to assert his position at CSC as  the inheritor elect to Carlos Sastre as protected Grand Tour rider. Or did he see that by keeping his brother's talent close, he would be able to better protect his position as an effective regent and then counsel? Then Andy turned up and came second behind Danilo di Luca at the 2007 Giro, apparently without really planning to do so. In one of the most climber friendly Tours of recent times Frank was conspicuously quiet, albeit shackled to the service of Carlos Sastre, who had been third in 2006. In 2008 Frank was leading the Tour de France, when Sastre was sent up the road to draw out Cadel Evans on Alpe d'Huez, in a great display of the power of a good team and strong tactics. In those 14 kilometres, Frank's opportunity to seize the crown faded and his fate as prince but never king was apparently sealed. The next year, Andy would emerge as the only rider capable of matching Alberto Contador at the Tour, while Frank would be reduced to relying on his brother's surges to chase the podium before succumbing to a sixth place finish. I take the castle The frustration in the Schleck camp was evident after they watched the Tour win ride away from them in 2008. The genesis of the Leopard-Trek can be seen in that moment. The assumption has always been that the project was at its origin primarily a vehicle for Andy to win