Impressions

Some impressions from Paris...











...thankfully both of our favourite brothers were there and also the Grand Duke couldn't resist to come, as well as most of Luxembourg's famous politicians.
While Papa Schleck, Mama Schleck, Martine and little Leea were in Paris to celebrate with Uncle Andy the oldest of the Schleck brothers Steve was in Luxembourg, to be precise, he was in the RTL-studios as a commentator for the last day of the Tour de France - here's the Journal du Tour from yesterday.

http://tele.rtl.lu/waatleeft/replay/v/20100725/0/23309/

RTL.lu VideoArchiv: Tour de France: E Bl�ck op den Andy Schleck

RTL.lu VideoArchiv: Tour de France: E Bl�ck op den Andy Schleck

A nation in yellow

Pretty much from the day Andy got the yellow yersey his little homecountry Luxembourg went crazy. They are crazy about cycling since like forever but after some not so good years during the 80's and 90's both Andy and Fränk as well as Kim Kirchen are very famous (remember more than 95% of people there know them!).
A lot of newspapers say " Mir si giel" - "We are yellow" and congratulate Andy. Rtl.lu - the country's biggest TV-station even got the following background on their website :)

Two very different people

Don't know if all of you heard about what Laurent Fignon said about Andy getting the bottles for his teammates - to say it shortly he wasn't too happy about it.

Our favourite TdF-rider just answered that it wasn't the first time him and Fignon had different opinions and that he already was in the back part of the peloton so he just decided to get the bottles because he had the shortest way. Not too sure if he actually had the shortest way but anyway it's nice he did it. The Saxoboys are working for him all day long and so he paid them back by bringing them something to drink.

Pretty obvious Fignon and the younger Schleck bro are quite different people - pretty sure not just in this way... You can guess the other one ;)

A sheep for Andy

Okay, to be honest, Andy didn't get a sheep from anyone, at least as far as I know but can someone tell my why he did have to take a photo with one of the little creatures while waiting for the start of the 11th stage?!


I mean the little lamb didn't seem too pleased while Andy's gorgeous smile looks a bit like he is asking himself what the heck the people who brought the sheep there are thinking. And I'm asking myself pretty much the same. I know that French people sometimes are a little crazy, they always want to take their roosters to soccer matches of their National Team. Well... At least I knew the reason for that one but I didn't know that sheeps seem to stand for cyclists. I know there are some black sheeps... Thank goodness it was a white sheep - otherwise the German media probably would have made a big fuss out of it - they still aren't over Zabel and Ullrich... But thankfully they're getting better :)

Btw, maybe Andy didn't get a sheep but instead he got a little gift from Lance Armstrong. With the words "It fits your jersey perfectly" he gave puppy Schleck one of his yellow LIVESTRONG wristbands. Andy was very happy and actually emphasized during the interview that he didn't have to pay for it.
Dear Andy, that is the meaning of a gift...

Knock, knock

Unbelievable but true... It seems like I'm still alive and still think that Andy and Fränk are simply the best. It's been a long time since I posted anything, hope that someone interested is still out there but I won't make any promises because I know that I couldn't keep my promise last time. But I'll do my very best...


Last time I wrote something about my favourite cyclists, Andy had just won Liège - Bastogne - Lièg, I was still an ordinary student preparing for exams and life was pretty good.Today life is still pretty good, to be honest even better - I'm back from Australia, an amazing country where I spent my gap-year (but please don't expect me to spell the words correctly even after a year down under, I can't spell to save my life in either language I know...) and Andy wears the colour that suits him best - YELLOW!!!

Unfortunately the Tour wasn't too kind to Fränk but at least now he can spend more time with his little baby girl Leea and his wife and I'm sure that when Andy comes to Paris in his yellow jersey, we will see a damn proud older brother there. When I came back to the blog I actually smiled a bit when I saw that I wrote more than a year ago that Fränkie would make a great daddy. Maybe he's listening to me... If you do Fränk - get well very soon! :)

I hope that I'll find a couple of good pictures, videos and stories during the upcoming weeks until life gets busy again when uni starts! To start off I would have loved to show you a video I saw some days ago on German televisions about Andy.
Just to sum it up: 95% of the people in Luxembourg know our lovely Schlecks and often call them heros - even if it's almost impossible for me to like Andy even more, I do now because of what he said "I don't like when the people say that I'm a hero, I'm not a hero at all. People who save lifes are heros. I just do the sport I love and do my best, when people are happy about that I'm happy but to say that I'm a hero - no, not at all - that's such a big word."
I think it's great that Andy is so down to earth. The rest of the little report why Andy is so successful was about the family and where they live. Papa Schleck thinks the biggest reason why all their sons are still living in Mondorf is because Mama Schleck is a really great cook - they always come to have some of her food. Lovely boys...

About the best brothers' future Papa Schleck didn't say anything new at all, just that he once told them to always ride for the same team so they don't have to ride against each other. We'll see.
And I see you. Hopefully. :)

Andy, you're THE star

Maybe you remember I video I posted some month ago made by a friend of mine. I asked her to make a second one and thankfully she agreed. So here it is: Andy, You're A Star!



About yesterday's victory...

Jean-Claude Juncker (Prime Minister and Financial Minister): A phenomenal performance

Jean Asselborn (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and immigration): Congratulations and I am pretty sure that it wasn't your last win.

Andy himself: I'm pretty proud on myself because this race is one of my favourites. Unfortunately there is also a negative side of it, next year I won't be able to show a better performance.

Johny Schleck: It is incredible what all happened during just one week. First Fränk's accident, then the wonderful second place of Andy at Fléche Wallone and now the victory. Liège - Bastogne - Liège has a very high standing in our whole family. For us it is the most important one day race during the whole season, you could call it our favourite. We like it so much because the race takes place near our home and so there are always a lot of fans from Luxembourg.

Kim Andersen: Amazing! Sensational! At the moment it is an absolutely crazy feeling I have. What Andy did today is something you can't put in words. I knew before that he is in a good shape but today was far better than every expectation.

Fränk: I just can take off my hat. Today Andy showed the world's elite their the maximum potential and he was even better. I always believed in him and I knew that he will take the victory. This moment is far more emotional and beautiful than standing on the podium after my own victory. And impossible to explain all the feelings and emotions I have right now. Right now I'm just enjoying the time here but truly realizing what happend? Maybe next week. At the moment I'm just very proud on Andy.

Christian Prudhomme: That was an extraordinary victory, a truly great win. Andy was simply the best today and he showed to rest what they can do and what he did. I'm sure that in the future we will have a lot of fun while watching Andy and seeing him win.