The official debate: Should Contador have waited for Schleck?

[scribe]

This came from page two. Page two.

I need to ask how many clowns out there on the interwebs just created accounts to flame AC? Please, someone take a punt on the number.

You're a prize goose chump. The royal dumpling. "AS gained a little time." Your math sucks. He gained about 1'14" or somewhere around that on AC. Don't let me remind you how much he profited on Sanchez, Van Den Broecke and Menchov. He gained over 2 and 3 minutes. Your boy was in yellow because Saxo are hypocrits. He is reaping what he sowed, Karma, etc, etc, etc. Have your cry and give Andy a hug.

Saxo knew Franck's crash held up all but 5 racers on the cobblestones of northern France. They had the best cobbled racer setting pace, with Hushovd and Evans in tow as well. Did anyone cry then? No. Is anyone crying now? Yes, a baby, a baby Schleck. I'd use Schlecklett but calling him a baby and a sook is necessary. Nobody waited for all the Maglia Rosa wearers who crashed in the Giro. They all rode on...those were accidents. This was the riders own fault...he dropped his chain and nobody can prove otherwise. That rarely ever happens uphill, let alone on a GC candidate. Odds are he stuffed up. If he had a flat there is a point to be made that one should stop, but even that doesn't happen. Ask Evans.

Everyone arguing Schleck has been hard done by needs some perspective. Eat some cement and harden the F#%K UP you bunch of prima donnas. Thank yourselves lucky you don't play cricket, AFL or Rugby League because us Aussies would ripe you to shreds with moaning like I expect to find over the other 120, I repeat, 120 odd pages of drivel.

No arguing with much of any of this. Contador won the day and the tour today. Here is to hoping Shrek puts in some hard work together with a little luck, he can unseat Contador next season.

 

[dsut4392]

It's shít like today's that makes me appreciate Eddie Merckx even more. He care not one bit aside from winning: "What? You want me to go easy because the race ends in your town and your mother, father and girlfriend are there? Like hell I will!".

What? You fell off the mountail? Tough shít! You broke a leg? Better luck next time.

When did cycling become this *** sport in which everyone follows some internal verbal code of "honor" (never mind the stuff these guys shoot up before competition) and pure competition is out the window?

Andy lucked out. He should've never been in yellow.

Wow, you seem angry...

Friggin period!

...guess that explains it [apologies for crass chauvinism]

 

[scribe]

Try again. Lance's chamois sniffers are trying to look for a good reason to justify Lance's treatment of AC, and you found a piece of wood to cling to in the sh!tstorm. His chuckleheads who are driving the 'mechanical' angle.

It wasn't a mechanical. You KNOW it wasn't a mechanical and you keep calling it a mechanical. You are propagandizing over a racing incident. A kid knows by age 12 (or whenever they get a bike with chainrings) you don't shift rings under full power. It's not a mechanical. Let that go. Work on a new angle.

No other angles to work here. I'm acquiescing the outcome of the tour to a rider I don't care to follow as a fan. I was hoping Shrek could pull it off this year but it is not meant to be. If you see that as some sort of Armstrong angle, I don't know any other way to argue away from that.

 

[Pelican]

Very dissapionting. I thought Contador was a better ambassador than this. He claims not to have known, but he rode right past him and looked at him. He is not only a bad-sport but a lier. Watch out for karma Alberto...

 

[Big GMaC]

Good answer.

Are you making fun of my awesome MSPaint analysis?

 

[yourwelcome]

Very dissapionting. I thought Contador was a better ambassador than this. He claims not to have known, but he rode right past him and looked at him.

+ 1

If this is the 'new era', then forget it, bike racing is no longer interesting to me. I liked the fact that it had etiquette unlike some sports.

 

[hermance]

where was contador

Look at the history of the sport...don't attack when they're down. Rivalries.....Lance, Ulrich, etc.
Contador should have made the "group" slow until schleck caught-up. Or he should have helped him with his chain???? Yeah right, imagine that.....He attacked instead.......This is not the tour I know. Gentleman......Contador is exactly whom he is.....Dirt of the earth.
He does not respect the sport. Play like a real cyclist. Or is it about money. If it"s about money......bring back Landis. Oh, you don't like that?...........Imagine the coverage and sponsorship.
Instead, Let's make it the WWE of cycling. We could even have midget hill cimbs?
Maybe, bystanders could, just, push cyclists off their bikes...that would be great..Let's see if he can stay up....Over the hill he goes...don't try to give him a water bottle, make him suffer. . Contador is not playing by the "gentleman rules".

 

[nicholaaaas]

Are you making fun of my awesome MSPaint analysis?

no... just AS d**k riders

 

[Cozy Beehive]

+ 1

If this is the 'new era', then forget it, bike racing is no longer interesting to me. I liked the fact that it had etiquette unlike some sports.

Preserving the Omerta must be the etiquette.

 

[Anonymous]

It would seem that your knowledge of the "history of the sport" is 10 days old.

Merckx would have skewered Andy while he was standing there and eaten his liver while he kept pounding up the hill.

Hinault would have stopped, made everyone else stop, BBQ'd his liver and spleen and then kept racing.

This utter crap now-a-days about "fair play" or "unwritten rules" needs to fade away.

No-one stops in the meat of the race, especially if you do stupid things.




Edit:
Oh yeah, one more thing - welcome to ignore.

 

[Galic Ho]

Clearly Menchov and SS followed Contador up.
If he sat up and paced they would've followed.
If Alberto sat up and paced, and Menchov or SS attacked, he could've followed them doing no extra work and we'd be blasting them now...

As it stands, it was Contador who took advantage and attacked.

If Contador had really attacked, Andy Schleck would have lost over a minute. AC was not going fast by his standards. Drop the bias and call it as it is. Better yet, why not creat a brand spanking new account to troll for your hero? Good job. You sound just like Scribe did in the early part of this thread, a known hater of AC. He even admitted eventually that the race is now even. Balance has been restored. This makes better viewing.

AC was bridging back to AS when Andy stuffed up. Given Andy's reluctance to set pace the day before the first assumption one can make is that he was doing the same. Contador slowed. Samu and Menchov went up to AC. They had a full look at what happened. AC didn't because he went uphill very quickly. He slowed but the gap was already open. Naturally when Schleck couldn't put his chain back on the gap widened. For the totally inept and ***, if AC was really pushing, the gap would have been 40 seconds at the summit, maybe more.

AC waited for not only Sanchez and Menchov, but for Andy. Andy didn't catch back up. His fault for dropping his chain. The race evened itself out. I'd say Andy still ahs to lose another minute or two to Samu and Menchov for everything to be fair and square but I'm a realist. What happens, happens. Quit your *****ing and moaning and grow up all you sooks. All GC candidates should be respected. Saxo disrespected Chavanel (by some people's lofty standards) and have now nipped it in the ****. Riis knows this. No he wouldn't have waited even though he says he would have. Andy chucks a tanty. No shock there. He is a drama queen, prone to massive exageration. He thinks he's entitled to the best. Just like Wigans. Reality check just came calling. If he wants to finish second, let alone first he needs to attack.

Take out stage 2's histrionics and Schelck never would have been in yellow. Maillot jaune should be respected for accidental wheel punctures and major crashes you don't cause. Nothing else. Things beyond your control are your fault, no sympathy...that was all within Schleck's control and until he denies he himself dropped his chain there is no debate. There is only petty drama queens with their bias trolling. Be grateful...your boy now has to attack. He didn't really have that figured out till now. Schleck has to be prepared to come 3rd or 4th if he wants to win. He always did. Now maybe he can use that brain of his.

 

[Big GMaC]

Yo, this in the Cafe now, so all you guys who don't contribute outside of hating AC and loving Lance feel free to step out now.

Here's looking at you BPC, Polish etc.

Oh and one last time,

get a load of this image spam:

Andy Schleck NOT having a mechanical and in fact no shifting properly.

Adieu

et Chapeau Monsieur Voeckler, you have done my fantasy team proud.

 

[benpounder]

This much travel

Except that is in the wrong direction... unless SRAM road gear is even more poorly designed than their mtn groupo.

 

[Big GMaC]

Except that is in the wrong direction... unless SRAM road gear is even more poorly designed than their mtn groupo.

The circled bit is his finger - Doing the shifting

The line shows the normal brake lever position, see the left hand as well.

On the (as we look at it) right hand side of the first line there is a smaller yellow dot / thing. This is being pointed at by the arrow

There is nothing similar on the otherside

The yellow is the decal on the shifter.

It isn't that far across because to upshift on SRAM cassettes you only need a minute tap.

That is all

 

[xmoonx]

Try again. Lance's chamois sniffers are trying to look for a good reason to justify Lance's treatment of AC, and you found a piece of wood to cling to in the sh!tstorm. They (you??) haven't gotten over their Idol looking like a very little man last year. His chuckleheads are driving the 'mechanical' ergo AC is low class angle.

It wasn't a mechanical. You KNOW it wasn't a mechanical and you keep calling it a mechanical. You are propagandizing over a racing incident. A kid knows by age 12 (or whenever they get a bike with chainrings) you don't shift rings under full power. It's not a mechanical. Let that go. Work on a new angle.

So your implying that at the time of occurrence AC/DM/SS knew it was NOT a mechanical.

 

[Elagabalus]

Nonesence. there were about 100 other threads started about this. Theres a reason this was the one which survived

Nonesence?!


Hitch,
your normally stellar prose has dropped a few notches as of late. Too many Single Malts tonight?

 

[nicholaaaas]

Except that is in the wrong direction... unless SRAM road gear is even more poorly designed than their mtn groupo.

it is.................

 

[Big GMaC]

it is.................

Read above, the circled bit is his finger doing the shift, the arrow pointing at the shifter

 

[keeponriding]

All this talk about code of ethics or honor... bull$hit! You're there to win!

So then, I assume you are good with an attack on the ride into Paris? After all, that is still a stage in the race, yet tradition says whoever is in yellow at the end of 19 is "given" 20.

What if AS is 1:00 or less behind after the TT? Would he be justified in winning in stage 20?

Granted I have never been an AC fan, but riding without attacking until AS was back in would have been the way to go. Let the strength of the riders make the decision, not a mechanical. Personally I think after AC could not drop him yesterday he [AC] is scared and took advantage of anything he could. (all my opinion of course)

As far as the whole reason for the chain drop, granted most of mine are in shifting, but on the replay it did not appear AS was shifting, and he stated he was not. Who knows though......

 

[benpounder]

The circled bit is his finger - Doing the shifting

The line shows the normal brake lever position, see the left hand as well.

On the (as we look at it) right hand side of the first line there is a smaller yellow dot / thing. This is being pointed at by the arrow

There is nothing similar on the otherside

The yellow is the decal on the shifter.

It isn't that far across because to upshift on SRAM cassettes you only need a minute tap.

That is all

Granted I am not familiar with SRAM's road stuff. BUT, on any groupo I've ridden (since the advent of shift levers on the breaks), in order to shift, you use your index finger to push the shift lever towards the head tube. (last Campy outfit I road had a thumb downshift on the inside of the break post.) The only time the shift/break levers would appear as shown in the highly pixelated photo (pulled to the outside the handelbars) is in an OMFG breaking maneuver.

I dont know the perspective of the photo, nor what is going on elsewhere, just saying that photo is not evidence of a shift.

 

[smoking roach]

Next year, I bet Andy's new team will be running Dura-Ace or Record. That SRAM sh*t can't be trusted.

 

[Big GMaC]

Granted I am not familiar with SRAM's road stuff. BUT, on any groupo I've ridden (since the advent of shift levers on the breaks), in order to shift, you use your index finger to push the shift lever towards the head tube. (last Campy outfit I road had a thumb downshift on the inside of the break post.) The only time the shift/break levers would appear as shown in the highly pixelated photo (pulled to the outside the handelbars) is in an OMFG breaking maneuver.

I dont know the perspective of the photo, nor what is going on elsewhere, just saying that photo is not evidence of a shift.

No, His hand is outside the shifter. That is circled as his finger pushes the shifting lever behind the brake lever

The yellow dot on the HEADTUBE SIDE / inside of the line is the decal on the tip of the shifter. Like normal.

Like on campy, when you shift from the 14 on the cassette to the 13, an upshift, to a bigger gear.

Except you know, the whole shifting whilst out of the saddle and attacking.

Maybe I should label the photo?

 

[nicholaaaas]

Read above, the circled bit is his finger doing the shift, the arrow pointing at the shifter

i seen it... Sram's road UI is atrocious... it's like they tried to combine campy and DA and failed miserably

 

[Bicicleta]

That's a problem with the translation. He says "hizo que Andy cogiera ventaja con respecto a mí", which means "it allowed Andy to gain an advantage on me", as in "time gap". There's no negative connotations in the original Spanish.

Si, I noticed that too. Por eso es que los google translations no sirven pa' na.

 

[leftover pie]

It would seem that your knowledge of the "history of the sport" is 10 days old.

Merckx would have skewered Andy while he was standing there and eaten his liver while he kept pounding up the hill.

Hinault would have stopped, made everyone else stop, BBQ'd his liver and spleen and then kept racing.

hahaha classic.

hinault would have flambéd the liver.