The official debate: Should Contador have waited for Schleck?

[Ryo Hazuki]

Yes. Andy opens a significant gap to Alberto. Andy has a mechanical. Vino waits while Alberto attacks.

for crying out loud vino countered schleck with such ease imagine hoe quickly contador would've sat in his wheel.

 

[indurain666]

You do not understand the difference between GC contenders in Yellow and a strong first week rider. An opportunist can beat his better rival during a mishap on a 3 week stage. A stronger rider with class would have waited and beat him with his strength on the road.

I don't think you understand that you really don't understand when you claim to say that you understand better than the other guy...or something like that

 

[scribe]

AS wasn't dropping AC. AS attacked when he saw AC was boxed in, which is why there wasn't an initial reaction from AC and Vino was the one to initially follow, and then AC came flying past everyone.

That is not what the camera showed. Shrek was already seconds ahead of Contador when the mechanical.

 

[Biological Entity]

Stop saying that. We simply don't know, and at any rate it's completely irrelevant here.

Since this has replaced the race thread I think we are allowed to speculate about what would have happened had the chain stayed on, regardless of who was in the right or wrong.

 

[Futuroscope]

No at all. Look at how much time AS made back on the climb, against AC who says he was not waiting. I think there would have been a gap. Even if they finished together by the end then that of course would still have been a great ride by Schleck and he would have kept the yellow and a 30 second lead.

it doesn't work that way. andy was chasing after the mechanical, it's not the same thing as being able to drop someone and ride away from them. he wouldn't have been able to drop contador. so even without the mechanical problem it would have been advantage contador as schleck has to ride away from contador in the mountain stages.

 

[LargusMeans]

I love how everyone is saying AC attacked and kept attacking to the top. Wtf race were you watching? IF AC can drop the group in an attack to chase AS down, then why didn't he do the same later up the climb and drop DM and SS with the same burst? He didn't, he went hard when he went by AS and hammered for about 30 secs then shut it down and began pacing at high tempo. This allowed DM and SS to catch him, then he began looking back down the road and talking with DM and SS. At that point it seemed they decided as a group to continue high tempo riding. If AC would have truely attacked, he would have tried to gap those 2 again, he never did. If AC had bad legs, how could he jump out of the 10 man group and begin bridging to AS>?

Lots of haters on here. Bad taste from AC getting MJ like this, but when everything is said and done, don't think it will make one iota of difference in the end. I thought AS made a major error yesterday which would cost him in the TT. Does AS actually think that he can keep 2 mins or less on AC, DM or SS in the ITT? Very very doubtful imho.

 

[VeloCity]

I believe this is the at least the second time you have referenced this. You do not understand the difference between GC contenders in Yellow and a strong first week rider. An opportunist can beat his better rival during a mishap on a 3 week stage. A stronger rider with class would have waited and beat him with his strength on the road.

It's either a "tradition" to wait for the MJ or it's not. Can't just be dependent on who happens to be wearing yellow or when it occurs during the race.

 

[Anonymous]

it's hard for me to explain but his inner chain(??) was way too small so the chain was strung too loose so any small jam will put the chain off. I hope you understand but it was schlecks fault completely.

You are just wrong. Sorry.

 

[MKirilenko]

I believe this is the at least the second time you have referenced this. You do not understand the difference between GC contenders in Yellow and a strong first week rider. An opportunist can beat his better rival during a mishap on a 3 week stage. A stronger rider with class would have waited and beat him with his strength on the road.

Its the third time u keep making up stuff. Where is that official GC contender list (before stage 3), so that I can see, who can be dropped, and who should be waited for, in case of a mechanical? Pure bs.

 

[hfer07]

after watching the video of the incident- the gap at the summit between Andy & "backstabber" was ONLY 10 SECONDS.......

 

[OmloopHetMark]

Unwritten rules random in following

My problem with stage 2 was they did not resume racing after they waited. Today the leaders should have waited but didn't. That's the problem with these unwritten rules. The are followed or not followed at random. Throw out the unwritten rules and let the boys race is cover to cover. In the words of BH: "No Gifts."

 

[VeloCity]

That is not what the camera showed. Shrek was already seconds ahead of Contador when the mechanical.

Yes, because AC was boxed in and couldn't respond immediately. Vino responded, caught Schleck, and AC was first rider behind Vino and simply flew past both of them.

 

[indurain666]

Why didn't he wait to beat him on the road then? Contador would agree with you if he had soft pedaled instead of attack. He attacked because he FEARED Andy. The strongest rider on the road dropped his chain during his unmatched attack.

Unless Saxo Bank gives Andy a 3 x AAA bottom bracket electric motor for the TT or some of Mr. Sixty 90's secret medicine for the Tourmalet, I fail to see why AC should be scared of AS. So far he has shown that he has good climbing legs and the support of the peloton to wait for him on multiple stages but whenever he goes AC is right there.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

You are just wrong. Sorry.

no just watch his chain in the replay. it's a dumb rookie mistake.

 

[LargusMeans]

His first Tour win already has an asterisk next to that as he did not win that one either.

Fricking hilarious. AC is a 4 time GT winner. period.

Will LA next year be a 7 time GT winner with an asterix beside his name?

Get over it all ready.

 

[Siriuscat]

Do you think for one second that anybody would have even DARED to attack if, say, Bernard Hinault said NO? Not if they valued their life they would not.

If that is what happened, it just shows in technicolour that Contador is Not The Boss

Absolutley and that's the point, the current Patron would appear to be Mr Cancellara, well if it suits saxo then it's all hunky dory, 2 minutes + freebie on st 2, another 1 30 on st 3 when they attacked fallen riders........need we go on

 

[erader]

it amazes me that frame makers or team mechanics do not put chain catchers on frames where the clearance is too narrow for the chain to clear the bottom bracket if it slips major flaw in my eyes.

looked like chainsuck to me (rear wheel lifted), which has nothing to do with the frame. more like component choice and pilot error.

erader

 

[scribe]

Its the third time u keep making up stuff. Where is that official GC contender list (before stage 3), so that I can see, who can be dropped, and who should be waited for, in case of a mechanical? Pure bs.

Sylvain Chavanel is 30 minutes behind the real race today. While impressive, he was never going to be a factor in this race. Racers know it, people in France know it, dogs know it. The only people in denial regarding this fact are the Contador apologists.

 

[indurain666]

Its the third time u keep making up stuff. Where is that official GC contender list (before stage 3), so that I can see, who can be dropped, and who should be waited for, in case of a mechanical? Pure bs.

heheh I was wondering the same thing...this scribe character is fun to read. I wonder if he is a fiction writer...

 

[Barrus]

Also how often has it not happened that a mechanical or a crash was really influential in a race, and how often did they really wait, just a few recent examples:

Evans in last years vuelta
Nibali in the Giro (although Vino originally waited, he later went on to push hard)

 

[nia O'Malley]

BPC - serious question - have you the quote where AC said he had no idea of Schlecks mechanical.
EDit Found it in VN.

Unless Saxo Bank gives Andy a 3 x AAA bottom bracket electric motor for the TT or some of Mr. Sixty 90's secret medicine for the Tourmalet, I fail to see why AC should be scared of AS.

Yet he is.........

 

[flicker]

Wow, knowingly attacking the MJ with a mechanical. Sure you can do it but it says a lot about AC, DM, and SS.

Contador has lost me as a fan of his. The proper move for him would have been to stay with Sanchez and Menchov on the climb, ridden in their slipstream and when and if Schleck could have gotten within 15 seconds of the trio dropped back and pulled Schleck back to the group of 3. Then Andy and pistol could have blown by Sanchez and Menchov at the finish. If Contador had not been a superior TT man todays actions would have been appropriate. As it stands now Contador has lost a lot of fans. I hope Andy can attack Contador, Sanchez, Menchov tomarrow. Otherwise Schleck could be knocked off the podium. Dumb luck losing Frank on stage 2 because he could have given his bike to Andy in the situation.

 

[rdblyth]

It is what it is

There are many instances where the rules of "courtesy" are abandonded in bike racing. This seems to be especially the case when a champion feels threatened. Love him or hate him, Contador, is feeling some serious heat this year. I believe that he is a little scared and wants to win more than anything. Here you have an opportunity and he took advantage. Think about Greg LeMond's first victory. A great champion "promised" him the opportunity but then tried to steal it back. Just as Hinault was thwarted by a better cyclist, I am pulling for Andy more than ever and hope that he is able to grab victory in the end.

 

[scribe]

Yes, because AC was boxed in and couldn't respond immediately. Vino responded, caught Schleck, and AC was first rider behind Vino and simply flew past both of them.

That's racing. Attacking on a mechanical is not.

 

[Arnout]

WTF?? Do you ride? It was the FRONT chainring. Looks like he shifted to the big ring and the chain was thrown off. That's adjustment/mechanic at fault...

Yeah I ride. And that's what I said, there was a mistake during shifting.
Maybe partly a fault of a mechanic, but in my opinion more Schleck's fault as this problem only occured when shifting at a tense moment. Too much pressure on the chain I assume.

And anyway, what's the difference? Should Contador stop and ask if it was the fault of Andy or of the mechanic? That's none of his business.

Basically what the people say who dislike Contador's action is that everyone should wait for everyone when making a mistake. Maybe the fact that McEwen drops quite early means his father and mother made a little mistake. Should everyone wait? I don't think so. (Oh, please, don't take this comparison seriously )