The official debate: Should Contador have waited for Schleck?

[Wergeland]

sorry in advance, i'll confess to not having read all 21 pages prior to this one so i apologize if this has already been said, but if there's a man to blame for schleck not being in yellow it's bjarne riis, not alberto contador. that man hamstrings his riders at every opportunity. that was terrible strategy yesterday giving away time to menchov, and it put schleck under a lot of pressure today, when things like this can happen. you don't win a tour by just marking a guy that can easily take a couple of minutes out of you in a 60k ITT. i think schleck can easily slip to 3rd behind menchov if they don't get this straightened out.

Saxo, Schleck and Riis doesn't care about 2nd, 3rd or 4th It's yellow or nothing that counts, and to have the MJ in Paris, Contador is the man to beat.

 

[The Hitch]

Will this incident spark a rivalry for the ages.

Contador and Schleck mortal enemies battling it out every year for the tdf.

Rivalries like this are great for any sport.
Thats why i really want Schleck to come out and say something controversial.

Everyone was already trying to build up a rivalry, Alberto Contador vs Lance Armstrong for this year.

How ironic would it be if the very same year, Contador began a true rivalry, but with Schleck.

This could only be good for cycling. Come on Schlecklet, say something controversial

 

[michaeld]

AC was NOT in yellow on the cobbles. Which is the end of the discussion

Chavanel was. Why don't you ask him what he thinks?

 

[BigMig]

Andy is a cry baby and needs to learn how to shift on inclines!!!

The shifting and chain dislodging problem is something I see all the time in inclines, in races I've done and also on ~100mile organized rides specially when a lot of power is applied to the pedals. That mechanical issue was 100% rider INITIATED/INSTIGATED NO QUESTION. Contador passed Andy on a bridging acceleration AND Andy was still mounted in his bike. Sanchez and Menchov also passed him a few seconds after that. Even RADIO SHACK team hopefulls passed him and left him behind. Next thing, people watching the tour would think that riders ought to wait for a rider who did not latch his cleat to the pedal and became unhitched while on a sprint.

 

[Parrot23]

Here is the "chicken" sucker punching Schleck, who seems to have gained a bit of weight.

Great stuff! Thanks

 

[jilbiker]

It's not a two-man race. AC has to be concerned with Menchov and Sanchez as well as AS.

What if AS had to stand by the road for a minute? Two minutes? Does AC stand there and wait with him while Menchov and Sanchez ride away?

I think it's easy to judge while sitting on the couch watching it on tv, but on the road it's a snap call and imo AC decided that he couldn't afford to allow DM and SS to ride away.

AC and AS are NOT team-mates! There is a contest going on and I have been turned off by all the buddy-buddy going on between these two. I didn't pay money to watch this hughug. I am glad the white gloves are off, about time. I said for years that ullrich shoul not have waited got LA. a champion needs no gifts and LA rejoined and did not hug ullrich but crushed him. LA for all this failings was a competitor, and AC learned that.

Now I can enjoy my tdf, game on

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Will this incident spark a rivalry for the ages.

Contador and Schleck mortal enemies battling it out every year for the tdf.

Rivalries like this are great for any sport.
Thats why i really want Schleck to come out and say something controversial.

Everyone was already trying to build up a rivalry, Alberto Contador vs Lance Armstrong for this year.

How ironic would it be if the very same year, Contador began a true rivalry, but with Schleck.

This could only be good for cycling. Come on Schlecklet, say something controversial

agreed.
would be great see some bad blood between the two. I just hope their will be some level of respect though.

 

[ilillillli]

Saxo, Schleck and Riis doesn't care about 2nd, 3rd or 4th It's yellow or nothing that counts, and to have the MJ in Paris, Contador is the man to beat.

so that's why you TRY AND BEAT HIM, not track stand on the side of a mountain while you lose time to the guy in 3rd who, by the way, is a pretty good time trialist. sorry, yesterday was rubbish from saxo. that, more than contador today, is why schleck lost yellow.

 

[erader]

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...

looked like schleck's fault to me...shifting under load and sucked his chain. nevertheless i have mixed feelings about today. hate to see him lose the MJ that way but AS would not have been in the race today were it not for cancellara.

no more gifts.

erader

 

[XasTandem]

I'm kind of new to this and trying to figure out what the traditions and ethics of bike racing are. From this thread I gather that if a rider who has never won so much as a tour stage, but is considered a serious contender, crashes on the 2nd Stage, the entire stage must be neutralized in order to ensure that he doesn't lose any time. I also see that if the yellow jersey and the defending champion are delayed behind a crash and puncture (respectively) on the 3rd Stage, that it is perfectly acceptable to take advantage of the situation and gain time on them. Finally, I see that if the yellow jersey attacks the other favorites at the top of a major climb and throws his chain while attempting to shift too quickly, they must all stop racing one another and wait for him to catch back up -- even though it will cost them one of their last opportunities to try to gain time on one another.

This is certainly a complicated sport and it's not hard to see how someone could make a mistake in the heat of the moment. It does seem, though, that one sure way of distinguishing what is kosher from what is not is simply to ask, "Does it benefit Andy Shleck?" If the answer is yes, then go ahead and do it. If the answer is no, you'll likely risk offending the legions of cycling fans who stand righteously behind the hallowed traditions of the sport.

 

[Pookie]

load of bullcrap, have you ever seen tour the frances?? lemond got attacked when he had a flat in 1990 by the whole of chiapucchi's team

I remember watching that (in the middle of the night with the cruddy coverage back then). The whole Z team came back and got him back to the front. I wish I had known Italian so I could have understood the earful Lemond gave Claudio!! Still, that was a flat on a flat stage. Andy threw his chain...big difference. And.. Schleck should have had teammates near him. That is his director's fault.

 

[Anonymous]

-1. Totally WITH class. AC for 3rd TdF!!!

That's quite a way to win. I'm sure you and he are so proud.

 

[fast_eddy]

my question is if AC had really been on the attack would Menchov had caught him? maybe Sanchez...on those slopes you have to keep going

 

[M1W5GRIMM]

No Class

If Contador is as good as he thinks he is then he should have waited. If he would have waited the rest of the group he was with would have waited. It will come back to haunt him in the future.

 

[Roland Rat]

Well, Schleck has "anger in his stomach" and will get "revenge".

Waa, waa, waa...

 

[Wergeland]

Well, I don't know what you were watching but Bertie had been gapped. Even Vino sat up when he saw Schleck have a problem.

The reason AC went full gas is because he is afraid of Schleck. There is no other reason.

If AC was all that, he certainly would have just tempo'd until Andy rejoined.

This is the way I see as well. Contador definitely showed weakness today (and yesterday when Andy easily countered all of Contadors attack.)

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

This is the way I see as well. Contador definitely showed weakness today (and yesterday when Andy easily countered all of Contadors attack.)

It's not schleck who should counter contador. it is the other way around. andy schleck is a bunch of chickensh*t and got what was coming his way surplassing with the gears he was asking for them to jam because his chain was strung way too loose. any guy that's ever been on a bike knows this.

 

[luckyboy]

This is the way I see as well. Contador definitely showed weakness today (and yesterday when Andy easily countered all of Contadors attack.)

Andy was the one who needed to be attacking though. Even without what happened today, no way was Schleck going to win this Tour.

 

[Roland Rat]

looked like schleck's fault to me...shifting under load and sucked his chain. nevertheless i have mixed feelings about today. hate to see him lose the MJ that way but AS would not have been in the race today were it not for cancellara.

no more gifts.

erader

+1.

Strictly AC was in the wrong, but after stages 2 and 3, they're now even.

 

[Futuroscope]

Well, I don't know what you were watching but Bertie had been gapped. Even Vino sat up when he saw Schleck have a problem.

The reason AC went full gas is because he is afraid of Schleck. There is no other reason.

If AC was all that, he certainly would have just tempo'd until Andy rejoined.

nonsense. contador did respond and andy would not have gotten away from alberto. contador didn't go full speed up the mountain and you can see he looked back several times to see if andy was coming back to join his group. but he can't just stop and at some point the race must go on because there are other riders in the race too (menchov, sanches etc).

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

my question is if AC had really been on the attack would Menchov had caught him? maybe Sanchez...on those slopes you have to keep going

i think ac was going as hard as he could.
he isn't as dominate as he has been in the past, that has been clear this tour, and throughout the season.

still the top dog though.

 

[roundabout]

That's quite a way to win. I'm sure you and he are so proud.

Finger boy didn't have any qualms about doing his gesture on the podium so i'm sure he's feeling proud enough.

 

[la.margna]

I thought waiting in the stage to Spa was ridicolous. So I am in no way a Saxo supporter or fan.

I also don't think, AC should have waited today for AS.

But he shouldn't have continued his counterattack. This is very poor. I would be ashamed to win this way.

In particular, these 30something seconds probably wouldn't have made the difference for AC to win the MJ, but it might be the reason fro AS not being on the podium as he might well lose 2min or more to the likes of AC, DM and SS in the ITT. Today, AC could have won many hearts, a champion and sportsman image. He missed it. Sad.

I don't care if he attacks or increases speed if AS would have already been distanced (and if even for 5s only) and have a mechanical problem (which he might not even know soon as he can't see it).

Today however, he passes AS and sees something is wrong and continues his sprint. Vino saw it - AC claims he didn't see it? AS almost at standstill and no questions??

Not a great champion, sorry. Was hoping something better to come after Pharmstrong.

 

[Nathan Scot]

SRAM issue

I have to wonder if there is a SRAM issue here (Cancellara chain at Flanders...)
I have noticed that SRAM is very touchy and gets out of trim very easily (I have Red). My chain fell off recently right after doing a tune up and a heavy bump causes the front derailleur to stop working properly on the Rival bike. Could that be an issue here?

 

[MKirilenko]

This is the way I see as well. Contador definitely showed weakness today (and yesterday when Andy easily countered all of Contadors attack.)

All 2 attacks...