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Andy Schleck's leisurely assault of Liege-Bastogne-Liege has Blazin' Saddles musing over the correct term for someone who heralds from Luxembourg.

The mot juste, so it seems, for an inhabitant of the Grand Duchy is a Luxembourger, although spelling it with the suffix 'berger' adds extra comedy value - or indeed irony, if you consider that Groussherzogtum Letzebuerg has more Michelin-starred restaurants per square mile than any other country in the world.

As Andy, at 23 the younger of the Schleck brothers and as such a true Luxemburgeoning talent, blitzed his opposition on the Cote de la Roche aux Faucons (very loosely translated as 'Falcon Rock Ridge') it would be forgiven to think of the daring Saxo-Bank rouleur as an, ahem, 'Luxembird'.

(Incidentally, this is also the moniker for the female population of the world's fifth smallest country. Poets, meanwhile, are known as Luxembards, but we are going way off piste here.)

So easy was it for Schleck Junior to win the first 'Monument' of his promising career - the chasing pack shooting themselves in the foot by hesitating and unforgivably losing time over the finishing kilometres - that Andy the Luxembourgian resembled more a Luxembored as he snored his way to the finish.

But given Andy's comparatively affluent background - father Johnny, also a rider, is a classy guy and a town-dweller - and his reputation as being a true gent in the peloton, maybe the best way of describing cycling's hottest property would be The Luxembourgeois Gentilhomme.

BAND OF BROTHERS: Andy and Frank Schleck are pretty inseparable. Not only do they look like two (elongated, angular, weasel-faced) peas in a pod, they ride for the same team, share the same website, share a passion for Scuba diving (see the links section on www.frankandandyschleck.com) and are both building up quite a palmares.

So, the big question is: who is better? Well, both are former national champions, Andy in time trial and Frank in road race. They both have a 'Monument' to their name, Frank the 2006 Amstel Gold and Andy this year's La Doyenne. They both have finished runner-up in one too, Frank last year in the Amstel Gold and Andy this year in the Fleche Wallonne.

Frank (who, contrary to reports, actually quite likes compatriot Kim Kirchen, and even went to his wedding despite the latter's claim that "it's no secret that me and the Schleck brothers are not close") has completed two Tours, finishing sixth last year and 10th in his debut in 2006 (including his magnificent solo effort to win atop Alpe d'Huez) and worn yellow.

Andy (a keen fisherman with a penchant for gardening) has ridden the Tour just the once, last year, and while his 12th placing aged 23 was very impressive, it was not as remarkable as his second place in the 2007 Giro, at only 21.

Granted, Frank has never raced the Giro, but he has never been close to finishing on the podium of a major Tour. Now 29, he is entering a period in his career when he should be targeting a major win. But with Andy showing both form and potential, and having age on his side, it may be little Schleck who becomes the first Luxembourguignon to beef the Tour since Charly Gaul in 1958.

DIRTY MONEY: Andy, too, remains relatively untainted by the ongoing doping allegations that taint the sport. Last year, a German newspaper accused Frank of soliciting treatment from the infamous Eufemiano Fuentes of Operacion Puerto fame.

Frank was said to have deposited 7,000 euros into a bank account linked to the Spanish doping ring leader, something he later admitted. As far as leaving a culpable trail goes, it seemed far more incriminating than having a dog called Birillo.

But the evidence did not add up. Big Schleck claimed to have no knowledge of the Fuentes link and said the money was to fund a legitimate "customised training program". All charges were dropped, the slate wiped clean.

"I'm sure that this has been quite a stressful time for him, but at the same time it will give him strength and motivation to be even better next season," said CSC team manager Bjarne Riis, a man who has admitted using EPO to garner his own extra strength and motivation during his 1996 Tour win.

Andy was dragged into the whole charade when the brothers' father Johnny had his car searched during the 2008 Tour. Nothing was found, of course.

Between 1965 and 1974, Johnny rode for Pelforth and Bic in an age when cycling teams - rather than be sponsored by banks, former WWII Russian rocket launchers used to ransack Israel or the latest in cattle-prodding technology - were used to promote more staid things such as strong French ale and orange biros.

To get back on track, one thing is for sure this year: with reigning Tour champion Carlos Sastre now riding for Cervelo, the Schleck brothers will be given free rein by Riis. Expect at least one of them to be on the podium come July. Which one is anyone's guess.

BAD BLOOD: If Andreas Kloden ever gets offered an honorary degree from the University of Freiburg, do not expect him to accept the accolade in a hurry.

German news magazine Spiegel reports that Kloden, along with former T-Mobile team-mates Patrick Sinkewitz and Matthias Kessler (such illustrious company!), popped into the University's clinic for a quick blood transfusion after the Strasbourg prologue in the 2006 Tour.

Of course, Klodie denies this drive-thru takeaway clot and his current team Astana are refusing to comment (although "if evidence should exist, then we will have a problem", they say). The intriguing thing is that the clinic claims the report has yet been finished and will not be published until mid-May, which means Spiegel has jumped the gun somewhat. Watch this space...

QUOTES OF THE WEEK: "We knew that he was not good enough to win. It is not easy for us to have a leader who does not know what he wants": Philippe Gilbert's unminced words are a grim indictment on Cadel Evans's fifth place in LBL.

Of course, BS could join in and castigate Cadel from the comfort of his own armchair. But BS is not one to latch onto the wheel of critics bigger and better than him, follow them mercilessly, never display any attacking guile of his own before using other people as weapons for his own good. So he will give Evans a break. Besides, the likes of Valverde, Rebellin and Cunego made a hash of it too - and at least the Australian did try to attack up the Saint Nicolas.

Anyway, Cadel is obviously not too worried about such slander. A recent Twitter post of his reads: "Relaxing in the hotel room having the Dutch rock music scene explained to me by Thomas D". Maybe Dekker told Evans about the Dutch psychedelic rock group The Outsiders?

Felix Lowe / Eurosport