TDF Stage 15 - Monday, July 19 2010, Pamiers - Bagnères-de-Luchon, 187 km

[El Pistolero]

Maybe you're superhuman and can control your emotions after half an hour of chasing in a somewhat tricky descent with your adrenaline pouring out of your ears. As for me, I'll judge him from what he said after some rest.

Cancellara and Andy's actions in stages 2 & 3 have no bearing on Contador's class or lack thereof in this stage.

Why show class to someone who clearly didn't show class when all other GC contenders were losing valuable seconds cause Andy's brother sucks at cobblestones.

 

[Dedelou]

Contador was pushing the pace whilst he could've just sat behind Menchov and Sanchez. That way he could've said that he waited for Andy as much as he could without loosing his chances in the race while the other two were the "bad boys".

andy was 15 seconds at the top and 41 at the bottom of the hill. Tell me again who pushed the pace? To me , it was a gift they gave him to let him comeback to 15 seconds at the top. throwing a chain is poor cycling skill not an accident or a flat. Is Andy a pro? I think he believe his one.. Now he will have a chance to show if he is a good climber . mano a mano with the best starting tomorrow. whatever artificial atvantage he had before is not longer a question now.

 

[hrotha]

Why show class to someone who clearly didn't show class when all other GC contenders were losing valuable seconds cause Andy's brother sucks at cobblestones.

Because class is not about what others do to you, but about what you do to others.

 

[El Pistolero]

Because class is not about what others do to you, but about what you do to others.

No, that's called stupidity.

 

[lilyprotector]

I guess it is going to be a long night with disgruntled Armstrong fans trying to score points against their Nemesis.

Things were different back in the day?
That's a new one.
The Tour has been around since 1903, not 1999 and such things did happen during the Armstrong era and regularly, back in the days.
The Passage du Gois incident was as cynical a manouvre as ever we have seen.

Both Riis and Andy have sucked it up and spat it out, but I guess on here, things will continued to be amateurish and emotionally charged.

why is it that people disagreeing with what happened today makes them disgruntled armstrong fans trying to score points against their nemesis? armstrong's not even a gc factor. it's annoying that those with an ax to grind with armstrong have to attribute everything they disagree with to someone else being obsessed with fighting armstrong's battles.

i don't think attacking the mj on the mountain today was good sportsmanship. it doesn't make me amateurish or emotionally overwrought. i don't appreciate the name calling.

 

[Escarabajo]

I've lost a lot of respect for Contador today. He should have waited. Forget Menchov and Sanchez--this is and always was between Schleck and Contador.

That said, those who are proclaiming that Andy is the strongest rider in the race, that somehow he was burying Contador--you're wrong. That has not yet been revealed. Contador was down a few riders in the group when AS attacked, and was bridging easily and rapidly when the mechanical went down.

I look for a huge battle on the Tourmalet. I don't know who will win. One thing for certain, it's not clear who the strongest is.

What Contador did today was poor, poor form. Forget stage 2 and 3, that was week one stuff. It doesn't matter. You don't attack the yellow jersey on a mountain pass in week 3 when there's a mechanical. His yellow is an embarrassment today.

The Tourmalet will decide the race. The only way for partial redemption for Contador is if he wins on that climb. His victory will still be tainted though.

You have a nice summary here. I only disagree with you with the first week not being equal to the third week? They are both part of the race. Just because what happened in the cobbles was in the first week, does not make it right.

They both were wrong. But everybody seemed to be Ok with Andy's move because he lost Frank, his brother. That's all.

Now they both are acting like pr*cks. I don't like Andy's treatment of Menchov and Sammy Sanchez either.

 

[Dedelou]

Lots of Boos for Contador

lots of Boos and lots of cheers . give the crowd some Caisse d'epargne lyons , a few free magic markers, some platic saddle covers and ask them who is racing .. you might be surprise when they point at the podium girls. .

 

[icefire]

The thread of last year stage to Le Grand Bornand was still active several months after the season was over. I guess this is the one for this year's Tour.

On the topic of whether they should have waited for Andy, I'm with Carlos Sastre. When he was asked about stage 2 neutralisation he just said "Nobody waited for me or anyone else at the Giro". That being said, I don't believe any single word AC says on the subject. Bike handling skills include gear shifting and nobody waits for Moto GP or F1 drivers when they make mistakes shifting gears. And I don't see anything wrong in what happened today.

I just hope the Saxo guys stay shut up today as they were after stages 2 and 3. What goes around comes around.

 

[BroDeal]

Has WIgans finished yet?

 

[Climbing]

You don't attack the jersey with flat or mechanicals.
That's a simple rule, but of course it has been violated other times in the past.
I hope nobody will complain if the opposite happens in the following days.
That's cycling after all.

 

[alberto.legstrong]

Good point. I guess at some level I'm not considering the mechanical could be his fault, because honestly, how smooth their gears are? I had an old bike with gears on the frame and whenever I shifted gears I'd get a mechanical, so I virtually gave up on shifting gears, but I'm not a pro!

Seriously though, someone should ask Andy what happened and see if it's his fault or not.

And consider the heat of the moment, everyone is at the limit, you got a guy in your earpiece screaming at you most likely.

And lastly, if this happens to AC EVER, he can't complain. And there is no saying the tables won't be turned tomorrow.

 

[Dedelou]

i don't think menchov has really showed signs of much weakness, he has followed pretty much everything in the last couple days. He has been just as AC and AS in the last two days.



no he saw, definitely.

interesting how many people in the world are psychic. Starting with TV commentators who always sound like they know what each rider think.. even what words they would use to verbalized those thoughts. Now we have forum readers who can see what rider saw . Next of course we shall have a time warp and we shall be told what they will do tomorrow specially "if" and "if and if such and such a thing happens.
good think I like to read about the Tour de france 10 years after when they write the books. Even then history can be rewriten but at least the description are no longuer based on personal projections.

 

[lilyprotector]

for those, like myself, who think you don't attack the mj under those circumstances, here's a question: if roles are reversed, and contador has a spill or mechanical tomorrow, should schleck honor the rule or is he now exempt as it pertains to contador?

 

[El Pistolero]

"it reminds you of the Stage 3. Saxo has also pool on the cobblestones as the fall at position 10 was :-("

^ That's what Andreas Klöden said on twitter after this stage. Does anyone know what the hell he means by it?

 

[alberto.legstrong]

for those, like myself, who think you don't attack the mj under those circumstances, here's a question: if roles are reversed, and contador has a spill or mechanical tomorrow, should schleck honor the rule or is he now exempt as it pertains to contador?

didn't I just answer it beffire you asked it. And dedelou, as you can see, I do know what others are thinking, before they even think it.

EDIT: And PS Lily, it's not a rule, written or otherwise, the bike didn't fail (apparently) it was operator error (apparently)

 

[lilyprotector]

interesting there are no tweets from lance yet. he's probably writing a tome .

 

[Escarabajo]

for those, like myself, who think you don't attack the mj under those circumstances, here's a question: if roles are reversed, and contador has a spill or mechanical tomorrow, should schleck honor the rule or is he now exempt as it pertains to contador?

Schleck needs to attack. He already did it in Stage 3. So why change?

 

[killswitch]

Superb win by Tommy Voeckler and great riding by Hesjedal and Gadret.

 

[Ryaguas]

asking again...does anyone remember an mj being booed on podium ever in the tdf? is this a first?

Has the MJ ever been booed on the road?

Thx for the answer... now I know that you don't have a faking idea about cycling...

Sorry mate, I was too busy living a life.

This kind of posts are stupid...

andreas kloeden just tweeted:

Bad luck for @andy_schleck He had technical problems. Was'nt à nice Move from Alberto on this moment. But this is cycling now :-(

maybe you forget to post his second tweet or you didn't want to do it...

andykloedi
it reminds you of the Stage 3. Saxo has also pool on the cobblestones as the fall at position 10 was :-(

at least someone on the peloton remembers what happened on the stage 3...

Why don't you look at my posting record before you call me either an LA fanboy or AC hater. You sound foolish.

I will recall you previous post... so now what happens in the first week doesn't count for the whole tour ah??? what happened in the stage 3 didn't count for the gaps that we are seeing here in the 3rd week...??? bah this kind of arguments are driving me crazy...

Now AC is a classless person, is the evilest rider in the whole peloton, he is the worst person ever... hahaha you make me laugh ppl...

mmmm I've been watching the replay of the stage and AC didn't make an "all in" attack when Andy was trying to fix his wheel... he was just going climbing and trying to not lose the pace... a proof of that is that Andy was just 15 secs behind AC, SS and Menchov in the top of the mountain... when they feel that they gave enough time to recover to Andy Samu Sanchez started to do what he knows to do very well and is the descent... after that we know the rest of the history...

The argument about that Andy had BIG gap when he attacked AC is a LIE... AC was already there first Vino then Him...

Plz just see the replays and then come here and give a good explanation or a good opinion and not stupid things like "AC is a classless person" etc etc etc...

 

[Escarabajo]

interesting there are no tweets from lance yet. he's probably writing a tome .

He is reading this Forum before he makes a comment.

 

[Dedelou]

Everyone assuming AC was dozing at the back but could this scenario be feasible?

AC drops back to lure AS into attacking - Vino straight to the wheel but AC hangs back - AS thinking he has broken AC rides like hell only for AC to bridge and possibly use Vino to distance him on the descent.

I may be way off here but I don't think AC has bad legs at all and he will show AS who the big boss is on Thursday.

That being said I do think the boys should have ridden tempo and allowed him back on

I think they did ride tempo once they realize he was in trouble and allowed Andy to comeback to them. Short of stopping, the speed they climbed the last kilometer of the mountain is something we could check , no?

 

[lilyprotector]

Thx for the answer... now I know that you don't have a faking idea about cycling...



This kind of posts are stupid...



maybe you forget to post his second tweet or you didn't want to do it...


at least someone on the peloton remembers what happened on the stage 3...



I will recall you previous post... so now what happens in the first week doesn't count for the whole tour ah??? what happened in the stage 3 didn't count for the gaps that we are seeing here in the 3rd week...??? bah this kind of arguments are driving me crazy...

Now AC is a classless person, is the evilest rider in the whole peloton, he is the worst person ever... hahaha you make me laugh ppl...

mmmm I've been watching the replay of the stage and AC didn't make an "all in" attack when Andy was trying to fix his wheel... he was just going climbing and trying to not lose the pace... a proof of that is that Andy was just 15 secs behind AC, SS and Menchov in the top of the mountain... when they feel that they gave enough time to recover to Andy Samu Sanchez started to do what he knows to do very well and is the descent... after that we know the rest of the history...

The argument about that Andy had BIG gap when he attacked AC is a LIE... AC was already there first Vino then Him...

Plz just see the replays and then come here and give a good explanation or a good opinion and not stupid things like "AC is a classless person" etc etc etc...

wow, so much anger...

 

[lilyprotector]

He is reading this Forum before he makes a comment.

that is too funny!

 

[hrotha]

"it reminds you of the Stage 3. Saxo has also pool on the cobblestones as the fall at position 10 was :-("

^ That's what Andreas Klöden said on twitter after this stage. Does anyone know what the hell he means by it?

Klödi's English is so cute, if you know some German.

He means something like "it reminds me of Stage 3. Saxo also pulled on the cobblestones when the crash at position 10 happened".

 

[Escarabajo]

...
mmmm I've been watching the replay of the stage and AC didn't make an "all in" attack when Andy was trying to fix his wheel... he was just going climbing and trying to not lose the pace... a proof of that is that Andy was just 15 secs behind AC, SS and Menchov in the top of the mountain... when they feel that they gave enough time to recover to Andy Samu Sanchez started to do what he knows to do very well and is the descent... after that we know the rest of the history...

...

He was pulling from the angle I saw in my television set. And it wasn't to keep his Rythm.

Listen, I am rooting for Contador, and mechanicals are part of the race, so it was fair play. But in order for him to be a great champion, and be remembered in a good place in the memory of cycling fans he should at least backed off and just follow Samy Sanchez and Denis Menchov's wheels.