Hats off, however, to Alberto Contador's failed attempt to relegate his 'teammate' to fifth place in the GC. His attack on today's last climb was not intended to burn the Schleck brothers (who are no longer of real concern), but to haul fellow Astana rider, Andreas Kloden and the Schlecks ahead of Armstrong in the standings, potentially booting the Texan off the podium in the process. As it stood, Kloden - who had previously abandonned a sluggish Lance to join the lead group - had nothing left in his legs. The end result was an agreed-upon Frank Schleck stage victory and Armstrong in fourth place.
The rider who showed how it's really done was Christian Vande Velde. Being Garvin team leader didn't impede him from providing cover for Bradley Wiggins' podium pretensions.
By the way, the theoretical disadvantage the Schlecks face with respect to Armstrong in tomorrow's time trial are considerably reduced by the category three climb at kilometre 25. Then there's Mont Ventoux on Saturday.
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9 Comments:
Charles,
maybe you are a bit hard on the weasel, but hey, he didn't stop to pull Kloden along with him today... I hear he is already packing up his ball and getting ready to split Astana with the coach and do it all again next year, like he'll be younger and stronger then... Contador I do like... and the race itself I have been nuts for for the last few years... next year in HDEF... and it is all way more interesting to me than the Lance Soap Opera... so I am very sympa to what you are saying my man... all in all, I don't think Contador can be beat, so all is well... and may be even better next year...
PJ
Peej! Did they let you come out of the basement?
The good part is that, assuming that Lance comes out of the TT second or third in the GC, Contador will effectively be riding for Saxo Bank on Saturday.
No surprise that Armstrong didn´t pick Kloden up on the descent. Andreas was going for podium.
Cheers
What makes you think I don't watch TV in the basement? Another day, another dismal Armstrong INC. performance... bit nervy stealing Contador's bike before the race... yellow? as if... a solid 15th on the day... hmmmm... the Ventoux will be amusing, but 34 seconds ahead of Frank... personally I like Kloden after seeing his devil tat... only 13 seconds off the business...
pj
I'm sure Alberto would love to get Kloden across third, too. Then again, pretty much anyone will do...
This may be a stretch - and I admit to harbouring an intense prejudice against the man - but I have never believed that Lance is straight. His results against people who turned out to be dopers are just too good. But even if he is straight, he's obnoxious, and so I'd rather cheer almost anyone than him. Even Richard Virenque (may his saddle rest in peace)...
I don´t get into that much because I can´t guarantee anyone else is clean. But the fact is that if you're the best in the world (which he probably was) and choose to only race the TdF because it's the only race the homeys know, you're probably going to deliver the results. Anquetil was the same - and how often do you hear his name mentioned among the greats?
Charles
That's a very fair point - although Anquetil did win the Giro and the hour record too, so he has a better claim than Armstrong to be called a cycling great. Let's just hope that Bradley can deliver something special today...
David
Good point, David. But his fame, which he merits, is for having turned time trialing on its head, not for being a tourman.
The rules of engagement are that you can be the best TT'er, but not by so much that you don't have to be among the best climbers - or vice versa. Taints Indurain's record a bit, also. Although his escape with Bruyneel in '95 saves his bacon for me.
Indurain isn't tainted for me at all - he had the dignity of true patron, as well as the five wins. (Six, really, given that Riis was on EPO.) Let's see what today and tomorrow bring.
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