OK, I will admit, I don’t care too much for Contador. But to even mention him as being comparable to Merckx is laughable.
In his first TdF, he won the Yellow jersey, the Green jersey, the Polka Dot jersey and also won the Most Combative award. Has anyone else even come close to that kind of dominance . . . . ever?
Back when the Armstrong/Ullrich feud was at its height, neither one of them took advantage of the other if one had a mechanical issue.
Armstrong crashed at Luz Ardiden, Ullrich slowed till Lance was back on the bike. Ullrich went off the road, Lance waited to see if Ullrich was able to continue.
Last year, Andy Schleck had a mechanical, Contador attacked. Contador’s first TdF was essentially won because Michael Rasmussen was kicked out of the Tour. NOT for doping, but because he was training in a different location than the UCI thought he was. Most likely, had he not been fired on the spot, he would have won that year, not AC.
Just saying.