Double Tour de France stage winner Frank Schleck is just over a month away from his first race of the season, the Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol, and is building form along with his Saxo Bank team-mates at their training camp in Fuerteventura.
He’s outlined his programme and goals for the month ahead, knowing that at 29 years of age he is coming into his prime as a bike rider.
“I will be riding Ruta del Sol, Paris-Nice, Pais Basque [Tour of the Basque Country] and the Ardenne Classics after which I have a minor race break,” he said today. “In June, I will be back on the roads to do the Tour of Luxembourg, Tour de Suisse and the Tour de France. The major goal of the season is Paris-Nice, Amstel Gold Race, Liege-Bastogne-Liege and of course the Tour de France.”
The Luxembourg rider recently tied the knot to his fiancée and thoughts of a new addition to the family has given him a morale boost as he logs the long kilometres away from home.
“Martine and I were married New Year’s Eve, where we had invited the closest friends and family. The big wedding party must wait until August when we have finished the Tour successfully,” he said. “And now, we are waiting for a little princess who is scheduled to arrive in May.
“I am really looking forward to becoming a father for the first time and although I am obviously often on the road, she will be born in a period of time where I’m at home to prepare for the Tour de France so we have time to get to know each other.”
In the meantime, Schleck is getting to know some other youngsters, although they are much closer in age to him than the May addition will be. He says they have integrated well and he is intrigued by how they will fare in the seasons ahead.
“We’ve got some new young riders on the team this season and they are good guys and they have managed to fall right in on the team,” he said.
The new additions he is referring to are Laurent Didier (Luxembourg), Richie Porte (Australia), Jaroslaw Marycz (Poland), Jonas Jorgensen (Denmark), who will join the older Baden Cooke (Australia) and Sebastian Haedo (Argentina).
Thus far, he’s impressed by their attitude. “They are humbled and honored to be a part of one of the best and top professional teams in the world. At the same time, they are very talented and it will be interesting to follow their development over the next few years.”