There’s never been any question as to what would be the primary target for the new Leopard-Trek team in 2011: a first Tour de France victory for last year’s runner up Andy Schleck. Andy and elder brother Fränk outlined their intentions at the team’s presentation at Luxembourg’s national sporting and cultural centre “d’Coque”.
“It's never easy to win a Tour," said Andy. "This is a good team and we continue to progress. I've been second in the Tour twice and will do everything to win the overall, but it’s not something you can just order.
“You can’t win the Tour without a team that’s one hundred percent behind you. I would certainly not want to change anything in the team; this is a really strong team.”
Schleck has finished the Tour in second place twice, but will find himself one of the biggest favourites for the race this year. Should Alberto Contador be suspended as a result of his positive test for a trace amount of clenbuterol this July, there will likely be nobody close to challenging the 25-year-old. Also, should the Spanish rider find himself sanctioned over his positive test, Schleck would in all likelihood be chasing his second victory.
Contador suspension or not though, Schleck still feels that he will carry the pressure of the favourite.
“In the next Tour all eyes will be on me," he said. “Whether Alberto Contador is at the start or not, it doesn’t make the pressure there for me any lower.”
While younger brother Andy is the overall favourite for the Tour, elder brother Fränk came close to winning the race himself in 2008. The 30-year-old held the race lead with just five stages to go but lost out to teammate Carlos Sastre on the stage to Alpe d’Huez.
Fränk went on to finish fifth in that race, a result he matched in 2009, and so is still talking in terms of going into the race with a joint captain status as his younger brother.
"I’m already doing everything so that someone on this team wins the tour of France,” he said, “I would fold myself in two for my brother, and vice versa is also true.
“There is no rivalry between us,” he concluded.