Fränk Schleck

Fränk René Schleck (born 15 April 1980) is a Luxembourgish former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2003 and 2016, for Team Saxo Bank and Trek–Segafredo. Schleck is the older brother of Andy, winner of the 2010 Tour de France. Their father, Johny Schleck, was a professional road bicycle racer between 1965 and 1974, as was their grandfather, Gustave Schleck, who contested events in the 1930s.

Fränk Schleck
Schleck at the 2011 Tour de Suisse
Personal information
Full nameFränk René Schleck
Born (1980-04-15) 15 April 1980
Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Height1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Weight65 kg (143 lb; 10 st 3 lb)[1]
Team information
Current teamRetired
DisciplineRoad
RoleRider
Rider typeClimber/Puncheur
Amateur teams
1999ACC Contern
2000De Nardi
2001Festina (stagiaire)
2002Chateauroux
2002CSC–Tiscali (stagiaire)
Professional teams
2003–2010Team CSC
2011–2016Leopard Trek[2]
Major wins
Grand Tours
Tour de France
2 individual stages (2006, 2009)
Vuelta a España
1 individual stage (2015)

Stage races

Tour de Luxembourg (2009)
Tour de Suisse (2010)
Critérium International (2011)

One-day races and Classics

National Road Race Championships
     (2005, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2014)
Amstel Gold Race (2006)
Giro dell'Emilia (2007)

Schleck's greatest achievements include five national road race championships, winning the Queen stage of the 2006 Tour de France, which finished on the Alpe d'Huez, the 2006 edition of the Amstel Gold Race classic, and an alpine stage of the 2009 Tour de France, finishing in the sole company of his brother Andy and Alberto Contador. On 30 January 2013, Schleck was suspended for 12 months following a positive test for xipamide at the 2012 Tour de France. The ban, backdated to the date of the positive test, expired on 13 July 2013.[3]

Career

After riding for the Luxembourg military sports programme, he moved to Italy to ride for De Nardi–Pasta Montegrappa. In 2001, he tried out as a stagiaire for Festina, but when the team folded after the season, Schleck was left with no contract. He contacted Team CSC manager Bjarne Riis through their common youth coach Marcel Gilles of the ACC Contern amateur team.[4] Schleck rode 2002 as a stagiaire on Team CSC and signed to a pro contract by Riis in 2003.

2005

At the start of 2005, Schleck was joined by his younger brother Andy on Team CSC, and they split the 2005 national championships between them, with Fränk winning the road race and Andy winning the time trial. Schleck's breakthrough came in 2005, with three podium places in the last month of the season. He finished all three races behind Paolo Bettini (2004 Olympic Road Race winner) and Gilberto Simoni (two times Giro d'Italia winner), losing Züri-Metzgete to Bettini, the Giro dell'Emilia to Simoni, and finishing third behind both in the Giro di Lombardia. Schleck ended 2005 ranked 13th on the 2005 ProTour riders list. He extended his contract with Riis and Team CSC until 2008, one of three riders in the team with a three-year contract.

2006
Schleck on the podium as wearer of the mountains jersey after Stage 1 of the 2006 3-Länder-Tour in Kassel, with Patrik Sinkewitz (centre) and Christian Knees (right).

The 2006 season started with a fifth-place finish in Paris–Nice. After a crash in the Tour of the Basque Country, he suffered a concussion.[5] He made his comeback in the Amstel Gold Race that month. Sitting with the favorites with ten kilometers to go, Schleck broke away alone up the Cauberg in Valkenburg for a solo finish while team mate Karsten Kroon disrupted the chase. Three days later he finished 4th in La Flèche Wallonne after a vigorous ride up the Mur de Huy where Spanish rider Alejandro Valverde proved unbeatable. Schleck's form continued days later with the Liège–Bastogne–Liège race, where he rode at the front for much of the latter half and finished 7th. In the Tour de France, he won stage 15 from Gap to Alpe d'Huez, where he broke away from Damiano Cunego 1.5 km from the finish.

2007

The 2007 season started with a 9th-place finish in Paris–Nice. In the Amstel Gold Race, he crashed with 47 km to go, eventually finishing 10th. His recovery continued at La Flèche Wallonne where he finished 7th, but the day before Liège–Bastogne–Liège, it was announced that he had a fractured vertebra. He rode despite the injury and launched the decisive attack a few kilometers from the finish with Danilo Di Luca. Di Luca attacked with one kilometer to go and Schleck faded to 3rd. Schleck won the fourth stage of the Tour de Suisse, taking the yellow jersey; he eventually finished 7th. He could only manage 17th at the Tour de France but was part of the successful attack in the world championship, finishing fourth.

2008
Schleck at the 2008 Tour de France, wearing the race leader's yellow jersey.

In the Amstel Gold Race Schleck finished 2nd, behind Damiano Cunego of Italy. In Liège–Bastogne–Liège Fränk and his talented younger brother Andy Schleck put on a show. Only two riders were able to follow the two brothers when they attacked on the final hills of the day: Alejandro Valverde and Davide Rebellin. Andy had to let the other three riders go and finished 4th; in the final sprint Fränk came 3rd. In the Tour de Suisse Schleck crashed during a dangerous descent and fell into a ravine. Miraculously, he was mostly uninjured. A week later, Schleck became national champion of Luxembourg for the second time in his career.

In the Tour de France he came 3rd in the first mountain stage. This took him to 2nd place in the overall classification, only one second behind the yellow jersey. Eight days later Schleck took the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification after claiming the single second he needed to pass Cadel Evans. He later lost the yellow jersey on Stage 17 to his own teammate, Carlos Sastre. At the end of the Tour he finished in 6th position overall.

2009
Schleck at the 2009 Tour de France

The 2009 cycling season started with the Tour of California, where Schleck managed to win stage eight. In March, Schleck placed second overall in Paris–Nice. On 19 April, while attempting to repeat his winning 2006 Amstel Gold Race effort, Schleck crashed badly together with Matthew Lloyd. He was taken to hospital with a concussion, but was released the same evening.[6] Schleck made a rapid recovery, winning his home race, the Tour de Luxembourg, in June. No Luxembourger rider had won the competition since 1983.

On 22 July he won the 17th stage of the Tour de France, reaching the finish line in the company of overall leader Alberto Contador and his own brother, Andy Schleck. He later finished 5th that year.

2010

In 2010, Schleck won Stage 3 in the Tour de Suisse and then he put in a surprise in the final time trial. He ended up winning the race. While riding in Stage 3 of the Tour de France, Schleck suffered a triple fracture of his clavicle, which was sustained on a cobble-stoned section of the stage, and was forced to retire from the race. He later then rode the Vuelta a España where he finished 5th.

On 29 July 2010, Schleck and his brother Andy announced their departure from Team Saxo Bank at the end of 2010. They planned on forming a brand-new Luxembourg-based team, with former Team Saxo Bank director Kim Andersen.[7] In October 2010, one of the managers of the Luxembourg cycling project revealed the team website, which was labeled Leopard True Racing, leading to speculation that the team might race under this name.[8]

2011
Schleck at the 2011 Tour de France

By the 2011 season, Frank's new team was confirmed as Leopard Trek and Schleck won the Critérium International, along with a podium finish at Liège–Bastogne–Liège, and he also defended his Luxembourg National Road Race title. At the Tour of France, on stage 12, Schleck attacked towards the end of the final climb finishing 3rd on Luz Ardiden. Schleck ended up 2nd overall after the Pyrenees with his brother Andy sitting in 4th. Schleck then finished 2nd on the Col du Galibier behind his brother Andy. However both lost time in the final time trial to Cadel Evans who later won the Tour that year. He finished the race third along with his brother's second, marked the first time in Tour history that siblings had shared the podium. Schleck and his brother remained with RadioShack–Nissan for the 2012 season.

2012–2013
Schleck at the 2012 Tour de France

Schleck started his season slowly as a member of the RadioShack–Nissan team. He decided to ride the Giro d'Italia but withdrew on stage 15. Schleck then showed his form when he finished third in the Tour de Luxembourg and then finished second in the Tour de Suisse. He was then selected to ride the Tour de France. On the 6th stage of the race, Schleck crashed with about 25 km left, and lost just over 2 minutes, seriously hurting his chances of possibly winning the race.

Schleck left the Tour de France after the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) revealed he had tested positive for the banned substance diuretic xipamide.[9][10]

On 4 July 2013 RadioShack–Leopard announced that they would not be renewing Schleck's contract, leaving him without a team.[11] After Trek Bicycles purchased the World Tour licence of the RadioShack–Leopard squad later in the month, it was announced that Schleck would be signed by the team for the 2014 season.[12]

2014–2016 and retirement

In 2014, Schleck returned to the Tour de France, but did not ride as a contender; he finished in twelfth place.[13] In 2015, Schleck rode the Vuelta, and won a stage, his first grand tour stage win since 2009.[14]

In 2016, Schleck fell in the Flèche Wallonne and broke his collarbone, which kept him out of contention for the Liège–Bastogne–Liège,[15] but he came back in the Tour de France. At the end of the 2016 season, Schleck retired.[16]

Doping allegations

2008

On 25 July 2008, one day prior to a decisive penultimate stage of the 2008 Tour de France, the German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung alleged a contact between Schleck and the infamous Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes in December 2005. Authorities stated that no evidence had been obtained that would support such a claim.[17] The allegations in connection with Schleck followed a series of strong performances of the rider who wore the yellow jersey over several days and whose father's car had been the subject of a detailed search by French customs authorities during the Tour.

Prior to the 2008 UCI Road World Championships in Varese, Italy, on 26 September 2008, the newspaper published another article on the connections between Schleck and Fuentes after claiming to have seen evidence on a bank transfer of €7000 from Schleck to a Swiss bank account linked to Fuentes. The existence of the evidence was revealed by German police and subsequently confirmed by Luxembourg prosecutors.[18]

Following Schleck's public admittance of such payment on 3 October 2008, Bjarne Riis and CSC–Saxo Bank decided to temporarily suspend Schleck from any further races until the outcome of the doping allegations towards Schleck would be fully clarified.[19] Schleck was cleared from all allegations by the doping authorities of Luxembourg at the beginning of December.

2012

On 17 July 2012, Schleck was removed from the 2012 Tour de France by his team RadioShack–Nissan during the second rest day after his A-sample returned traces of the diuretic Xipamide.[20] Schleck's B-sample confirmed the positive result.[21] Following the positive B-Sample the RadioShack–Nissan team suspended him.[22][23]

In January 2013, it was announced that Schleck was handed a ban of one year by the Luxembourg Anti-Doping Agency, who specified that Schleck "had not ingested the substance intentionally" and as a result the standard two-year suspension was reduced to twelve months.[24] The ban became effective from the point of the original positive, 14 July 2012.[25]

Career achievements

Major results
2003
6th Milano–Torino
2004
4th Cholet-Pays de Loire
4th Gran Premio Città di Camaiore
5th Grand Prix of Aargau Canton
9th Overall Paris–Nice
10th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
2005
1st Road race, National Road Championships
2nd Overall Tour Méditerranéen
1st Stage 4 (TTT)
2nd Züri–Metzgete
2nd Giro dell'Emilia
3rd Giro di Lombardia
4th Overall Tour de Suisse
7th Overall Paris–Nice
8th Overall Étoile de Bessèges
2006
1st Amstel Gold Race
4th La Flèche Wallonne
5th Overall Paris–Nice
6th Overall Tour de Suisse
7th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
7th Giro di Lombardia
10th Overall Tour de France
1st Stage 15
2007
1st Giro dell'Emilia
2nd Coppa Sabatini
3rd Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
3rd Liège–Bastogne–Liège
4th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
4th Overall Bayern–Rundfahrt
4th Overall 3-Länder-Tour
7th Overall Tour de Suisse
1st Stage 4
7th Overall Tour de Pologne
7th La Flèche Wallonne
8th Overall Paris–Nice
8th Overall Tour of the Basque Country
10th Overall Critérium International
10th Amstel Gold Race
2008
1st Road race, National Road Championships
1st Stage 1 (TTT) Tour de Pologne
2nd Amstel Gold Race
3rd Overall Tour de Luxembourg
3rd Liège–Bastogne–Liège
5th Overall Tour de France
Held after Stages 15–16
6th Overall Critérium International
10th Overall Tour of the Basque Country
10th Tour du Haut Var
2009
1st Overall Tour de Luxembourg
1st Stage 3
1st Stage 8 Tour of California
2nd Overall Paris–Nice
5th Overall Tour de France
1st Stage 17
2010
1st Road race, National Road Championships
1st Overall Tour de Suisse
1st Stage 3
2nd Overall Tour de Luxembourg
1st Stage 2
3rd Klasika Primavera
4th Overall Vuelta a España
7th Amstel Gold Race
8th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
2011
1st Road race, National Road Championships
1st Overall Critérium International
1st Stage 1
2nd Liège–Bastogne–Liège
3rd Overall Tour de France
6th Clásica de San Sebastián
7th Overall Tour de Suisse
7th La Flèche Wallonne
10th UCI World Tour
2012
2nd Overall Tour de Suisse
3rd Road race, National Road Championships
3rd Overall Tour de Luxembourg
7th Overall Vuelta a Andalucía
2014
1st Road race, National Road Championships
6th Overall Critérium International
8th Grand Prix de Wallonie
9th Overall Tour de Luxembourg
9th Milano–Torino
2015
1st Stage 16 Vuelta a España
4th Overall Tour of Utah
9th Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana
2016
3rd Road race, National Road Championships

Grand Tour general classification results timeline
Grand Tour 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Giro d'Italia — — 42 — — — — — — DNF — — — —
Tour de France — — — 10 16 5 4 DNF 3 DNF — 12 — 34
Vuelta a España DNF 46 — — — — DNF 4 — — — — 24 —
Legend
— Did not compete
DNF Did not finish
gollark: Every new version of Minecraft is less and less efficient.
gollark: 1.16.5 kind of bees, 1.12.2 is good.
gollark: Also antimuons.
gollark: LITERALLY emit muons.
gollark: Is that a problem?

References
  1. "Frank Schleck profile". Archived from the original on 27 December 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  2. "Trek Factory Racing (TFR) – USA". UCI World Tour. Union Cycliste Internationale. Archived from the original on 2 January 2014. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
  3. Kent, David (30 January 2013). "Disgraced Schleck will miss Tour de France after failing drug test during last year's race". Daily Mail. London. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
  4. Flying high close to home, CyclingNews, 1 December 2005
  5. Schleck Crashes Out, Team-CSC, 5 April 2006
  6. "Schleck, Lloyd crash out of Amstel Gold".
  7. Devaney, Jason. "Schlecks Confirm Departure from Saxo Bank." Archived 4 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine Universal Sports – Cycling. 30 July 2010.
  8. "Could the Luxembourg team of Schleck brothers be named Leopard True Racing?". Velonation.com. 24 October 2010. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
  9. "Frank Schleck to leave Tour de France after failing doping test". CNN. 17 July 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  10. "Tour de France star Frank Schleck positive for diuretic: UCI". The Times of India. 18 July 2012.
  11. "Fränk Schleck Surprised By RadioShack Dumping". Cyclingnews.com. 14 July 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  12. "Andy, Frank Schleck sign with Trek". VeloNews. Competitor Group, Inc. 23 July 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
  13. Brown, Gregor (25 June 2014). "Schleck brothers named to Trek Tour squad, but not as GC contenders". VeloNews. Competitor Group, Inc. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  14. Fotheringham, Alasdair (7 September 2015). "Schleck: Vuelta a Espana stage win about courage and character". Cyclingnews. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  15. Fletcher, Patrick (20 April 2016). "Broken collarbone for Frank Schleck after Fleche Wallonne crash". Cyclingnews. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  16. "Frank Schleck announces retirement". Cyclingnews. 4 August 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  17. Schleck unter Verdacht, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, 25 July 2008
  18. Schleck war Fuentes Kunde, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, 26 September 2008
  19. Press Release regarding Fränk Schleck Archived 13 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Team CSC Saxo Bank, 3 October 2008
  20. Richard Williams (17 July 2012). "Frank Schleck tests positive for banned diuretic and is out of Tour". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
  21. "Fränk Schleck doping positive confirmed". Cyclingnews. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  22. Justin Davis in Pau (17 July 2012). "Schleck controversy deepens RadioShack woes". VeloNews. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
  23. Shane Stokes (20 July 2012). "Frank Schleck's B sample also positive for diuretic Xipamide; doping hearing looming for rider". VeloNation. Velo Nation LLC. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  24. Ben Atkins (30 January 2013). "Fränk Schleck handed one year ban by Luxembourg Anti-Doping". VeloNation. VeloNation LLC. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  25. "Fränk Schleck given one-year doping ban". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. 30 January 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
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