2011 Tour runner-up vows to come back stronger after being forced out of this year’s race
Andy Schleck has said this afternoon that he had set a new goal of trying to win the Vuelta a España, having been forced to abandon his Tour de France campaign due to injury.
The RadioShack Nissan rider confirmed earlier reports that a fracture meant that he would be sidelined for several weeks, thus prompting a major change to his schedule. Describing the moment as the ‘biggest disappointment in his life,’ the triple podium finisher has said that he would have been able to answer his critics at the Tour, but that a crash in the Critérium du Dauphiné made it impossible for him to take part.
He fell in the time trial when a gust of wind hit him, and found out via a MRI scan on Tuesday that he had fractured his sacrum, the part of his spine which joins with the pelvis.
“This is the biggest disappointment in my life,” the Luxembourg rider said at a press conference held in his home country. “The Tour is the most important race. I feel sad for my dedicated teammates. I would have been ready to perform. I wanted to give an answer to my critics. As a bike rider you never stop believing in goals, in dreams. That’s why I also continued on the bike after my crash.”
Schleck initially believed the damages from his fall were not too severe. Under pressure because of poor form – something he subsequently blamed on a knee injury prior to the race, plus a related one week break from training – and also from team management, which said he needed to use the Dauphiné to build form for the Tour, he continued in the race. However two days after the time trial, he pulled out during stage six and returned home to Luxembourg.
Today he spoke about his thoughts at the time, and explained the reason why he battled on as long as he did. “I wanted to go on as I had the Tour in my head. I was always thinking that it would become better,” he said. “Riders are hard. I remember Cadel Evans finishing the Tour once with broken ribs, but in the end I really had to quit the race. In my career I’ve broken my collar bone twice but this is the most painful thing I’ve ever had so far.”
Assessment and recovery:
Initially, the extent of the injury wasn’t realised as the first examinations didn’t reveal what was wrong. When the pain persisted, Schleck had more tests done and these diagnosed what was wrong. Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Torsten Gerich was at today’s conference and explained precisely what was the problem.
“It was immediately clear that Andy suffered a severe injury,” he said. “A regular X-ray didn’t give us any information, but a MRI scan revealed the fracture in segment S3 of the sacral body. This is a bone bruise. There is no dislocation, it will not compromise the stability of the pelvis, but it hurts terribly. We were more than surprised to see that Andy still raced with it.”
The diagnosis showed the reason why he was feeling sciatica and a loss of power in one of his legs. It also put paid to any suggestions that he wasn’t tough enough in trying to finish the race.
RadioShack Nissan manager Johan Bruyneel previously described Schleck’s injury and withdrawal as ‘not good’ and said that it made things very tough in his push to be ready for the Tour. “If you are dealing with problems and trying to catch up on form and then, when you start to build up and see some improvements, you have a setback again through a crash or an injury, you never have a solid foundation.
“ Andy’s situation is not a good sign for his Tour preparation, especially if you look now at the level of his competitors. For the moment there is not much we can do. It is a difficult situation.”
It remains to be seen if mistakes were made in keeping the rider in the race as long as he was, but Bruyneel said today that what was clear was Schleck’s determination to try to complete the event.
“I was there when Andy came to the car in that Saturday stage and it was obvious that there was something wrong,” he explained, speaking about the day the rider retired. “Andy suffered a lot but put the pain aside. He knew he had to go through the Dauphiné to be ready for the Tour de France. The fact that he went on for two stages really showed that he was determined to be as good as possible at the start of the Tour.”
Schleck was quite composed today, but his father told AP how difficult things had been for him in terms of emotions. "His morale is zero at the moment. He wanted to win the Tour, although it would have been difficult this year,” he said, referring to the amount of time trials in the race.
Schleck has been told that the injury will take between four and six weeks to fully recover. Fortunately, given that he wants to target the Olympics and the Vuelta a España, he won’t be sidelined for that full length of time. “In three weeks I hope to ride,” he said. “I need to stay fit. I am now at my Tour de France weight and I don’t want to gain weight as I am still ambitious for the end of the season.
“I hope to race the Olympics and I will go for the win in the Tour of Spain. Yesterday evening, two hours after I heard the verdict, I already studied the course of the Vuelta… The course suits me very well.”
Providing he makes it there, he will be up against the rider who beat him in 2009 and 2010, but who lost the latter title due to a positive test for Clenbuterol. “I will find there my friend Alberto Contador. It’s going to be a nice race there. I am more motivated than ever before,” he said. “After the Vuelta we also have the World Championships in Valkenburg. That profile suits me too, just as Lombardy does.”
He summed things up by saying that while he’s been struck by misfortune, that he’d use his disappointment as motivation to bounce back. “After all my bad luck of this year I will come back stronger,” he vowed. “I am 27 years old. I still have a lot of years in front of me. You haven’t heard the last of me yet.”