't need any more.
But even if that were the case, and it was done by someone within the team, either by Mr Bruyneel, or at his direction - to give Frankie something that could possibly kill him? There's a world of difference between giving a rider something that would cause him to fail doping, and something that might cause his heart to fail.
I don't quite see that happening.
But as Inge said (comments, last post), it's a bit of a coincidence that Frankie's hearing was postponed for a week, and within that week, we have had the suggestion - it came from L'Equipe, which I would have thought was a fairly respectable sports journal - that it was deliberate poisoning, to prevent him from being attractive to any other teams.
(As though he would leave Andy behind, pffff!)
Meanwhile, Andy has had some reasonable days of riding in Beijing: we haven't seen much of him, and he didn't quite finish the race, but the DS on the Shack site said that he'd had four good days of racing, and would now be going straight on into training, through the winter, in the sure and certain hope that next season would be considerably better than this one, in every single way.
Meanwhile, somewhere in Beijing:
Reporter: So, Andy, what's all this about Mr Bruyneel poisoning your brother?
Andy: *stony silence*, face somewhat reminiscent of small child presented with spoonful of stewed prunes and wordlessly conveying the message "no, I won't eat it."
Oh, and what's that on his upper lip? No, Andy, not another attempt to grow the Caterpillar of Doom, please!
Saturday, 13 October 2012
Bruyneel: OUT !
Wow, I'm sitting down but I'm still staggering: yes, Mr Bruyneel has been given the shove by RadioShack:
As Mr Bruyneel seems to be firmly responsible for the general unhappiness of our Leopard boys, I can't be anything other than jubilant at this news.
Typically, Mr Bruyneel manages to put a "spin" on it to make it sound as though it were his choice: "“I have decided to step back from my official team activities in order to concentrate on my defence, and in order to shield the RadioShack - Nissan - Trek cycling team from unnecessary distractions,” he wrote on his website.
Yeah, right. Shielding the team from distractions. Nice one.
I bet there are some celebrations going on in various places in Europe today! It appears from the above report that Fabian had earlier said "it's him or me", so he must be thrilled to bits. And of course Andy and his family must be just heaving huge sighs of relief that this horrible season is now over, Mr B's rule is now over, and next year they can all get back on track and just get on with the cycling. Suddenly, having another two years on the contract does not seem like such a ball and chain, after all.
I don't know if they will be celebrating so much at Frankie's place: I imagine they are still worried to bits about Frankie's adverse finding, but at least they now know that once it is over, Frankie will know (are you paying attention, Alice?) that he will be returning to a much better environment.
Right, now we can start speculating about the new kit!
As Mr Bruyneel seems to be firmly responsible for the general unhappiness of our Leopard boys, I can't be anything other than jubilant at this news.
Typically, Mr Bruyneel manages to put a "spin" on it to make it sound as though it were his choice: "“I have decided to step back from my official team activities in order to concentrate on my defence, and in order to shield the RadioShack - Nissan - Trek cycling team from unnecessary distractions,” he wrote on his website.
Yeah, right. Shielding the team from distractions. Nice one.
I bet there are some celebrations going on in various places in Europe today! It appears from the above report that Fabian had earlier said "it's him or me", so he must be thrilled to bits. And of course Andy and his family must be just heaving huge sighs of relief that this horrible season is now over, Mr B's rule is now over, and next year they can all get back on track and just get on with the cycling. Suddenly, having another two years on the contract does not seem like such a ball and chain, after all.
I don't know if they will be celebrating so much at Frankie's place: I imagine they are still worried to bits about Frankie's adverse finding, but at least they now know that once it is over, Frankie will know (are you paying attention, Alice?) that he will be returning to a much better environment.
Right, now we can start speculating about the new kit!
Sunday, 7 October 2012
Good luck in Beijing, Andy!
Fingers crossed, Our Andy is going to be starting the Tour of Beijing next week, and we all hope that his pelvis is up to the job.
It was widely reported that he started Binche-Tournai-Binche but was unable to finish it, leading certain journalists to speculate that he wasn't fully recovered yet.
I must admit, it's clear that he's not fully recovered, so I don't quite see the point of racing, as opposed to continuing with the training - it's well known that training is no substitute for racing, and that it's just not possible to achieve the speeds and pressure in training that you would encounter in an actual race: but I don't quite see why Andy needs that speed and pressure when, I would have thought, he could tell from training rides that his backside is still not 100%.
(Only on the inside, Andy, my pet, only on the inside: on the outside, please be assured your backside is 100% of what it was.)
Starting races and not finishing them just fuels the "Andy Schleck is a quitter" stories that we all hate.
Still, I'm not his DS, and I am sure there are good reasons for it, so all we can do it sit and watch with fingers crossed, and hope that he finishes at Beijing.
From what I can make out, it's not a particularly punishing parcours, but I understand that long days in the saddle are currently the problem, rather than hills: and the Beijing course only appears to have one hilly day in it.
With all the Schleck-Shlack problems we've been having, it's actually a very good sign that Shack are prepared to send Andy to Beijing: they could easily have left him out, preferring to send another rider who is in better form, in order to support Eeee-bennati and get more UCI points.
After all, Shack are not exactly at the top of the UCI points rankings this year - they are currently sitting 12th, which is not brilliant - but of course this year there are only 19 teams chasing the 18 places, rather different from previous years, and as long as Shack have more points than Stinkoff - not hard, bearing in mind that Contador's points won't count, and he has 290 of Stinkoff's 385, oops - then they are unlikely to be in trouble.
So fingers and toes crossed, everyone: oh, and Andy, don't forget to pack your breathing mask.
It was widely reported that he started Binche-Tournai-Binche but was unable to finish it, leading certain journalists to speculate that he wasn't fully recovered yet.
I must admit, it's clear that he's not fully recovered, so I don't quite see the point of racing, as opposed to continuing with the training - it's well known that training is no substitute for racing, and that it's just not possible to achieve the speeds and pressure in training that you would encounter in an actual race: but I don't quite see why Andy needs that speed and pressure when, I would have thought, he could tell from training rides that his backside is still not 100%.
(Only on the inside, Andy, my pet, only on the inside: on the outside, please be assured your backside is 100% of what it was.)
Starting races and not finishing them just fuels the "Andy Schleck is a quitter" stories that we all hate.
Still, I'm not his DS, and I am sure there are good reasons for it, so all we can do it sit and watch with fingers crossed, and hope that he finishes at Beijing.
From what I can make out, it's not a particularly punishing parcours, but I understand that long days in the saddle are currently the problem, rather than hills: and the Beijing course only appears to have one hilly day in it.
With all the Schleck-Shlack problems we've been having, it's actually a very good sign that Shack are prepared to send Andy to Beijing: they could easily have left him out, preferring to send another rider who is in better form, in order to support Eeee-bennati and get more UCI points.
After all, Shack are not exactly at the top of the UCI points rankings this year - they are currently sitting 12th, which is not brilliant - but of course this year there are only 19 teams chasing the 18 places, rather different from previous years, and as long as Shack have more points than Stinkoff - not hard, bearing in mind that Contador's points won't count, and he has 290 of Stinkoff's 385, oops - then they are unlikely to be in trouble.
So fingers and toes crossed, everyone: oh, and Andy, don't forget to pack your breathing mask.
Saturday, 29 September 2012
RadioShack really are in trouble. Shame.
Here's a bit of non-cycling news that could have a big effect on Our Andy: Shack are in big trouble.
Their CEO, James Gooch, has quit. Not surprising, as Shack's shares have tumbled 83% since he took over in May of last year.
83% !!!
For those of you who are not quite clear how much of a drop that is:
The report says that Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities (who? And why is he competent to comment on this story?) said one problem facing RadioShack is its name, which conjures up images from another era.
“Radio is a concept from a hundred years ago, and a shack is a place that essentially homeless people lie in,” he said.
Well, good point, hadn't really thought about it in those terms.
Certainly this can't be good for their sponsorship of a cycling team - even though the cost of running a cycle team is negligible to a company of that size, it is no doubt considered an easy thing to cut, when cuts have to be made.
Out of interest, how does this relate to AndyFan satisfaction with RadioShack and their team management style? I asked a random selection of Andy Schleck fans how they would rate their satisfaction with how Shack have treated riders and staff, since the merger:
Yes, I can see a clear correlation there, can't you?
So, what will we get next year?
Nissan-Trek?
Their CEO, James Gooch, has quit. Not surprising, as Shack's shares have tumbled 83% since he took over in May of last year.
83% !!!
For those of you who are not quite clear how much of a drop that is:
The report says that Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities (who? And why is he competent to comment on this story?) said one problem facing RadioShack is its name, which conjures up images from another era.
“Radio is a concept from a hundred years ago, and a shack is a place that essentially homeless people lie in,” he said.
Well, good point, hadn't really thought about it in those terms.
Certainly this can't be good for their sponsorship of a cycling team - even though the cost of running a cycle team is negligible to a company of that size, it is no doubt considered an easy thing to cut, when cuts have to be made.
Out of interest, how does this relate to AndyFan satisfaction with RadioShack and their team management style? I asked a random selection of Andy Schleck fans how they would rate their satisfaction with how Shack have treated riders and staff, since the merger:
Yes, I can see a clear correlation there, can't you?
So, what will we get next year?
Nissan-Trek?
Friday, 28 September 2012
Andy Schleck's astronomical chart: what a load of *******!
Hey folks, look what I found while checking out Andy Schleck Parameter of Legs:
http://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Andy_Schleck
I thought that this was far too good to keep to myself, and that you should all share in it's wonderfulness.
And I quote:
"... you are nervous, expressive, lively and adaptable, with a quick mind and a good sense of humour. You are bubbling, playful, sociable, clever, curious, whimsical, independent, intellectual, flexible, ingenious, fanciful, imaginative, charming, cerebral, and you are into everything. You may also be whimsical, unfocused, quirky, superficial, indiscreet, opportunist, unmindful, selfish, sarcastic or mercurial."
This is somewhat similar to a Mystic Meg prediction, don't you think?
Note for non-UK readers: when the UK first started having the National Lottery, in order to try to make it interesting, they dragged in some weird woman in too much make-up, who would make a "prediction" each week. These were so bland that they were utterly useless, leading satirical comics of the time to do impressions of her giving a prediction along the lines of "....this week's winner will be *long pause* a man.... *longer pause* or a woman." End of Note.
Regarding his amorous activities, it suggests:
"Paradoxically, you are very charming and attractive but you are more interested in the game itself. Indeed, thrills of verbal joust, fun, the pleasure to communicate over and over again, remain the centres of your concerns."
Wonder what TinkerJil would say about that? Or, worse still, whoever did it clearly hasn't heard about her, as it goes on to say:-
"You clearly prefer to be a bachelor because you appreciate its hustle and bustle: outings, exciting parties or a wide range of encounters etc. However, when you meet with your soul mate, you turn into a pleasant and charming partner, although you may not be around too often!"
Andy's life path has been influenced, apparently, by the number 3. Funny, I would have said the number 6, if anything, isn't that the number that has been his race number more than any other? Which, incidentally, will be my question if I ever have to speak to Andy in person: I thought it showed an in-depth study of his racing life, without being too stalker-y, don't you think?
Anyway, do enjoy the chart.... and do let me know how accurate you thought it was? *sniggers*
http://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Andy_Schleck
I thought that this was far too good to keep to myself, and that you should all share in it's wonderfulness.
And I quote:
"... you are nervous, expressive, lively and adaptable, with a quick mind and a good sense of humour. You are bubbling, playful, sociable, clever, curious, whimsical, independent, intellectual, flexible, ingenious, fanciful, imaginative, charming, cerebral, and you are into everything. You may also be whimsical, unfocused, quirky, superficial, indiscreet, opportunist, unmindful, selfish, sarcastic or mercurial."
This is somewhat similar to a Mystic Meg prediction, don't you think?
Note for non-UK readers: when the UK first started having the National Lottery, in order to try to make it interesting, they dragged in some weird woman in too much make-up, who would make a "prediction" each week. These were so bland that they were utterly useless, leading satirical comics of the time to do impressions of her giving a prediction along the lines of "....this week's winner will be *long pause* a man.... *longer pause* or a woman." End of Note.
Regarding his amorous activities, it suggests:
"Paradoxically, you are very charming and attractive but you are more interested in the game itself. Indeed, thrills of verbal joust, fun, the pleasure to communicate over and over again, remain the centres of your concerns."
Wonder what TinkerJil would say about that? Or, worse still, whoever did it clearly hasn't heard about her, as it goes on to say:-
"You clearly prefer to be a bachelor because you appreciate its hustle and bustle: outings, exciting parties or a wide range of encounters etc. However, when you meet with your soul mate, you turn into a pleasant and charming partner, although you may not be around too often!"
Andy's life path has been influenced, apparently, by the number 3. Funny, I would have said the number 6, if anything, isn't that the number that has been his race number more than any other? Which, incidentally, will be my question if I ever have to speak to Andy in person: I thought it showed an in-depth study of his racing life, without being too stalker-y, don't you think?
Anyway, do enjoy the chart.... and do let me know how accurate you thought it was? *sniggers*
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