otg 

rpenmanparker 

Jus sayin.

Lazyass

Well, the good thing about believing the official story is that you have multiple ones to choose from

bt

RIRview

Exactly. That's the stuff that starts rumors and conspiracy theories.

rpenmanparker 

Zackly!

UnfilteredDregs

It's the crabon Kennedy... The grassy pothole!!!


(I truly hope Mr. Contador will be okay...)

Jakedatc

Where's that guy who did the waving speed loss testing... we need him to go hit a pothole at 40mph to see what happens (valverde said they were doing 60kph when he crashed)

RIRview

The Magic Pothole Theory.

rm -rf

That's Contador's number on the broken bike. Do "spare bikes that fall off a roof rack" have racer numbers on them?

Nachoman

the simplest explanation is usually the right one.

rpenmanparker 

Yes, but what is the simplest explanation.

Lazyass

Specialized has put out a new official statement. The cause of the frame breakage was the result of an internet video.

MRT2

Picture is worth a thousand words.

unterhausen

specialized trademarked** the terms, "assplode" and "kersplode" today, so you've been warned

**ok, so they didn't, so sue me***

***not you, specialized

RIRview

So, Specialized is claiming that the team car rode over Contador's bike. Rode over it without leaving a tire mark on the yellow paint, rode over it without bending either wheel, rode over it without damaging the bottle cages.

rubic

Bingo! Can't wait to see how Specialized PRs out of this one.

evrythngsgngrn

Exactly what I was thinking, the frame is broken right below the cage, if the car ran over it, at least one of those cages should be damaged... maybe the next press release will say that the mechanic replaced the cages after seeing the damage but before photos were taken.

rpenmanparker 

You guys are so darn sharp. Nobody gonna pull the wool over your eyes.

I <3 Robots

Read the update: Details of Alberto Contador's Tour-ending crash - VeloNews.com

rm -rf

I just read that Velonews article. Things still sound confused.

But the way the frame broke was pretty odd. Breakage around the head tube seems to be more typical than a break 2/3 of the length of the down tube. I thought that another rider might have ridden over the frame after the crash.

etw

I certainly would not doubt that like many issues today, everyone is so anxious to get the scoop that many of the reports are early speculation and rumor. It often takes a little bit of time before they actually get the facts, but that does not stop the news cycle.

Of course, those who are even more cynical than I am or who have an agenda to make a point- might be more satisfied with the following:

Specialized sucks and they are the evil empire.
Carbon Fiber sucks and is far inferior to frames made of (fill in the blank)
It was Lance's fault
This was a conspiracy by the same people who faked the moon landing

Carry on.......

bikepro

I think Specialized is in CYA mode. If the bike were run over, I'd expect to see more generalized damage to the frame. I don't think we heard the last of this.

Lazyass

Oh, so his bike was on the roof of the team car, and the frame was snapped in half because it hit another car

UPDATE: However, a fourth version of events has since come to the fore, and it’s the most plausible yet. According to Specialized’s Giampaolo Mondini, one of Contador’s frames was broken while it was still on the roof. Following Contador’s crash, the team car had to rush to his aid and clipped the Belkin car as it passed, destroying the bike.

“What happened next is that the team car tried to get recover position and get up to him, passing all the other team cars in doing so. The road was really narrow and the second bike on the roof ended up touching those on the Belkin team car. It was going pretty fast and the frame broke on top of the roof due to the impact,” Mondini told CyclingTips.

martinus

If it got "ran over" that thing would be "flat as a pancake" ...

If it got damaged on the roof rack, how and when did it get in the ditch, next to the rider ... even know they didnt get the actual crash, the tv cameras still got there before the team car.