One of them will even be on the start line on Sunday: Andy Schleck. But there is not much left of the young, radiant triumphant rider of 2009, who then hit the big time and is recognised as the Tour de France winner of 2010. The Luxembourger is just a shadow of days gone by - plagued by doubts and set back by constant injuries.
Schleck is the big problem case in Team Trek. His last victory in a cycling race was almost three years ago. On 21 July 2011, he won the queen stage of the Tour de France on the Col du Galibier. One day later, he took the yellow jersey, but Cadel Evans snatched it right back from him. After that, the deep fall began. After breaking his coccyx in June 2012, the former crown prince of cycling never returned to his former glorious performances.
"I want to be successful again. I won the Tour de France on paper, I won stages. I was Andy Schleck, I was someone. I want to be that again," Schleck recently said in an interview with the French sports daily "L'Equipe". His words fit the image of a pensive Schleck who is searching in vain for a way out of his personal crisis. "I'm doing everything I can to be successful again. I train hard and have become thinner. I can do no more than my best."
He can't say whether he will ride at the front of the Tour de France again. "If not, then I won't fall into depression," says the former climbing king. From 2009 to 2011, he stood on the podium of the Tour of France three times. In 2010, he even won the Tour after the Alberto Contador doping case. Today, he is no longer a winner.
Schleck is also unlikely to be in contention for a top place on Sunday, if he manages to complete the 263 kilometres at all. The 28-year-old is suffering from a knee injury after a crash at the Amstel Gold Race last Sunday. The cartilage tissue is damaged, but at least an operation is not necessary. "I hope my knee holds up," says the sensitive lightweight.
In addition to all the injury-related setbacks, there have been other problems in recent times. Such as the doping case involving his older brother Fränk in 2012, which tore the congenial duo apart for a year. In March last year, Schleck had to deal with further negative headlines. French politician Pierre-Yves Le Borgn claimed to have met the professional cyclist in a Munich hotel while drunk as a skunk in the lift. Schleck rejected the allegations as "ridiculous".
All things that are not conducive to the upcoming contract talks. His multi-million euro contract with Trek expires at the end of the season. He has to deliver results, preferably on Sunday in Liège, one of his favourite races.
