Dropped on the past two days in the Critérium du Dauphiné and currently sitting a distant five minutes 21 seconds back in 120th place, Andy Schleck has given what he says is a reason for his poor form; an injury which has affected his build-up for the event.
The RadioShack Nissan rider has said that two weeks ago he attended a clinic in Basel to be treated for a knee problem, resting for three days during the treatment and losing a total of a week’s training.
It is not clear why the news was not revealed before now, particularly as he has come in from criticism for two days, but he is adamant that this is the reason why he has been off-pace in France.
“It’s not surprising that I have not been competitive at the Dauphiné,” he told De Telegraaf. “Of course, I’d prefer to show better condition, but if you look at my preparation, this is logical. I think that over the past three days I’m already performing better. I didn’t share the panic that some people had because I was dropped on the first stage. I’m not panicking at all.”
Equally perplexing is why general manager Johan Bruyneel didn’t refer to this when he commented on Schleck’s lack of condition this week. He said that he hoped the rider would improve, but gave no indications that there had been a problem.
“I didn’t expect to see that scenario at the end [Schleck being dropped on stage 1], but I’ve spoken with Andy. What’s clear here is that he’s had a lack of competition,” he stated. “We know that. We come here with different intentions other than to win. The main goal is to see how Andy is going in the mountains.”
Several days remain in the Dauphiné, with a long time tiral coming up tomorrow and then three days with climbing. The Luxembourg rider will hope to show some good signs before the end of the race, both to quieten the questions about his form and also to give himself a confidence boost as he nears the start of the Tour.