Looking back at the year 2006 (part I):

If, in 2005, we spoke about a nice collective performance of all three professionals of the ACC Contern, it seems obvious that 2006 will remain in memory like THE year of one rider: Frank Schleck. In spite of the national title for Kim Kirchen and his good results in the Tour de Luxembourg, in spite of the victories of Andy Schleck in the Sachsen-Tour, the fantastic performances of Schleck the elder eclipse all the rest. After his successes in the Amstel Gold Race and on top of Alpe d'Huez, as well as a beautiful collection of top placings, Frank is found in third place of the world rankings for this season, behind dominant Alejandro Valverde and surprising Samuel Sanchez. An incredible performance which however fits into the logic of his career built with wisdom and talent. Kim Kirchen, as for him, he will have to forget as quickly as possible the season marked by health troubles and a tricolour shirt, whereas the young Andy Schleck confirmed in 2006 his big, big talent. The beginning of the season 2006 was early for the three professionals licensed with the ACC Contern, Pictures: acc contern / velo101.com namely at the beginning of February already on the beautiful island of Mallorca where the Challenge Illes Balears took place, a race with special regulations that do not oblige the riders to take part in each stage. Whereas the recently deceased Isaac Galvez dominated the first stages, Frank Schleck showed already very good form in the first climbs like Bettini for example. The CSC-rider finished 5th and 6th of the most difficult stages, which ensured him a 5th place in the final overall classification. His younger brother Andy also showed himself at his advantage with a nineteenth place on the second day and agressive racing style the following day, where a spectacular crash stopped his long-time break. Kim Kirchen, who also finished 19th at a stage in Mallorca immediately continued with the Volta ao Algarve, in Portugal, where he appeared in the spotlights on the Pictures: grahamwatson.com last decisive stage. He finished in fifth position in the first chasing group behind the astonishing Cabreira and thus took the eleventh place in the general classification. The newcomer in the T-Mobile team wasn't able to confirm his victory of the previous year in Chiasso (6th), but could recomfort himself the following day in Lugano with a nice second place behind Paolo Bettini. The Schleck brothers also parcticipated in this Swiss weekend and they made good impression with two 12th places (Andy in Chiasso and Frank in Lugano). The inaugural racing month had thus desplayed a good state of form for everyone. The first of the main objectives of the season for Frank and Kim was Paris-Nice and it was precisely in this event where troubles for Kirchen started. A recurring pain in his Picture: Chantal Schomer back had woken up and the suffering Luxembourger gave up the race after anonymous four stages. Frank Schleck on the contrary proved to be in good health and in the first difficult stage towards St.Etienne, the red-white-blue shirt showed up in front of the race. If Floyd Landis and Patxi Vila were a class of their own, Schleck was among the best of the rest and took a beautiful fourth place at the finish. On the following stages, the Luxemburgish champ was to be found in the first group as soon as the road rose and even attacked from time to time, like in the col de Corobin during the fifth stage. An 8th Digne place and a 10th one in Cannes enabled him to consolidate his 5th position in the general classification of a race completely locked by the Phonak team of winner Floyd Landis. After Paris-Nice , Milano San-Remo was in the mind of the best riders in the world and, alone in the legendary Poggio, Frank Schleck made a new demonstration of his class. He had been part of a break since 10 km with Moerenhout, Trenti and Reynes and he had not waited long before   Pictures: cyclingnews.com dropping his companions in the deciding climb of La Primavera. But the peloton was not far behind and the CSC-rider was chased down in the very last meters of the Poggio to finish finally twentieth. At the Critérium International, Schleck was present to help his team-captain Ivan Basso and did this in brilliant manner since Basso gained the final victory and Frank took the 11th position. It was him who exploded the peloton in the mountain stage of Sunday morning for Basso, whereas Kim Kirchen was really not far behind and thus had recovered from his setback in the race to the sun. Andy Schleck on his side had a very bad month. After having been close to the best in the semi-classics Milano-Torino, the CSC rider made a very bad crash in Chôlet-Pays de Loire with a fracture of the collarbone which obliged him to slow down for a couple of months. Before the spring classics, Kim Kirchen and Frank Schleck took part in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco, a very difficult race which ensured them an optimal preparation for the Ardennes climbs. But whereas Frank Schleck left March in very good condition, Kim Kirchen still wasn't in Photos: cyclingnews.com diarovasco.com control of his back problems, in spite of intensive muscle-development exercises. With the assistance of a physiotherapeutist, he finished the Basque event, but did not obtain any significant results there, apart from a honest 38th place in the final time-trial. Frank Schleck started the race very well with a fifth place in the first stage won by Valverde, then an Pictures: grahamwatson.com eighth one on the following day. The CSC rider was 5th in the general classification, 2 seconds only behind leader Sanchez, when misfortune visited him during the third stage. A spectacular crash, during which he briefly lost consciousness, sent him directly to the hospital. Fortunately for Schleck, the continuation of his season was not threatened and a week later, he showed up in full form at the start of the Amstel Gold Race. On this Easter Sunday, Frank realized his first master-piece of the season, being extremely strong physically, but also the best tactician. A dozen riders were still able to claim the victory at the end of the penultimate climb and only the final Cauberg remained to decide between them. But Schleck chose not to wait until there and he attacked on the flat, with 9 km to go. Sinkewitz and Bettini gave their very best to chase him down but it was too late. The Luxemburgish champ literally flew towards his first major victory and he crossed the finishing line in tears, 22 seconds in front of Steffen Wesemann. Four days later, at the Flèche Wallonne, the champion of Luxembourg was again in the spotlights. But there were other favourites, in particular Bettini and Valverde who did not hesitate to take control of the race and it was Valverde was the strongest after the hill climb on top of the mur de Huy. After having tried without success the "Amstel tactics" within 10 km to the finish, Frank Schleck still was strong on the short climb and       Pictures: acc contern / t-mobile-team.com / grahamwatson.com crossed the line in fourth position. The second race of the "Ardennes Weekend", Liège-Bastogne-Liège attracts a lot of riders and the candidates for a podium place at the "Doyenne" were numerous. So many in fact that the race remained undecided until the very end. Indeed, about fifteen riders were still together after the côte de St.Nicolas which, usually, is much more selective. In spite of the attacks of Frank Schleck among others in the last uphill km to Ans, the victory was decided in a sprint where Alejandro Valverde was quickest in front of two fast Italians, Bettini and Cunego. The champion of Luxembourg finished 7th in same time as the winner and so continued his formidable series: 1st, 4th and 7th among World's best riders in just one week. Kim Kirchen also took part in Ardennes classics, but with another objective: to do team-work for Wesemann, Kessler or Sinkewitz in better shape than him. Most of the time, Kim was in the leading group until in the last difficulties before losing contact, sometimes on mechanical trouble like in the Amstel. But after his good beginning in February, he surely was disappointed with the continuation of the season. The Henninger-Turm race was the last race in the classics season and saw him several times among the best, but without leading to an extraordinary result (34th place). Andy Schleck also made his return in Frankfurt after one month of break following his crash in Cholet-Pays de Loire. Whereas May was month of rest for Frank Schleck, his brother Andy and Kim Kirchen started the series of stage races with Pictures: acc contern cyclingnews.com the very difficult Volta a Catalunya. On the up and downs between Lloret de Mar and Barcelona, the two riders attacked each, but without success. After having finished in penultimate position more than thirteen minutes late in the second stage, Kim Kirchen appeared in the first attack of the following day. Together with Quinziato and Augé, he has passed more than 140 km in the lead of the race before being joined with only a few kilometers to go. For the rest of the race, he put himself at the service of his team. Andy Schleck, who was struggling after several weeks without competition, nevertheless got stronger and stronger and he showed himself in the very last stage where he attacked on the first climb together with riders like Leipheimer, Moreau or Botero, before being chased down a few kilometers later. In the last stages in Catalonia, Kim Kirchen never was very far from the best and his good form was confirmed in the Tour de Luxembourg. The T-Mobile rider took a spectacular victory in the prologue that was taylor-made for him, very short and with a steep, paved climb requiring explosive power. Kim thus took the yellow jersey with 5 seconds advance on Bodrogi and he was able to defend it during     Pictures: acc contern 2 days in spite of a weak T-Mobile team. But in the stage with the Ardennes climbs, Kirchen then became victim of tactical considerations. Indeed, early in the stage, 16 riders broke away with the majority of the teams represented. Nobody wanted to work behind the group and Kirchen, who had Bernucci in the lead group, found himself alone and stuck in the peloton. He took revenge the following day with a nice second place in the last stage behind Garzelli. With a victory and two second places on this Tour, Kirchen also gained the points classification. The Schleck brothers, as for them, had a Tour de Luxembourg less animated since they were entirely at the disposal of Christian Vandevelde who thanked them by winning the final overall victory. Frank can nevertheless put at his credit two 7th places in stages and Andy the "Fair play" trophy. After his good performances in the Tour of Luxembourg, Kim Kirchen wanted of course to confirm his form in the Tour de Suisse. He did it in the third stage, where he took a tenth place at the finish in spite of the fact that he had worked all day for the appointed leader of T-Mobile, Jan Ullrich. After that, Kim continued to be helper for his     Photos: t-mobile-team.com / cyclingnews.com team with a lot of abnegation, especially in the fifth stage, where he towed the leading group nearly all the way up the final climb to towards Leukerbad. In spite of his teamwork, the Luxembourger finished constantly among the 20 first and even took an extraordinary 7th place in the final time-trial in Bern, which enabled him to assert the 12th place overall. Unlike Kirchen at T-Mobile, Frank Schleck was released from any team work at CSC and he posted his ambitions clearly. In the first mountain stage, he finished 7th in same time as the other favourites. But in the second one, Schleck was a notch below and he did not succeed in catching the good group taken along by a very powerful Koldo Gil. While still finishing in a good 6th position in La Punt, the CSC-rider had to admit a two minutes deficit on the best (Gil, Jaksche, Ullrich, Gomez), two minutes which will prevent him from climbing on the podium at the end of the Tour. Nevertheless, Schleck did a good job on the following stages, being in the first group in Ascona as well as in Ambri and while finishing 11th against the clock, he finally took the 6th position in the final general classification. Andy Schleck Pictures: acc contern worked as a team helper for his brother and his main goal was to collect race kilometeres in order to return to his best Picture: acc contern level. A 19th place at only 41 seconds of the winner in the last mountain stage confirmed that he was indeed on the good way. At the end of June take place traditionally the National Championships, and like last year, the race summarized to an explanation between the three riders of the ACC Contern, the circuit being too hilly for Benoît Joachim who had to abdicate despite of his resistance in the penultimat lap. A powerful acceleration of Frank Schleck isolated the two brothers and Kim Kirchen at the head of a race shortened due to hail and storm. In the final climb towards the finish, it was Kim Kirchen who made a big attack. In spite of a broken nose and pain caused by a recent training crash, Frank resisted and he caught up little by little with Kim, before having to settle down for second place in the final sprint. Kim Kirchen thus gained for the third time the national title in the elite category. After his problems since the beginning of season, he finally seemed to return towards his best level. But due to the team tactics, Kim was excluded from Tour de France by his T-Mobile team, and so he rather had to look at his beautiful three-coloured jersey during the next few weeks than pin a race-number on it. Looking back at 2006 (part II) Looking back at 2006 (part III)