Gorden Gekko

I would love to see Contador off the podium when this thing is over (not likely) .It looked like he crapped in his bibs when Schleck dropped the hammer today

USAZorro

Instead of just being negative, why not tell us who you'd like to see win?

Laggard

This is a great post.

ultraman6970

Something is wrong with contador, he doesnt look good. THe worst thing is that Vino is giving it all for him, i believe they should have go with vino and use contador as a distraction.

AnthonyG

I'm sure he WANTED to go with him but then common sense kicked in and he said to himself, "don't blow it on one stage" so he sat back down.

I suspect we ARE seeing some of the top riders going WITHOUT drugs which help them to recover so I predict you are going to see a lot more riders performing like Cadel Evans this year and not hammering stage after stage after stage.

Anthony

rouleour

IMHO Vino's chances of winning the tour are about the same as Levi's to say the least,(not good) His best opportunity came and went back in 2003.
He would make a top 5 with a full team support, but winning it.. not likely!
I like Vino, but he has shown; he can't handle 2 consecutive good days in the high mountains!

kimconyc

Are you serious?

SunSwingsLow

This thread reminds me of the ones started when Cav looked a little wobbly on a couple of stages, we all know what happened when he straightened it out.

I fully expect Contador to do the same.

Keith99

I remember announcers getting things badly wrong going all the way back to Mig. In opposite directions within days of eachother. First in a mountian stage when Mig dropped a minute they crowned him winner of the Tour. Now timewise they wer right, but I sure would not have made the pronouncement until I saw how he was the next day. (Oops almost forgot he dropped all the time in hte last couple kilometers. I'd want to be sure it was nothing more than running out of gas and that he had refuled before announcing him a winner). A couple of days later in a ITT they say he looks like he is in trouble because he was not putting time into the rider in second. It was obvious Mig was not strugling, he looked very very comfortable. I commented at teh time it looked like he was saying 'Yuo have to put time on me, not the other way round, I'll mark you to the second). And with about 10 miles to go, a point where if he cracked he would still get in in time, he cranked it up and started putting time into his rivals.

If I recall correctly Contador prefers steeper roads, this last climb flattened out near the top. But the vrs. guys seem to forget that and see a weakness in AC. I don't hold that against them. It is their job to maximize the possibilities that we will have a close exciting race and they have to do it in rather gross ways, not getting into subtle points. Just as they made a big deal about Lance picking up 7 seconds in the prologue.

BUT a reasonably experienced view should recognize what they are doing and not make too big a deal out of Andy getting 10 seconds.

grolby

Oh, please. It's stage racing, not 11-dimensional chess. It's 10 seconds. An attack with < 1k to go. There's no danger of "blowing it" on 900 meters of effort. The only reason for Contador not to follow that move so late in the stage is that he just didn't have the legs. Period. Speculation that he was "saving energy" is just stupid. You don't give up time if you can possibly help it. I wouldn't read too much into it just yet, mind you, but Contador lost Schleck's wheel because he couldn't go fast enough in the last 1k. That's all there is to it.

alpha_bravo

Did Contador really need to go after Schleck in Stage 8? I'm sure Contador knows that as long as he keeps things close he'll be fine once the race of truth starts. I'd love to see Schleck win, but if he rides the final time trial like he rode the prologue Contador could pedal his bike backwards and still win. Schleck hasn't proven himself an elite level time trial contender yet.

AnthonyG

Sure I'm serious but I'm not sure which side of the argument your on.

Anthony

rogwilco

If Contador has to blow anything on a medium difficulty mountain stage by just staying on the wheel of one his opponents on the day before a rest day, then he's in bigger trouble than I thought.

highroller

Schleck does not have his brother this year, so I think this will seriously affect him and he wont be able to do the mountains effectively as last year. He seems to be showing a lot of bravado this year and trash talk hoping to get the psychological advantage which indicate he need to keep up his confidence with the loss of his brother who vurtually pulled him up the hills last year.

rogwilco

Was Frank really that important for Saxo last year? It was certainly a tactical advantage to have him, but was he that big a help in the mountains? The way I remember it it was mostly Andy pulling Frank along, but of course I don't know how many bottles Frank carried and all that.

Farby

hahaha.. watch the tape again. Contador tried to go and couldn't keep up.

grolby

Rule #1 of stage racing: gain time whenever possible, by any means possible. Corollary of Rule #1: do not lose any time to your competitors if you can possibly help it.

Yes, Contador needs to go after Andy when he attacks. There's no question that he's a better time trialist and there's no doubt that he can overcome a deficit to win. But things happen; only an idiot thinks they don't "need" to chase and deliberately loses time when they don't need to. If Contador can take time on Andy before the TT, he absolutely will. No sense in taking chances. Contador lost the wheel because he couldn't hold it. He didn't lose much time in no small part because you can't lose very much in 900m. We still don't know what would have happened had Andy attacked 2-3 km earlier; he may have been caught, he may have gained a minute. Either way, Contador would much rather have kept those 10 seconds.

Romans8:28

Well apparently Andy could not shake Alberto today?

Racer Ex 

prettyshady

Frank and Andy were together in the 2009 tour de france, and I thought staying with Frank held Andy back on a few climbs (ventoux for example).

He might be better off with out frank,

Keith99

By Mont Ventoux thnigs were pretty much settled for first and second, with Armstrong having a slight chance of catching Andy. Third however was still reasonably open with several riders having a chance for that. Andy stood a far better chance of losing second (still slim) by attacking, he stood almost no chance of making over 4 minutes on AC.

The biggest loser in the games on stage 20 was AC, who lost a chance for a stage win by protecting Lance.

When everything was still unsettled Frank was very valuable to Andy.

Jed19

+1. Alberto Contador is gonna win this Tour. You can take it to the bank. Schleck is not gonna be able to shake AC in the Pyrenees, and then AC is gonna finish him off in the final TT. As a matter of fact, I am predicting that AC is gonna win the next Tour also. He is just that good.

grolby

Hmm. You do raise a valuable point.

Keith99

I see one slight difference, but no one else seems to notice. Andy timed his attack perfectly. It was a thing of beauty. Yet instead of Andy getting credit everyone is trying to see Contidor as weak. As we have seen by now that is wishful thinking. Perhaps even in 2 ways, not just one. Everyone is hoping both Alberto and Andy are 'weaker' than they really are.

Mr_Christopher

+1.

I think both AC and AS are both showing signs of tactical sophistication (here and there). And I don't think AC is as hyped up about winning a single stage as many people might think. AS has made some good moves at brilliant times, we'll see AC do the same but not gratuitously or to win a single stage. At some point AC is going to pull out his can of whoop as and try to spray it all over AS, I just don't see him doing that for a single stage win by a wheel length.

The bottom line for me is they are making this an exceptionally fun tour to watch.