This weekend sees RadioShack-Leopard participate in the two-stage race Tour Cycliste Internationale du Haut Var in Southern France, and many observers will be focusing on Andy Schleck.

Saturday will mark 300 days since Andy Schleck last completed a stage race. Back in April 2012 Schleck completed the Circuit Cycliste Sarthe and has since then failed to complete all the stage races in which he has taken part.

The Circuit Cycliste Sarthe will be Schleck’s third stage race of the season, having previously withdrawn from Tour Down Under and Tour Méditerranéen, much to the consternation of his team and raising questions about the rider’s desire for future racing. The Circuit Cycliste Sarthe, therefore, will provide Schleck with the chance to put his career back on track.

“He suffers from some respiration problems, but right now the biggest problems are inside his mind,” team manager Luca Guercilena recently told French sports paper L’Equipe.

Previously, Schleck’s problems were related to the presence of former team manager, Johan Bruyneel, but current directeur sportif, Alain Gallopin, doesn’t quite buy that explanation.

”Last year, Andy complained about the pressure put upon him by Johan Bruyneel and that stressed him out. Now Johan is no longer there, but the situation remains the same. Perhaps the Tour win in 2010 (following Contador’s subsequent disqualification) didn’t do him any good. He still hasn’t won the Tour.”

RadioShack-Leopard line-ups:

Volta ao Algarve (Portugal) – UCI 2.1 (February 14-17)
Riders: Jan Bakelants, Danilo Hondo, Andreas Klöden, Tiago Machado, Giacomo Nizzolo, Nelson Oliveira, Jesse Sergent & Haimar Zubeldia. Directeur sportif: José Azevedo

Tour Cycliste Internationale du Haut Var-Matin (France) – UCI 2.1 (February 16-17)
Riders: Laurent Didier, Ben Hermans, Bob Jungels, Ben King, Maxime Monfort, Thomas Rohregger, Andy Schleck & Jens Voigt. Directeur sportifs: Kim Andersen & Josu Larrazabal