Andy Schleck of Team Saxo Bank did not just win his first monument with a shocking solo victory at Lige-Bastogne-Lige, he probably did it with the dominating style that is had pundits tipping him as cycling's next great star. Riding his S-Works Tarmac SL2 and Body Geometry shoes, the more youthful of the Bros Schleck powered away on the Roche aux Faucons climb ( Falcon's Rock ) with about 20km to go and flew like an eagle all of the way to Ans to hold off a chase group that included a laundry-list of pre-race faves. It helped that Saxo Bank had 3 riders in the chase group ( Frank Schleck, Karsten Kroon and Alexandr Kolobnev ) to squelch any aggression from behind, leaving the doorway wide open for Schleck to cut his name into the history books.
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The plan was to attack on the hill ( Roche aux Faucons ), but I never imagined I might solo all of the way to the line," announced Schleck, who was 4th in last year's Lige. "I got an opening of two hundred meters and I just kept on pushing.
Schleck timed his attack completely, waiting till the new Roche aux Faucons climb that was introduced last year and jumped away from a select group of leaders to catch and then drop the attacking Philippe Gilbert ( Specialized helmets, optics, gloves ). "We knew that was the place to make the decisive attack," announced Saxo Bank executive Bjarne Riis.
Our team rode a textbook-perfect race and it is a great win for the complete team. When the 23-year-old hit the last climb at the famous Saint-Nicolas hill nursing an one-minute lead with only 7 kilometers to go, big brother Frank knew it was all but over and flashed a giant grin and a thumb's up to Belgian Television cameras. The group of tops could not organize a useful chase and the race was on for the podium. Heroic Spanish climber Joaquin Rodrguez attacked out of the chase group with 1km to head to claim 2nd at 1:17 back whilst Flche Wallonne winner Davide Rebellin led a huge pack of 35 chasers across the line at 1:23 back to round out the lectern with 3rd. "I felt good all week," declared Andy Schleck, who was 2nd at Flche Wallonne on Wed.
Schleck becomes the 1st Luxembourger to win since 1954, when Marcel Ernzer was winning. Bigger brother Frank, who rebounded back from a scary crash in Amstel Gold Race on Sun. , was ripping up as he studied his younger bro on the winner's lectern.
With the dust still settling on the 95th Lige-Bastogne-Lige, riders were already looking forward to the season's grand tours. The Giro d'Italia starts May 9 in Venice and the Tour de France looms ahead in July. The future is bright for Schleck, who was 12th overall last year and won the best young rider's jersey at the Tour. 2nd at the 2007 Giro, Andy will now take a short break before reloading for the Tour. "Like last year, I knew it might be tricky to try win if I came in with a group that encompassed Rebellin or Valverde, so I chose to risk with an attack," a satisfied Schleck declared. We are going to have to attend to see the way in which the race unfolds, but we are all awfully inspired to do well. Thinking back at the 2009 spring classics, it definitely was a terribly effective campaign for the Specialized Bicycles family of riders. Fast Step lived up to its inheritance and ruled the northern classics, successfully protecting its titles at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix with Stijn Devolder and Tom Boonen . Then it was time for Saxo Bank to take over in the hillier Ardennes classics, where the team scored lecterns at Amstel Gold Race ( 2nd with Kroon ) and Flche Wallonne ( 2nd with Schleck ) before the giant win on Sunday at Lige.