Andy Schleck
Andy Schleck (born June 10, 1985 in Luxembourg City) is a Luxembourgish professional road bicycle racer who, since 2005, has been riding for Team Saxo Bank in the UCI ProTour series. He is the younger brother of Fränk Schleck, also at Team Saxo Bank. Their father Johny Schleck rode the Tour de France and Vuelta a España between 1965 and 1974.
Andy is the youngest of Gaby and Johny Schleck's three sons. His brother Fränk Schleck is also a cyclist on Team Saxo Bank, and his brother Steve Schleck is a politician in Luxembourg. Johny is a former professional cyclist for teams like Pelforth and Bic. Johny rode the Tour de France at the service of 1968 winner Jan Janssen and 1973 winner Luis Ocaña, and also managed to finish in the top 20 twice: 19th in 1970 and 20th in 1967. He won a stage in the 1970 Vuelta a España and the Luxembourg National Championships. Johny's father, Gustav Schleck, also contested events in the 1930s.
Schleck joined VC Roubaix cycling club in 2004, and caught the attention of Cyrille Guimard, a sports director who became famous as the directeur sportif for several Tour de France winners, including Bernard Hinault, Laurent Fignon, Lucien Van Impe and American Greg LeMond. Guimard described Schleck as one of the biggest talents he had seen and compared him to Laurent Fignon. Still an amateur, Schleck won the 2004 Flèche du Sud stage race at 18.
As the Danish national team were in the race, word spread to the Danish Team CSC manager Bjarne Riis. Riis asked Fränk, already on Team CSC, about his brother, and Andy started as a stagiaire for Team CSC on September 1, 2004. He secured a professional contract with CSC, and made his debut in a ProTour race at age 19 (the 2005 Volta a Catalunya).
Professional
He and Fränk shared the 2005 National Championships, Fränk taking the road race and Andy the individual time trial. In 2006, Schleck crashed in the GP Cholet and took an eight-week break before returning for the Volta a Catalunya in May. In July, a few days after his brother won the Alpe d'Huez stage of the Tour de France, Andy won the major mountain stage in the Sachsen Tour, followed by the final stage, finishing 23rd overall.
In the 2007 Giro d'Italia, he won the young rider classification and was second in the general classification after Danilo Di Luca. He finished fourth at the Giro di Lombardia after helping his brother Fränk, who crashed with six kilometres to go.
Schleck's success continued in 2008 when he won the young rider classification in the Tour De France, holding off Roman Kreuziger, and helping CSC win the team classification and Carlos Sastre the maillot jaune.
In 2009 he won the biggest victory of his career so far, when a strong April culminated with an impressive victory in Liege-Bastogne-Liege, as he became the first winner of the race from Luxembourg since Marcel Ernzer in 1954. A few days before he had finished runner-up in La Flèche Wallonne.
In the 2009 Tour de France overall classification, he finished the tour in second place, behind Alberto Contador and ahead of Lance Armstrong, along with finishing Stage 17 in 3rd place behind his brother Fränk Schleck and Alberto Contador. He again won the Young Rider Classification in the 2009 Tour de France.
Andy is the youngest of Gaby and Johny Schleck's three sons. His brother Fränk Schleck is also a cyclist on Team Saxo Bank, and his brother Steve Schleck is a politician in Luxembourg. Johny is a former professional cyclist for teams like Pelforth and Bic. Johny rode the Tour de France at the service of 1968 winner Jan Janssen and 1973 winner Luis Ocaña, and also managed to finish in the top 20 twice: 19th in 1970 and 20th in 1967. He won a stage in the 1970 Vuelta a España and the Luxembourg National Championships. Johny's father, Gustav Schleck, also contested events in the 1930s.
Career:
AmateurSchleck joined VC Roubaix cycling club in 2004, and caught the attention of Cyrille Guimard, a sports director who became famous as the directeur sportif for several Tour de France winners, including Bernard Hinault, Laurent Fignon, Lucien Van Impe and American Greg LeMond. Guimard described Schleck as one of the biggest talents he had seen and compared him to Laurent Fignon. Still an amateur, Schleck won the 2004 Flèche du Sud stage race at 18.
As the Danish national team were in the race, word spread to the Danish Team CSC manager Bjarne Riis. Riis asked Fränk, already on Team CSC, about his brother, and Andy started as a stagiaire for Team CSC on September 1, 2004. He secured a professional contract with CSC, and made his debut in a ProTour race at age 19 (the 2005 Volta a Catalunya).
Professional
He and Fränk shared the 2005 National Championships, Fränk taking the road race and Andy the individual time trial. In 2006, Schleck crashed in the GP Cholet and took an eight-week break before returning for the Volta a Catalunya in May. In July, a few days after his brother won the Alpe d'Huez stage of the Tour de France, Andy won the major mountain stage in the Sachsen Tour, followed by the final stage, finishing 23rd overall.
In the 2007 Giro d'Italia, he won the young rider classification and was second in the general classification after Danilo Di Luca. He finished fourth at the Giro di Lombardia after helping his brother Fränk, who crashed with six kilometres to go.
Schleck's success continued in 2008 when he won the young rider classification in the Tour De France, holding off Roman Kreuziger, and helping CSC win the team classification and Carlos Sastre the maillot jaune.
In 2009 he won the biggest victory of his career so far, when a strong April culminated with an impressive victory in Liege-Bastogne-Liege, as he became the first winner of the race from Luxembourg since Marcel Ernzer in 1954. A few days before he had finished runner-up in La Flèche Wallonne.
In the 2009 Tour de France overall classification, he finished the tour in second place, behind Alberto Contador and ahead of Lance Armstrong, along with finishing Stage 17 in 3rd place behind his brother Fränk Schleck and Alberto Contador. He again won the Young Rider Classification in the 2009 Tour de France.
