Yeah, I agree that Contador knew something was up since Andy just came to a standstill. But I also think he was right in doing so, they already waited for him once (the Spa stage) and if they hadn’t Schleck would be a few minutes back. Then the very next stage Schleck takes advantage of Contador getting caught behind Schlecks falling brother and they put a minute into him. i think that was all fair and all, but i also think it was ridiculous they waited in the Spa stage.
The last thing to mention is that this wasn’t just a mechanical; it was a mistake by Schleck. These chains don’t come off if you have your gears set properly, he was still on his small gear in front and was shifting up in the back, making the chain stand in an awkward position. I’ve herad numerous (former) cyclists say this was the case and that it was bad bike handling. Then when it went of a pro should be able to put the chain back on in an instant and not try twice and fail.
I’m a cyclist - and yes, a wrong change of gears when you’re pounding up a hill can cause you to throw your chain. But, like a puncture, sometimes it can just happen. I’m still trying to work out what happened - based on the video it looks like the back wheel bucks up. I can’t tell if that is what caused the chain to fall off, or if it’s -because- the chain fell off.
Do we know if AS had a dog fang (i.e. chain keeper)?
Lance had a good ride today.
Please pardon a complete ignoramus for popping in here, but this whole business about stopping during a race to wait for somebody else to fix a problem just seems unfathomable to me.
Is it unsportsmanlike for an Olympic runner to keep running if somebody else stumbles? Or for NASCAR drivers to continue racing while another car is forced to the garage to make repairs after a crash? Of course not. Why is the Tour de France different?
One article I read said something like it is customary to afford such courtesies to the wearer of the yellow jersey… so what if the second-place guy or someone in the middle off the pack throws a chain? Are they just SOL? I’m rather perplexed about this, but I’ll bet you folks can shed some light.
Wow, impresive run by Thor today - gaining six points on a mountain stage. There is no doubt in my mind that he really deserves the Green - however, Petachi will be trouble in bourdaeux and Paris, unelssthe dope allegations by the Italian authorities makes Lampre redraw him from the race.
He did the same thing last year. It’s not going to be enough this time, though. Thor has been back in 7th and 8th in the bunch sprints, so unless there’s a big breakaway that doesn’t get caught on Stage 18, he’s likely to lose it back to Petacchi then. Unless the guy gets yanked from the race, of course. Heck, I haven’t checked the math, but Cav might even get back into green with wins on Stage 18 and in Paris.
Yeah I know - Thor seems to have lost some of his sprinting abilities in exchange for becoming a much better allrounder the last couple of years. Still, I can hope. To bad Cancellara nixed the second? leg to Spa - Thor was the only sprinter in front and could easily have gotten 35 more points then he currently has.
I do believe Cav can pass them all if everything goes his way - it depends very much on the spacing to Petacchi, 25 points now. If Cav clinches both remaining sprints, he’d need pettachi to finish 6/7th on both - not likely, but possible.
In one of his interviews Thor said his sprinting has been off a bit since he broke his collarbone and he hasn’t been able to do as much sprinting training as usual. He’s clearly the most complete rider in points contention though.
Me changing my mind is a rare and wonderous occurence - so you thread readers should consider yourselves special, because I’m about to do it here. After seeing Contador’s apology on YouTube, and hearing that before yesterday’s stage he went up to Schleck in person and said he made a mistake and apologized, I have to retract my statement about Contador being classless. It was nice to see him make the effort. Personally, I suspect that he realized how bad it looked when his initial stance was that ‘he didn’t know about the mechanical’, and I also think the boos when he took the yellow jersey probably affected him - how could it not? - but the motives are beside the point.
An impressive gesture, and while I’m sure AC wasn’t losing sleep at night worrying about what I thought of him, I have a much better impression of him now then before. And it has prevented putting a nasty aftertaste on what has been a fantastic tour.
Still don’t think I’ll be pulling for AC anytime soon (go Andy!), and I still think this race would be a lot more interesting if we went into tomorrow’s brutal Tourmalet stage with Andy up 30 seconds instead of down 8 seconds. Now AC can simply mark Schleck the whole way up, instead of being forced to attack. But it’s nice to see everyone getting along.
BTW, Thursday’s stage is the route ridden by Etape du Tour riders this year. I had hoped to ride it this year before an injury derailed (heh) my training. Hopefully next year.
GC still up for grabs (sort of), green and polka dot jerseys still up for grabs…Thursday should be a great day of racing.
Contador wouldn’t have been forced to attack at 30 seconds down. He’s likely to gain 1-2 minutes in the TT. Andy’s been the one who’s needed to attack all along.
Good to see there are knowledgeable cycling fans here. Though I think Conta goes closer/over two minutes on Sat…and tops Le Tourmalet shortly.
But that would have only given him a 30-60 second buffer or so going into the time trial. That’s not enough to offset the risk of falling, punctures or other mechanicals, etc. He would want a full 90-120 second buffer.
Unless Andy attacks early, I suspect AC will simply mark him up the last climb, then take off the last kilo or two. I don’t think Andy can keep up with AC’s accelerations.
Could Menchov do something? He’s still in contention for a podium spot no?
Well, Andy held off Alberto for the stage win, but he didn’t gain any time. Looks like Contador will be a 3-time winner come Sunday.
It would seem so.
Pretty epic end to that stage though - neither could break the other though they both tried and the pictures of them riding through the mist, at times shoulder to shoulder, were absolutely fantastic.
AC didn’t go for the win – simply a nice gesture towards AS.
“The stage is yours, I’ll just keep The Tour.”
And then they hugged and kissed after the finish.
The End.
I’m glad Contador held off the dogs at the end, Schleck rode up front for the final 10K up the tourmalet, it would’ve been low class to take the stage win (even though Contador absolutely could have).
Schleck had a smart plan today, I have to say. He was never going to beat Contador with acceleration, he just can’t accelerate as fast as Contador can. All he can do is go full out for the final 10K and hope Contador cracks. At least now it now appears Schleck has a sufficient buffer on third so our podium should be Contador, Schleck, Menchov.
Also, good on Hesjedal for moving into 8th place. I don’t think a Canadian has rode this well at the tour since Bauer.
It’s been a good tour and will be a great decade with battles between Schleck and Contador. I’m sure others will come along but right now it appears no one is in their class.
That was an epic finale I have to say - hair-raising stuff. Bert just too strong - Looks like he’s a level above Andy (and 3 levels above everyone else) at the moment tbh. It’s always amazing to see the peleton get smashed on these brutal climbs and the strong men come to the front. Did you see the turn Cancellera took? Buried himself, he pulled off and looked like he was thinking of dismounting and throwing up - nearly came to a standstill.
Andy’s young, but with him conceding minutes in the TT it looks like it’s going to be tough to dislodge Alberto over the next few years. A lot can happen of course, and Andy may well be young enough to improve his testing.
Yep, as expected AC just marked time. AS kept waiting for Contador to move ahead so he could attack from behind, but AC wasn’t having any of it. He made one semi-attack just to sort of say, ‘don’t bother’, and that was that.
I’m a bit surprised AC didn’t try to do more in the last kilo or so to get a bit more distance: Yes, right now he’s considered to be the better time trialist, but all it takes is one puncture or fall or something. He’s banking on not having any problems and on Andy not having the ride of his life. (And yes, I’m still disappointed that we didn’t go into this (or the last time trial) stage with Andy holding on to his 30 second lead).
That 20km up Tourmalet was essentially one big long time-trial, and Andy rode right up it. Maybe Andy won’t lose as much time as was originally thought?
At least this year, tho, it looks like AC is going to win. Will be very interesting the next few years to see what AS can do as the clear team leader on a team with his brother back in it, and if he can get better at time-trialing. Note that time trialing was probably more of a weakness for AC a few years ago, but he’s really improved. No reason Andy couldn’t do the same.