Rad Fondo

So is Andy Schleck worthy of an Oscar for his playing possum performance? Or is it just geeting worse for Radio Shack. Video from Radio Shack Team meeting last night.


https://www.radfondo.com/2012/06/osca...ng-possum.html

Enjoy,
Rad Fondo

canam73

If he is laying low I don't know why it would suprise anyone. He did the same thing last year.

cthenn

If this is all some kind of game, then he's a pathetic jackass. You don't disrepect a race like this, 2 days in a row, loafing around like a gimp. If he's suffering, then he's got bigger problems, but if this is all a ruse, yet another strike against this skinny boy.

reef58

He hasn't raced much this year, and is struggling with form. He may or may not be on for the TDF. He usually sucks in the race before the TDF, but it may be a bit too much this year.

Bacciagalupe

Turns out he had knee problems in May, so he lost a week of training. ( https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/andy...roblems-in-may )

He's probably currently out of form, and basically has until July 11 to get into shape. It's hard to say if he can get there, as his training was disrupted.

Meanwhile, Evans and Wiggins might be putting more effort into the Dauphiné than they should; also hard to say.

ultraman6970

What a coincidence that this came up just now, why JB did not talk about it instead of getting pissed off??? IMO looks like this kid has a personality problem because always something else to blame, and now just a knee problem and why JB did not talk about it?? But clearly he was pissed off a few days ago by his comments, now a knee problem he did not speak about and that he should have known??

Some guys really need to get the stories straight between them, or they are bluffing big time. I bet he will be dropped off the back in the mountain stages.

dstrong 

The lieutenant's all looked terrified at Adolph's...uh...I mean Johann's rant. And the poor staff outside the door having to listen to that! He should know better than to go off like that and not think that it would end up on YouTube!

Kind of Blued

Definitely playing possum, just like he's been doing for years in time trials.

I kid, but my point is that Andy Schleck's modus operandi is to be bad 11 months every year. The news here is that he might make it 12 months in 2012.

Bacciagalupe

For years, Ullrich's teams and managers insisted "he's in great shape, he's ready to ride!" Then he'd show up for the TdF looking like this:



You also might want to take it easy on the haterade. I mean, what, did Andy kick your dog or something? More to the point, like it or not the guy is a top climber, he's young, he's going to be a favorite and a Tour specialist for years to come. You might as well get used to his being around and discussed in the press, 'cause he's not leaving the scene any time soon.

Besides, the only way he can win is if he truly maximizes his advantages, and minimizes his weaknesses. If Andy is really out of shape, and can't ride himself into shape, then he isn't going to win.

I.e. if he wins, it's almost certainly going to be because he worked for it. It's exceedingly rare for anyone to emerge victorious from a Grand Tour if they didn't deserve it.

luxroadie

Like Floyd ... er ... I mean like Alberto ... oops ... I mean like ...

Let's face it setting aside you know who back when, and Cadel last year, the TdF victors have all been a bit dodgy. Giro? Vuelta? I think we can say that grand tour winners are pretty much guilty until proven innocent these days. Sad days they are but they days in which we live.

Thirstyman

that video is ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT! Especially the part about descending the stairs and the last bit about Voigt.

Bacciagalupe

Well, I'm anti-doping and have no illusions about athletes using PED's, with the possible exception of assuming that the various Slipstream teams are clean. Evans or Sanchez is just as likely as anyone else to be doping.

There is no "you know who back when" that I assume is clean.

That said, my guess is that with few exceptions, PED's aren't changing too much about who wins and loses. I.e. if everyone was clean, the same guys would still be at the top of the ranks. At best, EPO has extended some careers by a few years, but that's about it.

I.e. if Andy isn't fit, he can't just pop a few pills and magically podium -- any more than a domestique can take EPO and win a Grand Tour. That's just not how it works.

daveF

You're making the assumption that EPO works the same for everybody. It doesn't. Some have negative reactions to it. It is pretty much like everything else, each physiology seems to be a bit different. Some supplements or PED's work for some but not others.

Right Said Fred

Jens Voight eats small animals and picks his teeth with the bones. Awesome. And probably true.

Keith99

If one defined clean as not breaking the rules, written and unwriten then I would be willing to assume Gino Bartali clean. But back then drug use was accepted so he very clearly was not clean by applying a modern definition.

merlinextraligh

His pre tour form has been much better in past years. He's traditionally been strong at LBL (winning in 2009, 3rd last year) 50th this year.

Decent finish in the Tour of Switzerland last year, and 2nd on a Stage, out of the Dauphine this year.

8th on GC in ATOC last year.

Other than winning LBL, he hasn't set the world on fire pre tour, but he's been on much better form in past years than this year.

It's very questionable if he comes to the TDF on form, and even if he does, all the time trialing is likely his undoing.

ultraman6970

After seeing Evans and Wiggo how are climbing I really think both bros are in troubles. Frank was smoked in stage 2 by a normal all rounder rider in a climbing finish.

Bacciagalupe

You can't give the Lanterne Rouge a solid dose of EPO and put him on the podium. There's plenty of pack fodder that doped just to hang onto a spot on a pro team.

My assumption is that most of the riders until very recently were doing something they shouldn't -- across the entire peloton. The only possible distortion is that the older winners might have lost a few places, though that's essentially impossible to test.


Athletes who have a "negative reaction" to EPO or several other PED's often wound up in the hospital... or the morgue. Or, they just found something else to take.

reef58

I don't disagree on the form issues, but we will see in the first week of the tour. If Andy can make it back to 2010 form he can overcome the time trials.

daveF

For some, EPO does not increase hematocrit. For some, there is a slightly negative reaction & they don't feel as good as they did before taking EPO (but not nearly severe enough to wind up in the hospital). But, your broad generalizations, other than "You can't give the Lanterne Rouge a solid dose of EPO and put him on the podium" aren't correct.