Stage 17 still bothers me...
 

Call me a conspiracy theorist - p.c. for "paranoid freak" - but I am deeply bothered by stage 17 results and its preceding events.

Let's review the timeline:

Aug 2010 - Feb 2012: on a date of "chaingate" Contador tests positive and much commotion ensues. UCI tosses matter back to Spanish cycling authorities, they nail Contador and recommend suspension. Spanish Prime Minister barks some orders and Spanish cycling authorities do about face and send the issue back to international arena. After much, much wiggling and changing testimonies the decision is reached, Andy gets the yellow, and Contador manages to get married somewhere in the middle of this mess.

July 2012 - Contador is off the suspension. In my opinion, his suspension turned to be mostly meaningless, as he continued to ride and keep his form and hone his skills on real roads in real races for another year and a half. He was truly benched from Jan 2012 to Jul 2012.

Sep. 03, 2012 - JR is in the lead by 28 sec. and it looks like the podium going to be entirely Spanish, Contador included. Still, attack after attack he can not put a dent into JR lead.

Sep. 04, 2012 - on a rest day JR gives an interview: http://universalsports.com/2012/09/0...uelta-leader/: “If I’m honest, if I seem so calm it’s because I keep on expecting Contador to beat me,” Rodriguez told reporters in his team’s hotel during the rest day on Tuesday.“Finishing second behind Contador wouldn’t be like finishing a race behind Johnny Nobody, it would be a great achievement.” Rolling over before moderate mountain stage while in the lead? Huh?

Sep. 05, 2012 - team Katusha suddenly loses half of their brain cells, turns into a bunch of epic nincompoops and commits what looks on the surface like series of tactical blunders, uncharacteristic of a UCI Pro Team. Come on, why the domestique for JR suddenly dropped back to peloton, then went to the team car to fetch the bottles for everyone on the team except his leader? Contador latches on a breakaway and milks the opportunity for all it's worth, and at the end of the day he is in comfortable 2min+ lead. Performance like that after being dusted by JR at every opportunity?

My take on the events is that government in Spain apparently holds some sway over sporting events - see bolded above. Team Katusha is essentially financed by Russian government as well, main sponsors Gazprom and Itera are government puppets. Someone in Spain needed a reformed sinner on the top of the podium and phone calls were made on a level so far above both teams' heads it is not even funny.

tldr

I would really prefer to call you a d*****s instead.

Kind of a rambling post ("Contador manages to get married in the middle of this mess") that does not make a case for his questioning of the results of a stage in this years Vuelta.

I believe that would be "her questioning", rather than "his".

" ... Call me a conspiracy theorist - p.c. for "paranoid freak ... "

OK.

Sorry, the post didn't make much sense so I naturally assumed it was written by a guy.

Ah, but of course...Contador must be Illuminati...

:rolleyes:

She had her $$$ on Rodriguez

I thought that was MJ.

My brain can't even process something like this.

............................................and george bush caused 9/11!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dun dun dun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

...and let us not forget that it was on stage 17 of the
'06 TDF that we watched Floyd Landis destroy the field.
Coincidence?
http://cdn.publishdev.se/cdn/3/14865...y_77613794.gif

I'm betting both Landis and AC picked stage 17 because an attack on stage 17 worked so well in 1969.

24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence? I think not.

I'll check back in on how this theory is looking in a few hours.

And you didn't even bring in the old Soviet government's meddling in World Chess Championships? Shame on you. Back to paranoia school.

I'm not overly concerned regarding a possible deal creating a fore-ordained outcome. It was great theater, and why else would I watch other people race?

Hotdogs come in packages of 10 and hotdog buns come in 8 or 12.

Not commenting on the specific accusations of the OP... but... there have been many well documented cases of big races being sold or otherwise decided by money (instead of racers).

I am a big Contador fan but even i agree the best man did not win this years vuelta. The points you have raised are valid, and to add fuel to the fire i would like to censure Katusha for allowing JR not to train on the day off. We all know rest days are not for resting. :crash:

Meh. JR always does poorly the day after a rest day, it's something he himself conceded. Contador is a wily veteran who planned to attack on stage 17 anyway. He spotted that Katusha were in a bit of disarray and attacked. As much as I think of Contador as El Dopado, I think he won the race fair and square.

two months and a lot of news after the fact, who cares?

OK, JR is not the best person after a rest day, all the more reason for Katusha to make him train. I can only say again rest days are not for resting.

Not all green M+M's are the same green color tint