Attention has already turned towards the rest of the race and Frank Schleck is determined to get on with his bid to reach the podium of the Vuelta a España, but the subject of Andy Schleck and Stuart O’Grady’s ejection from the Vuelta is still a topical one.
The Luxembourg rider finished a solid sixth on today’s stage, 23 seconds behind the solo winner Igor Anton (Euskaltel Euskadi) and is now up to ninth overall, two minutes 30 seconds behind the Basque rider.
He would undoubtedly welcome the assistance of his brother Andy and Stuart O’Grady in the race, but appears to harbour no resentment about the decision taken by Bjarne Riis to send the two home. They were out drinking on the rest day, returning to the hotel at some time between 1am (the riders’s version of things) or 5.30 am (the unofficial word from the team).
Depending on which version you believe, the riders either had two beers or else many more than this.
“I have no reason to go into further detail,” said Schleck late yesterday, when asked by Feltet.dk for his reaction. “We should just deal with the new consequences and continue. Andy was wrong, and he himself accepted that. He takes responsibility for his mistakes.”
Frank Schleck has backed his brother’s efforts to win the Tour de France in the past, and is quite possibly frustrated that Andy didn’t have the form, or the commitment, to return the favour. He said that the team’s internal rules are clear. “They must be observed. These rules apply to all and we must just accept that. Andy knew the consequences,” he said.
O’Grady gave an earlier reaction to The Australian newspaper, reiterating Andy Schleck’s position that they had just two drinks each, and were back in the hotel by 1am.
Since then, he has also spoken to the Sydney Morning Herald and elaborated, claiming that the dispute was not to do with alcohol but was more a general reflection of tensions within the team. He said that there is no ban on alcohol. “Not at all. Bjarne has taken us out to plenty of dinners. He is quite a fine wine connoisseur himself,” he told Rupert Guinness. “He normally brings some nice wines, so I really don’t know. I think it has a lot more to do with than just having a couple of beers.
“Basically, there is a lot of tension in the air. I don’t want to make any [further] comments.”
Reactions are varied to the disciplinary action, with some feeling that Riis was completely justified in blocking riders from taking part if they are putting their energy into socialising and are not recovering correctly. Others say that his response was over the top, and that his decision to exclude two important riders may be related to the fact that they – plus Frank Schleck, Jakob Fuglsang, Jens Voigt and others – are leaving Team Saxo Bank and will compete in 2011 for a new, as yet unnamed, setup based in Luxembourg.
In truth, it’s difficult to form a measured reaction without knowing the verified time of return and the condition of the riders when they reached the team hotel.
Either way, the important detail is that Andy Schleck and Stuart O’Grady are out of the race, and that the latter faces a lot of hard work to ensure that he is ready for the world road race championships. However, rather than getting frustrated, he played down the effects this would have on his chances.
“A lot of the guys pull out of the Vuelta after two weeks, so I don’t think it will be any deterrent,” he said. “I’ll keep focussed, concentrate and do all I can to be 100 percent.”
Andy Schleck has already said that he has no plans to travel to Australia for the worlds. Instead, he will remain in Europe and concentrate on the Giro di Lombardia.