By Jesper Johannesen, feltet.dk
Andy Schleck turned pro this year, after having being a stagiaire at Team CSC the year before, and the strong rider from Luxembourg was very satisfied with his season when Feltet.dk spoke with him about his first season as a professional.
"I think that this year has been a very good year for me," Schleck said. "I had 84 race days, which is quite a lot. Naturally I've been racing to earn get some experience, but I also finished many of the races I participated in. Personally, I think that this season has been a success for me."
Andy Schleck was also one of the riders who helped the Dane Lars Bak to the overall victory in the French Espoir stage race, the Tour de l'Avenir. But next year, it doesn't look like Schleck will just work as a helper. "Next year I'll try to perform good in Tour of Georgia and Tour of Luxembourg. Furthermore, I'd like to win Tour de l'Avenir," he said.
Andy, who is a younger brother of Fränk Schleck, sees Team CSC as a considerably strengthened team for the 2006 season, even though it was one of the world's strongest teams in 2005.
"We've been reinforced with some new riders for the 2006 season - Cancellara, O'Grady and Cuesta, among others, so I definitely reckon that we're now a lot stronger than last year. I believe that we'll win a lot of races next season. The ProTour Team Competition will most likely also be a goal for us to win in 2006. We want to be able to do great in all ProTour races next year."
