markwebb

.....going to get scewed by Bruyneel. Or at least Bruyneel's gonna try. Hopefully Alberto's a student of cycling history and won't make the same mistakes LeMond did. Let's face it - Contador is th strongest best rider in the TdF this year. Lance wasn't held back by Bruyneel on Friday - Lance just didn't have any gas in the tank. Do you think if a GC contendor in 2004 some 19 seconds behind Lance on a mountain stage made a break towards the end that Lance would have let him go? No - no matter what instructions Bruyneel would have given Lance, Lance would have tracked him down, pounced on him, and blew him away.

It's obvious to me Lance is not the same Lance as in years past and the years have taken their toll. He's still an idol and someone to look up to for what he's accomplished, but he's not the best rider on Astana. I suspect that Bruyneel will find some way to advance Lance to the detriment of Contador. Or at least he'll try. But if Contador's smart he'll have some personal allies on the team that will support him and Astana will be in yellow on the last day - but it will be Alberto not Lance. I trus Bruyneel about as far as I can throw him - which ain't far. He's as oily and slick as they come.

Beware Alberto - Bruyneel is out to screw you.

Sunday is gonna be cool. The Tourmalet. Lance. Alberto. Bruyneel. And a cast of 178 other riders !

patentcad

Where do you get these silly notions?

Back to your WWF and Nascar.

patentcad

But thanks for warning Contador, now he can watch out. Whew.

markwebb

World Wildlife Federation?

TMonk

don't play dumb

patentcad

This no act. This is BF. We are dumb.

hendrick81

I guess we will just have to see who comes out victorious at the end. Who really knows if lance had no gas left in his tank to make an attempt to catch up. They all have some sorta plan, and us Bf'ers dont have any idea what that is. All we can do is give our guesses on what we think is going on.

markwebb

Actually, PC, WWF wrestling was sued by the Wildlife Fed a few years ago and the wrestling org had to relinquish using WWF. The wildlife org won. I think they changed wrestling to WWE or something.

Your info is dated.

But you should remember what happened to LeMond before he won his first TdF, which is what could happen to Contador this year.

Lazyrider

At the end of the day, the best guy will win. Lance and Johan should not interfere with that. Nor do I think Lance would want AC to lay down for him. However, letting Lance have Yellow for a few days would have been a nice gesture.

But Lance is 8 seconds out of the lead 8 days into the TDF after 4 years of retirement. The guy is a beast whether you like him or hate him.

markwebb

I love Lance. I just think in 2009 Contador's a better cyclist, but he's (Contador) gonna take a knife in the back planted by Bruyneel.

Hammonjj

No gas in the tank? Did you even watch the stage? He looked cool and comfortable the entire time. He didn't attack because he was trying to keep the united public front. Attacking your teammate is considered bad juju.

My prediction: They'll stay cordial the entire time until stage 20, Mount Ventoux, when they get to the bottom of the climb, they'll look at each other, shake hands and then it will be every man for himself.

hendrick81

Something like that...

under18cyclists

I hope so that would be so awesome to watch them battle it out.

Hammonjj

In response to this, while I don't agree with you (hypothetically let's say I do), Lance has one thing Alberto doesn't, experience. Stage two proved that while Lance may not have the strength he once had, he certainly is still one of the smartest riders in the pro tour.

markwebb

Hammonjii - now that would be way cool at end of the Ventoux day. But Contador and Lance don't make their moves at the bottom of mountains - they do it going up. Just like The Pirate used to do. Contador, the way he accelerated away on Friday, reminded me of the speed Marco used to have in the mountains.

It's gonna be good. IMHO the best grand tour in years !!!

af2nr

I would say that he doesn't have many, if any, allies on the team from the interviews and reports I've read. Horner was kept off the Astana roster so AC could have at least one of his boys, or so LA had one less? I wouldn't think he has many more than that, not that would cross LA anyway. It appears that AC has already proven he's not following whatever "team" tactics they have planned. It also appeared that no one was surprised by his attack, that wasn't part of the days plan. It should be interesting if nothing else...

markwebb

In less than 7 hours they start the Sunday stage and the Tourmalet. I gotta go to bed now - this is gonna be good The race, er, not bed.

xg43x

Contador may be stronger of the two, but you cant deny the fact that Armstrong has the experience and tactics to win the TDF, again. Just look at previous years there were riders stronger than Armstrong but his experience and tactics got him the yellow jersey.

velocycling

You are right about not having help from Astana. That is why he was paying his dues in the Dauphine to Caisse d'Epargne. This is what Evans had to say about Friday's help, too. And with Sanchez winning today and moving up on GC. AC has does not need JB to win. AC saw the handwriiting on the wall with the team JB gave him in P-N. So his moves are not reactions to stages in the TDF but overall race strategies that having been thought out.

Dubbayoo

8 riders have dropped out. Please pay attention.

captnfantastic

contador should have left astana the minute lance joined. he's almost alone now. But he is still going to win.

igknighted

I'm just praying that Wiggins hangs in there, then buries them both in the TT. I'm so sick of hearing how great Astana is (it's fair praise, I'm just sick of it), I would love to see someone spoil the coronation. Not to mention there's very little of me that believes AC or LA are/were clean, but at least with Wiggins there's a shred of hope...

grolby

Uh, were you watching the same 7 Tours as the rest of the world? Incorrect, with the arguable exception of 2003.

Drag

I just think the Cadillac chic is hot.

uspspro

Yet very annoying...