Schleck doesn't want captain's role at Tour de France

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Fränk Schleck has answered his critics by finishing second in the Tour de Suisse, after dropping out of the Giro d'Italia. But the RadioShack-Nissan rider doesn't necessarily expect his good form to hold out for the Tour de France, which starts in less than two weeks – and neither does his sport director.

At the Tour, “I don't want to be captain. I can't continue to perform at top level,” he told Het Nieuwsblad.

Sport Director Kim Andersen echoed those thoughts. “I've obviously heard predictions that Fränk with his current form has a good chance to be in the showdown for the win, but to pin your hopes on it seems to me crazy,” he told politiken.dk

“It should be remembered that Fränk has competed at a high level ever since the start of Giro d'Italia in early May, so it's completely unrealistic to believe that he can compete among the best in the Tour over three weeks in July.”

Schleck said that he did not see Suisse as a preparation for the Tour. “No, absolutely not,” he told Het Nieuwsblad.  “I did the preparation for the Ardennes classics, then I went unexpectedly to the Giro.”  He noted, “I'm not a machine. You should be realistic. I am already very lean and in great shape, I can not continue to maintain this level.”

He even cited Alberto Contador as “the best proof” of the difficulty. “Last year he won the Giro and for that he paid a price in the Tour. He was not strong enough and he has not even raced between the Giro and the Tour, as I now do.”

In addition, “I don't want to be named as the leader, because if I put in a disappointing performance, then everyone can afterwards complain that I was not good enough. "