Originally Posted by
Hermes
Remember Armstrong's famous Alpe D'Huez win and the "look". He played possum for most of the race and even appeared to be in trouble and then launched an amazing attack. These guys are so good it is hard to say what is going on. Clearly, AC has the juice, so it is when to use it and how best to use his team. AC may be in trouble but I doubt it.
Also, the GC racers use the initial stages to race into form. They do not necessarily show up in peak form day one. Peak form lasts for a short period of time. It is best to have it at critical stages later and not at the beginning.
He left the "juice" at the Giro. Plus, he is beat up from all the crashing. Not only his knee but he can't sit on his saddle correctly. Probably from the fall when he got tangled up with Karpets. It looked like he hit his butt pretty good on that one. Yes, he is in trouble. Contador is not playing possum (maybe roadkill possum). If he is, he should have learned the correct way from Lance. But Eurosport doesn't replay that scene constantly like VS does.