Tag: frank schleck

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Farewell Andy Schleck

Andy Schleck

Andy SchleckAfter almost a decade in the sport Trek Factory Racing’s Andy Schleck has announced his retirement at the age of 29. He cited slow recovery from a knee injury sustained during a crash on the third stage of this year’s Tour de France (Cambridge to London) as the deciding factor.

 

Schleck announced: ‘I’m obviously disappointed to end my career like this, I would have liked to keep on fighting but my knee just doesn’t allow it. Since my crash in the UK there has hardly been any progress. While the ligaments have healed, the damaged cartilage is another story. I have been working hard on rehabbing the knee but came to the hard realization that at the risk of irreversibly injuring it, this is the best course of action.’

 

During his career Schleck has taken four Grand Tour Podium places, taking second at the 2007 Giro d’Italia, the 2009 and 2011 Tour de France and having his second-place 2010 TdF upped to first after Albert Contador was stripped of the yellow jersey for doping.

 

His brother Frank Tweeted following the news: ‘Thx to @andy_schleck we spent great time together on the bike… you know memories are forever.be proud. love you bro. Cu’ – Frank will continue to ride for Trek Factory Racing in 2015 having renewed his contract for a further two years.

 

More on Trek Factory Racing at trekfactoryracing.com and you can continue to follow Andy Schleck on Twitter @andy_schleck

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Trek Announce Tour de France Team

Trek Announce Tour de France Team

Trek Announce Tour de France TeamTrek Factory Racing has announced their nine-man line-up for the Tour de France and stated their objective as finishing in the top-ten in the general classification and taking a stage win along the way. Their 13 rider-long list has now become: Fabian Cancellara, Fränk Schleck, Andy Schleck, Haimar Zubeldia, Jens Voigt, Matthew Busche, Markel Irizar, Gregory Rast, and Danny van Poppel.

 

Andy Schleck and Matthew Busche will be the key support riders for the team’s GC riders in the high mountains, with Trek Factory Racing General Manager Luca Guercilena commenting:  ‘Andy will ride in support of Fränk and Haimar in the climbs. He will not have a personal focus on the GC. It shouldn’t be a surprise that we’re lining him up as a support rider for his brother and for Haimar: Andy may not have won a stage in the Tour de Suisse, but he aggressively raced well. Riders of his stature should have the opportunity to compete in the race that made them great.’

 

American Matthew Busche is the only rider of the nine-man team who has never raced at the TdF, whilst Jens Voigt will be lining up in his 17th.

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Fränk Schleck Dropped by Leopard

Fränk Schleck Dropped by LeopardRadioShack Leopard Trek have formally announced that they will be ending their association with Fränk Schleck, the older brother of Andy, winner of the 2010 Tour de France. The decision comes ahead of Fränk Schleck’s doping suspension for the use of the diuretic Xipamide in the 2011 TdF coming to an end.

 

An official statement from Leopard read, ‘With the end of Fränk Schleck’s suspension approaching, Leopard and its partners have assessed the situation in view of a possible renewal of the collaboration with Fränk Schleck. Having finalized this assessment in a broad and objective way, Leopard has decided to not renew the collaboration between Fränk Schleck and the RadioShack Leopard Trek cycling team.’ It concluded, perhaps a little curtly: ‘Leopard wishes Fränk Schleck a successful continuation of his career.’

 

It may seem a little ironic that Andy Schleck’s 2010 win at the Tour de France was awarded as a result of Alberto Contador’s disqualification for doping.

 

It was recently announced that Trek Bicycle had reached an agreement with Leopard SA to acquire the WorldTour license following RadioShack’s decision earlier this year to end their funding support of the team (more on Cyclo here). With the team reshaping for the start of the 2014 season they have confirmed the signing of 2013 Ronde Van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix champion, Fabian Cancellara – more here.

 

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Frank Schleck Ban

Frank Scleck doping ban out of Tour de FranceRadioShack-Nissan star Frank Schleck looks almost certain to miss this year’s Tour de France after being handed down a one-year, backdated, ban by the Luxembourg Anti-Doping Agency for failing a routine drugs test at the 2012 event. Schleck, whose teammate and younger brother Andy won the TdF in 2010, was in 12th position when he tested positive for the banned diuretic Xipamide, a result that was roundly confirmed by the failure of his so-called ‘B-test’ two days later. The Luxembourger denied – and indeed continues to deny – knowingly taking the substance and is likely to appeal the decision of his national doping agency to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The backdated ban was declared to have started on July 14, 2012 – the day of Schleck’ failed test.

 

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Further Wait for Frank Schleck

Frank Scleck doping allegations Having faced a further two-hour grilling at the Luxembourg Anti-Doping Agency (ALAD), Frank Schleck is likely to have to wait another six weeks to discover his fate in relation to his testing positive for Xipamide at this year’s Tour de France. The 32-year-old RadioShack-Nissan rider failed a routine drugs test on July 14 when traces of the diuretic were shown to be present – the drug, used for treating a range of conditions including hypertension is not a performance enhancer nor is specifically mentioned in WADA’s list of banned substances, but it can be used to mask other illegal substances. RadioShack-Nissan withdrew him immediately from the TdF and issued a statement that said: ‘It (Xipamide) is not a product that is present in any of the medicine that the team uses and the reason for the presence of Xipamide in the urine sample of Mr. Schleck is unclear to the team. Therefore, the team is not able to explain the adverse findings at this point. However, the team is fully determined to collaborate with the anti-doping agencies in order to resolve the matter.’

 

Having already appeared before ALAD on August 29 and October 15, Schleck has continued to deny any wrongdoing and maintains he did not take the masking agent.

 

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Fränk Schleck Fails Drugs Test

RadioShack’s Fränk Schleck is out of the Tour de France after failing a routine drugs test on July 14. The 32-year-old brother of the 2010 TdF champion Andy, tested positive for xipamide, a diuretic used for treating a range of conditions including hypertension that, although not a performance enhancer itself or specifically mentioned in WADA’s list of banned substances, can be used to mask other illegal substances.

 

RadioShack Nissan Trek was quick to act, withdrawing their rider immediately, even though under no obligation to do so. In a statement they said, ‘Mr. Schleck and the team believe this is the right thing to do, to ensure the Tour de France can go on in calm and that Fränk Schleck can prepare his defence in accordance with the legal timing to do so.’

 

Addressing the subject of xipamide specifically the statement continued: ‘It is not a product that is present in any of the medicine that the team uses and the reason for the presence of xipamide in the urine sample of Mr. Schleck is unclear to the team. Therefore, the team is not able to explain the adverse findings at this point. However, the team is fully determined to collaborate with the anti-doping agencies in order to resolve the matter.’