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Cycling builds more than fitness 💪

Happy 41st birthday to Andy Schleck. 🎂 🚴‍♂️

The Luxembourg climber turns 41 today, and few riders of his generation gave us more to cheer for - or more to wonder about.

He was born into the sport. His father J***y rode the Tour and the Vuelta in the 1960s and '70s. His older brother Fränk became a Grand Tour contender in his own right. For Andy, racing the Tour de France was never a fantasy - it was the family trade.

The talent showed early. Second overall at the 2007 Giro d'Italia in his first three-week race. A solo win at Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2009, attacking clear of one of the strongest fields of the era to take one of cycling's five Monuments.

Then came the Tour years that defined him. 🥇

- Second in 2009, behind Contador, the best stage racer of the age
- Winner in 2010, awarded the title in February 2012 after Contador's doping disqualification
- Second again in 2011, to Cadel Evans

Three years. Three podiums in Paris. Plus three white jerseys in a row as best young rider - a feat matched only by Jan Ullrich before him.

His 2010 Tour is forever tied to "chaingate" - the dropped chain on the Port de Balès as Contador attacked, costing Andy exactly 39 seconds. The same margin he lost the Tour by on the road that July. He always said winning it later, in a courtroom rather than on the Champs-Élysées, never felt the same.

But ask any fan about Andy Schleck and they'll point to the Galibier.

Stage 18 of the 2011 Tour. He attacked on the Col d'Izoard with around 37 miles still to ride, went clear alone over the high Alpine passes, and held off a desperate chase to win at the summit. Brother Fränk came home second. It was the purest expression of who he was - a rider who attacked because that's what the mountains were for.

A knee injury, suffered in a crash on Stage 3 of the 2014 Tour, ended it all too soon. He retired that October, aged just 29.

These days, he's never far from a bike. He runs cycling shops in Luxembourg, serves as president of the Tour of Luxembourg, and in 2024 became deputy general manager of the Lidl-Trek WorldTour team - shaping the next generation, with Fränk working alongside him.

Happy birthday, Andy. The road still misses you.

There's something about a ride that softens the edges of everything. 🚴

🚴‍♂️ ✨