dadoorsron said:
Sastre is much better in the mountians then Cadel evans can ever hope to be. That's what gives Sastre a bump in actually getting the "Contender" stamp. That was a monster effort at alp D'huez last year sastre put in. Evans just watched him ride off to the tour win that day.
Sastre won the TdF on the Alpe on the back of a monster effort by his team. Kudos to Sastre, he raced smartly and conserved his energy for the rest of the Tour. Cadel did not have that luxury having a weaker team, having to do most of the work himself, and having to deal with the effects of a crash. As per usual, you seem to watching a different race to most of us. Evans did not just watch Sastre go up the mountain. Who else was in that group? Menchov, Kohl, Valverde, Vandevelde, and the Schleck brothers. Did they all "watch" as well? Most of these riders, including Evans, tried to bridge the gap, only to be shut down by the Schleck brothers. Credit should go to the Schlecks for changing the pace and breaking up the chasing group.
Cadel also deserves further kudos for developing into a better climber this year in response to his attacking deficiencies in the mountains of previous years. He was always a good climber, and now he is a better climber (and contender).
And +1 with Franklin. Tour winners are rarely one dimensional. Cadel is a much more well-rounded contender because he can both climb and TT well. Sastre is not so good in the TT and this is where he fails in comparison to Cadel (and Contador and Armstrong).