Rider tells VeloNation he worked hard on his weaknesses to tackle 2011 Tour de France
Andy Schleck finished the 7.8-kilometer time trial of the Critérium International 43 seconds down on winner Andreas Klöden. With a small mishap at the start explaining part of his time loss, the Luxemburger was quite happy with his approaching form. He is confident for the upcoming Classics, but his main goal for the season remains the Tour de France.
In the 2010 Tour he lost 1'09 on an 8.9-kilometer course, so his 43 seconds for a route that was shorter by 1100 meters looks like an improvement. But the time could have even been better. "I had a problem with my cleats," he told VeloNation at the port of Porto Vecchio. "It is magnetic and I couldn't clip in after the start. It took about 100 meters."
Precious seconds ticked away as he tried to get his foot in and start pedaling fully concentrated. When he did, he was finally able to get going. "I took the time trial seriously. I went full speed," he said. He had worked very hard on the time trial performance in the off-season and felt that things were paying off. "Considering the problem I had, I think I did a good time."
He already showed on Saturday's stage one that things are going the right way. Some of the favorites had already dropped back due to the undulating terrain on Corsica when the main group hit the final climb of the Col de l'Ospedale. Andy Schleck sat in that group comfortably, pedaling easily. He also put in a strong attack that set up his brother Fränk for the decisive move of the day and even the entire race.
Andy confirmed that things are going the right direction. "Overall I am very happy with my form." He did say that he wants to do better in a Tour prologue and he put down the foundation in the winter. "I did do more for the time trialing."
Despite being part of a new team, the preparation stayed mostly the same. "Otherwise I didn't change much in my training. You learn it and then 'ça passe ou ça casse' [either it works or it doesn't -ed]," he said with a smile.
He certainly doesn't have a problem focusing on multiple highlights in the year, even if one is a one-day race and the other is a three-week tour. "It is no problem at all. I am not a rider who just concentrates on one race in the year, so I am heading to the Classics very optimistically." He won the 2009 edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège with a brilliant solo move.
It would be a dream scenario come true to repeat this, or that his brother wins. The two are very tight and it would be hard to ever see them on different teams. Even if the Classics don't work out, there is another goal ahead of Andy Schleck. "The Tour is of course the big objective." He finished a close second last year and by his own account may have lost it in the prologue. That's a scenario he is trying to avoid and the Critérium International time trial was a first step in that direction.