Sounding like he’s full of motivation to move forward after what was a very frustrating 2012 season, Andy Schleck has revealed his racing programme and said that he plans to compete regularly in order to get back into top shape.
“I think it is important for me that I have as many races in the legs by the start of the Classics,” he told Wielerrevue magazine. “It’s a busy schedule, but that’s my own choice. I am very motivated to prove that I am still a good rider…I want to show myself again.
“Attacks, maybe win a race. I voted against the team, saying ‘give me as many races as possible!’ Of course, the first races are tricky, because I missed so much last year. But what drives me forward is that I want to win again.”
Schleck will have his earliest-ever start to the season when he lines out in the Santos Tour Down Under on January 22nd. In fact, he’s likely to race two days earlier in the People’s Choice Classic, as will the rest of the Tour Down Under field.
After that, he is scheduled to ride the Tour of the Mediterranean, the Tour du Haut Var, GP Nobili, Strade Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico, Criterium International and the Vuelta al Pais Vasco. That will take him up to the Classics, where he could elect to dispute Liège-Bastogne-Liège – where he was third in 2011 – plus the other Ardennes races.
After that, the Tours of California and Switzerland will likely be his route to the Tour de France.
He missed this year’s race due to his big crash in the Criterium du Dauphiné, which led to a fractured pelvis. He also missed the Olympic road race, the Vuelta a España and the USA Pro Cycling Challenge, and only resumed racing in the Binche-Tournai-Binche Memorial Frank Vandenbroucke on October 2nd.
Together with the subsequent Tour of Beijing, he only raced 28 days in 2012 and so is determined to log as much competitive kilometres as possible in order to recover sharpness.