Arduous post-Tour criterium schedule leaves Luxembourger tired and ready for rest
With the sudden withdrawal of Andy Schleck from today’s Clasica San Sebastian, 120 kilometers into the race, there was talk that the three-time best young rider at the Tour de France had crashed.
A few hours after the finish, Schleck tweeted to the contrary: “I didn’t crash. I don’t know how that came up.”
The real reason looks to have been just a little too much following the Tour de France. With the lucrative offerings in the immediate days following the Tour de France at the post-Tour criteriums, it’s almost impossible for a rider to take any rest.
Following a third victory in the post-Tour criterium extravaganza, this time in the Antwerp suburb of Sint-Niklaas on Friday evening, Schleck rushed from Belgium to northern Spain by private plane to make his start at Saturday’s Clasica San Sebastian, hardly the kind of preparation one would hope for.
Understandably, Schleck was not up to the standards that he showed throughout July. After 120 kilometers, he quietly pulled over and called it a day. Even taking the start was a small victory for this year’s runner-up at the Tour de France – neither Alberto Contador or Denis Menchov, his podium companions in Paris, toed the start Saturday morning.
Schleck can now count on some rest before taking up preparations for his second Grand Tour of 2010, the Vuelta. The younger Schleck hopes to support brother Frank for a top performance in Spain’s great tour, which start on the 28th of August in Sevilla.
Not everyone suffered from the racing and evening transfer from Friday night though – Alexandre Vinokourov finished third behind Schleck and Van den Brouck in Sint-Niklaas, and then joined Schleck on the private plane to the Basque Country…then went on to finish 2nd on Saturday to a speedy Luis Leon Sanchez.