Nobody else could bridge a gap like this

[El Pistolero]

Yeah, gifting stages sucks. Contador should really stop doing it all the time lol.

He even wanted to gift Valverde a stage win at the Vuelta of 2008, but the poor fellow couldn't keep up, so Contador decided to take the win instead(was his second stage win that Vuelta, after the big Angliru stage).

He should've attacked at the Mont Ventoux at the TdF in 2009 as well. Could've caught Garate. He could've also easily won the stage he gifted to Frank in that Tour. And this year at the Tourmalet.

 

[Seattleallstar]

so this is the guy who was given a stage win by Lance

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-J2bIsPDH8

what stage that was. MP was something else.

 

[Polish]

Wow, for someone with extremely non-aero ears he sure could ride fast. I guess the "unwriten rule" that everyone must wait if the yellow jersey has a mechanical, which we seemed to have decided last month was inviolate, does not extend to the pink jersey?

I did not notice Gotti attacking.
Simoni might have attacked.
Jaja was going for the stage win and the Ciclamino, not pink.

Nothing as unsportsmanlike as 2010 Alberto however.
Not even close.

And to this day, most Tifosi would vote Marco the TRUE winner in 1999, not Gotti.

 

[rhubroma]

I actually enjoy watching the attitude on the bike, that is what made Pantani exciting to watch, and it also made that certain other rider enjoyable for me as well. Just the attacking style that came out during the climbs.

From my point of view LA would have far fewer negative comments if he had won the '99 tour and then later succumbed to cancer and died (or died in his sleep or while high on narcotics). It is mostly a perception thing, a fact that is true of our thoughts about any major personality (it is not uncommon that the perception of the personality is not exactly accurate).

No, I never even liked him before cancer either. It was just a first impression thing when I saw him before a race in Philly. And then there was the Simeoni affair and then I really didn't like him. He's a bully, and I don't like bullies.