Read Online Bradley Wiggins by John Deering - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: John Deering
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people love him for his weaknesses as much as his strengths.
Ironically, it was time trialling problems that led to his disappointing non-appearance in this year’s race. While Bradley Wiggins and Cadel Evans were honing their form for July by riding
the Critérium du Dauphiné, Schleck was destroying his own by falling off in the same race. Clearly struggling with his time trial bike in the high winds, he got himself all mixed up
in a corner as his disc wheel took a strong gust and control was lost. Though he was unhurt to the degree that he got up and hopped back on at the time, he was clearly in pain, and it was later
revealed that he had fractured his pelvis in the spill and would be a non-starter. Frank Schleck would take up the family standard and lead the RadioShack-Nissan team into battle in his
absence.
In each of his first two charges towards yellow, 2009 and 2010, Andy Schleck was up against another modern superstar, Alberto Contador. A glittering career has been dogged by accusations and
revelations of doping that have reduced his reputation as one of the true greats to something closer to a pariah. The huge shame is, of course, that Contador’s Tour wins of 2007 and 2009, and
the title he was stripped of in 2010, were incredibly exciting races to watch – now forever devalued.
In 2007, the young Spaniard was following in the footsteps of the recently retired Discovery team leader, Lance Armstrong himself. Already tarred with the ‘doper’ brush after being
implicated in the Spanish Operación Puerto (Operation Mountain Pass) drugs case that cast long shadows across all of cycling, Contador found himself cast as the good guy in the Tour as his
rival for yellow Michael Rasmussen was thrown off the race. His relentless attacking and refusal to sit down for long in the mountains gained him many fans. At just 24, he was their future.
They were unable to see Contador defend his title the following year, when the Astana team he had joined after the closure of the Discovery squad were denied entry to the Tour de France due to,
you’ve guessed it, previous cheating with performance-enhancing substances. Sitting on a beach after a successful spring 2008, he got a call to say he would be riding the Giro d’Italia,
starting the following weekend. He turned up. He won. He went on to the Vuelta a España with a bit more preparation and won that too in short order.
His 2009 Tour de France plans were complicated by the appearance on his team of the comeback kid. Lance Armstrong, hugely influential at the Astana set-up now that it was run by his old backroom
team, decided he still had a point to prove and would come out of retirement. The team went into the race with two leaders and a great deal of internal stress, but there was only one winner.
Contador crushed the opposition outside and inside his team with some stunning attacks in the mountains. Armstrong was third with the emergent Andy Schleck splitting the Astana teammates.
The anticipated showdown between the newly established golden generation of Contador and Schleck raged across France in July 2010. Controversy fired the rivalry, when Contador attacked after
Schleck had a mechanical problem on the Pyrenean giant, the Col du Tourmalet. That moment proved pivotal with Spain beating Luxembourg by 39 seconds – exactly the same amount of time Schleck
had lost on that stage.
Bitterness turned to rancour and lengthy arguments when Contador was found to have the forbidden substance Clenbuterol in his system. The case dragged on for more than a year. Contador rode the
2011 Giro in case he was unable, as seemed likely, to be allowed to ride the Tour. He won the Giro at a canter, then gained entry to the Tour after all. However, he wasn’t the force he had
been in previous years, either through lack of preparation or lack of illegal preparation, and he ceded control to Schleck and eventually Evans.
Andy Schleck was retrospectively awarded the 2010
Ironically, it was time trialling problems that led to his disappointing non-appearance in this year’s race. While Bradley Wiggins and Cadel Evans were honing their form for July by riding
the Critérium du Dauphiné, Schleck was destroying his own by falling off in the same race. Clearly struggling with his time trial bike in the high winds, he got himself all mixed up
in a corner as his disc wheel took a strong gust and control was lost. Though he was unhurt to the degree that he got up and hopped back on at the time, he was clearly in pain, and it was later
revealed that he had fractured his pelvis in the spill and would be a non-starter. Frank Schleck would take up the family standard and lead the RadioShack-Nissan team into battle in his
absence.
In each of his first two charges towards yellow, 2009 and 2010, Andy Schleck was up against another modern superstar, Alberto Contador. A glittering career has been dogged by accusations and
revelations of doping that have reduced his reputation as one of the true greats to something closer to a pariah. The huge shame is, of course, that Contador’s Tour wins of 2007 and 2009, and
the title he was stripped of in 2010, were incredibly exciting races to watch – now forever devalued.
In 2007, the young Spaniard was following in the footsteps of the recently retired Discovery team leader, Lance Armstrong himself. Already tarred with the ‘doper’ brush after being
implicated in the Spanish Operación Puerto (Operation Mountain Pass) drugs case that cast long shadows across all of cycling, Contador found himself cast as the good guy in the Tour as his
rival for yellow Michael Rasmussen was thrown off the race. His relentless attacking and refusal to sit down for long in the mountains gained him many fans. At just 24, he was their future.
They were unable to see Contador defend his title the following year, when the Astana team he had joined after the closure of the Discovery squad were denied entry to the Tour de France due to,
you’ve guessed it, previous cheating with performance-enhancing substances. Sitting on a beach after a successful spring 2008, he got a call to say he would be riding the Giro d’Italia,
starting the following weekend. He turned up. He won. He went on to the Vuelta a España with a bit more preparation and won that too in short order.
His 2009 Tour de France plans were complicated by the appearance on his team of the comeback kid. Lance Armstrong, hugely influential at the Astana set-up now that it was run by his old backroom
team, decided he still had a point to prove and would come out of retirement. The team went into the race with two leaders and a great deal of internal stress, but there was only one winner.
Contador crushed the opposition outside and inside his team with some stunning attacks in the mountains. Armstrong was third with the emergent Andy Schleck splitting the Astana teammates.
The anticipated showdown between the newly established golden generation of Contador and Schleck raged across France in July 2010. Controversy fired the rivalry, when Contador attacked after
Schleck had a mechanical problem on the Pyrenean giant, the Col du Tourmalet. That moment proved pivotal with Spain beating Luxembourg by 39 seconds – exactly the same amount of time Schleck
had lost on that stage.
Bitterness turned to rancour and lengthy arguments when Contador was found to have the forbidden substance Clenbuterol in his system. The case dragged on for more than a year. Contador rode the
2011 Giro in case he was unable, as seemed likely, to be allowed to ride the Tour. He won the Giro at a canter, then gained entry to the Tour after all. However, he wasn’t the force he had
been in previous years, either through lack of preparation or lack of illegal preparation, and he ceded control to Schleck and eventually Evans.
Andy Schleck was retrospectively awarded the 2010
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