Fränk Schleck
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Fränk Schleck |
| Date of birth | April 15, 1980 (age 26) |
| Country |  Luxembourg |
| Height | 1.86 m |
| Weight | 67 kg |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Team CSC |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Amateur team(s) | |
2000 2001 2002 2002 |
ACC Contern De Nardi Festina (stagiaire) Chateauroux Team CSC (stagiaire) |
| Professional team(s) | |
| 2003- | Team CSC |
| Major wins | |
| Amstel Gold Race (2006) Tour de France, 1 stage (at Alpe d'Huez) |
|
| Infobox last updated on: | |
| January 15, 2007 | |
Fränk Schleck (born 15 April 1980) is a professional road bicycle racer from Luxembourg currently riding for Team CSC. Before the 2005 season, Fränk Schleck got the company of his kid brother Andy Schleck on Team CSC, and they split the 2005 national championships between them, Fränk winning the road race, and Andy taking the time trial. Their father Johnny Schleck was also a road bicycle racer, professional between 1965 and 1974.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
After riding for the Luxembourg military sports programme, he moved to Italy in order to ride for the De Nardi-Pasta Montegrappa team. In 2001, he tried out as a stagiaire rider for the professional Festina team, but as the team folded after the season, Schleck was left with no contract. Unable to find a professional team, Schleck contacted Team CSC manager Bjarne Riis through their common youth coach Marcel Gilles of the ACC Contern amateur team.[1] Schleck rode the 2002 season as a stagiaire on Team CSC. He signed a pro contract in 2003, as team manager Bjarne Riis had a vacant spot following a failed attempt to sign the former Tour de France winner, German high profile Jan Ullrich (as well as Ullrich's select helping riders).[2]
Fränk Schleck's big breakthrough came during the closing of the 2005 season, with three podium placements in the last month of the competitive cycling year. He finished all three races behind the illustrious names of Paolo Bettini (2004 Olympic Road Race winner) and Gilberto Simoni (two times Giro d'Italia winner), losing Züri-Metzgete to Bettini, Giro dell'Emilia to Simoni, and finally ending up third behind both riders in Giro di Lombardia. Combined with good results earlier that year, Schleck ended the 2005 season ranked 13th on the 2005 ProTour riders list. At the end of the season, Fränk Schleck extended his contract with Bjarne Riis and Team CSC until the year 2008, being only one of three riders in the team with a three-year contract, at that time.
The 2006 season commenced with additional secondary results, as he finished fifth overall in Paris-Nice. After a crash in the April race Vuelta al País Vasco, he suffered a severe concussion.[3] He made his comeback in the Amstel Gold Race later that month. Sitting with the favourites with ten kilometres to go, Schleck broke away from the group to ride alone up the steep Cauberg hill in Valkenburg for a solo finish while team mate Karsten Kroon disrupted the chase of the other favourites. Three days later he continued his outstanding performance, finishing 4th in La Flèche Wallonne after a vigorous ride up the Muur de Huy where the equally aged Spanish rider Alejandro Valverde proved unbeatable. Schleck run of good form continued only days later with the Liège-Bastogne-Liège race, where he was among the front for much of the latter half of the race, and finished among the first bunch of riders to cross the finish line, eventually settling for 7th place. In the Tour de France, he also won stage 15 from Gap to Alpe D'Huez, where he broke away from Damiano Cunego 1.5 km from the finish to record one of his most famous victories.
He is particularly known for the way he keeps his knees in while pedalling. He also rides a very high cadence, like Lance Armstrong, when climbing. Furthermore, he rides, especially during climbing, with his jersey open to keep him cool.
[edit] Major wins
- 2005
- Luxembourg Road Racing Championship
- 2006
- Amstel Gold Race
- Tour de France (Stage 15: Gap - L'Alpe-d'Huez)
[edit] References
- ^ Flying high close to home, CyclingNews, December 1, 2005
- ^ Schleck: Ready for More in ‘06, CSC, October 21, 2005
- ^ Schleck Crashes Out, Team-CSC, April 5, 2006
[edit] External links
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Kim Kirchen |
Luxembourgian Sportsman of the Year 2006 |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Riders on Team CSC |
|---|
|
Kurt Asle Arvesen | Lars Bak | Michael Blaudzun | Matti Breschel | Fabian Cancellara | Íñigo Cuesta | Matthew Goss | Juan José Haedo | Volodymyr Hustov | Allan Johansen | Bobby Julich | Kasper Klostergaard | Alexandr Kolobnev | Karsten Kroon | Marcus Ljungqvist | Anders Lund | Lars Michaelsen | Stuart O'Grady | Martin Pedersen | Luke Roberts | Carlos Sastre | Andy Schleck | Fränk Schleck | Chris Anker Sørensen | Nicki Sørensen | Christian Vandevelde | Jens Voigt | David Zabriskie |
| Manager |
| Bjarne Riis |
