Cyclist Schleck senior wants to stick with brother Andy

Luxembourg – Luxembourg’s Franck Schleck said on Friday he wanted to continue to race in the same team as his 2009 Tour de France runner-up brother Andy despite doubts over the future of their Saxo Bank team.

"I’d be happy if it continued like that," said the elder Schleck brother, who finished fifth at last year’s Tour de France, in an interview with Le Quotidien newspaper here.

"I hope it will be like that. What’s sure is that Andy and me, we’ll always stay together. We’ll talk about it again after the Tour."

Saxo Bank decided last month to end their sponsorship deal of the cycling team a year earlier than planned.

The bank has sponsored the team since 2008, when it competed under the name CSC-Saxo Bank. It took over as the main sponsor in January 2009 and changed the name to Team Saxo Bank.

Focusing on season targets, Schleck said he was aiming to mirror the achievements of his younger sibling on the Tour.

"I feel capable of doing better than last year," he said. "For 2010, I’m saying to myself: why not the podium? And if I’m aiming for the podium, why not to win it?

"I would love to do another season like I did last year.

"Since 2005, I haven’t stopped having good results. But this time I would so much like to manage to win the Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

"And then obviously it would be great to win the Tour or at least finish on the podium.

Schleck is set to resume competition at the Tour of Mallorca on Sunday before moving on to the March 7-14 Paris-Nice race.

AFP / Expatica