A Giro d'Italia for Andy Schleck?

Andy Schleck has made statements in the past saying he isn't interested in being declared the winner of the 2010 Tour de France if Alberto Contador is found guilty of doping.

The final verdict on Contador's clenbuterol case is due in January, and Schleck, who finished runner-up to the Spaniard, could be named the winner if the International Cycling Union (UCI)and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) have their way.

Schleck again reiterated to La Gazzetta dello Sport that the way to win a race is on the road and not in a courtroom in Switzerland, and who could disagree?

"I've been watching on TV and reading the papers but whatever sentence comes out it won't change my life,: Schleck told the La Gazzetta. "The road already wrote the story and gave the verdict and I'm not interested in anything else ... That's not how I want to win the Tour,"

But after never having won a three week stage race as a professional, there is mounting pressure for the talented climber to reassess his Tour de France ambitions and instead target a maiden grand tour victory at the Giro d'Italia in order to establish himself as a grand tour winner.

Schleck may have to take a more indirect route through Italy to claim a maiden Tour de France win if you agree with comments made by such luminaries as five-time Tour de France and Giro d'Italia winner, Eddy Merckx.

Merckx and a host of former Italian greats have been quoted in La Gazzetta as saying a victory in Italy is more important than a runner-up position in the Tour.

"First the Giro. But he has to race it and win it, which is not certain," said Merckx. "But Andy must also race the Tour and aim for more than second place."

Francesco Moser, a Giro d'Italia winner in 1984, also thinks this strategy is a sound one and cautions against racing both.

"The Giro is the perfect race for Andy," said Moser. "Two short time trials, a team time trial and uphill finishes favor him. But he cannot expect to win the Giro and then the Tour. It's not just physical but also mental and he still seems fragile."

You'd have to agree with the assessment of both the 'Canibal' and the 'Sheriff' - Shleck needs to stand on the top step after three weeks to set himself up for future Tour de France domination - a win in Italy may just give him that winning feeling - or to use an Australianism, put a bit of mongrel in him.

Now Schleck and his newly minted RadioShack Nissan Trek team have yet to organise their program for 2012 but I'm in the mood for giving gratitous advice, so here is what I think RadioShack boss and grand tour whisperer Johan Bruyneel, should do.

The team is stacked with talent enough for three simultaneous grand tour teams, so give Andy a well supported ride in the Giro - a race that suits his talents perfectly - while splitting up his pairing with older brother Frank.

At the same time have Frank lead the team into the Tour de France, again with another powerful support group, but rest Andy in July and hope for a more favourable Tour de France parcours in 2013.

The brothers have always raced together and I think this has hampered their abilities, with the pair seemingly always looking out for one another rather than focusing on their competition.

Breaking the familial bonds may just be the tonic they both need to lash out on their own and unleash their obvious talents.

At 26 Andy has time to play with while Frank may not have many more opportunities to ride for himself, so it's time for a new approach that capitalises on their abilities.

We won't know until July in Paris, but RadioShack Nissan Trek may even emerge from such an experiment with two grand tour victories and a brotherly first.

Follow Phil on Twitter @Philip_Gomes.