Originally Posted by
BluesDawg
I guess you missed those stages where Astana's Navarro led Contador up the big climbs long after Andy Schleck was the lone Saxo-Bank rider left in the group. Marking a rider who needs to put time into you more than you need to put time into him is as much a tradition in racing as is finding fault with everything done by someone you don't like.
Team Astana decimated the peloton on the climbs and made it a two man race for GC with Contador being able to match Schleck in the mountains and having a track record of beating him in time trials with a margin thus almost assuring a GC victory for Contador. And they controlled the front of the peloton making sure that only certain riders got into breakaways. I was impressed with Astana and Contador. Even though Radio Shack had a great team and won the team competition, I am not sure if any of the RS riders could match Navarro to lead Lance up the climbs.