Should Contador have attacked?

I say no.  I have watched it twice now.  It appears to me Contador had to know there was a mechanical issue as he went by.  While you cant sit up every time someone has a problem, when the yellow jersey just attacked you (and it appears to have been working)  and they are obviously are having an issue, you sit up.  JMHO.

As Ligget said "sense of fair play has been thrown out the door"

Yeah its too bad, Schleck was about to put some hurt into him.  Contador knew it and took the opportunity... punk

I agree. I couldn't believe what I was watching. And to say afterward that he didn't know AS was having an issue is just a joke. The guy was in serious trouble after the attack and moved out of desperation when he saw an opening. Just confirms everything I thought of him before today...

Let's just hope Saxo Bank has a few cards to play tomorrow and Thursday to set things right.

I agree, should not have attacked. Punk, classless. TdF is different, there is a huge amount of history that should be honored. He could have waited 30 seconds, then attacked.

But what happened? I couldn't tell, was he crossed up?

Lost the chain off the front ring

Contador showed poor judgement as did Sanchez and Menchov. When interviewed it sounded like they had an agreed story worked out.

Sad days

I'm new to Le Tour.  Last year was the first time I watched.  I'm just now beginning to understand some things (Thanks Adam and Monica!).  So please forgive my ignorance here....

I don't understand why you all think AC should have waited around for AS?  If you have a shot at beating someone for yellow, you don't take it?  I don't know.  I can't imagine me waiting for someone in a race because their shoe came untied. 

i feel like i'm in the minority on this one.  i did not watch it closely but it seemed like a bunch of high performance athletes riding all out on an important climb in an important race, I'd forgive anyone not having their drawing room manners at that moment.

I love what Cervelo's CEO said:

Alberto Contador today gained a great chance to win... but he lost the chance to win greatly.

Steve

El Pistolero is a punk through and through, this is true

But ... I'm with Scooby = It's a bike RACE not a bike WAIT

Andy attacked, Contador, Menchov and Sanchez countered, and when Andy responded ... POP!!! goes the chain ...

The Finger-bang bullshit on the podium was uncalled for, however ... I see some bad juju coming AC's way

Ah.  That makes sense when you put it that way.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by swallen1 

I love what Cervelo's CEO said:

 

Alberto Contador today gained a great chance to win... but he lost the chance to win greatly.

 

Steve

bring me up to speed...
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by RandMart 

 

 

The Finger-bang bullshit on the podium was uncalled for, however ... I see some bad juju coming AC's way

He did seem to sit up looking over his shoulder,till the crest. then he went. Downhill hard. He can't just let Menchov & Sanchez (3&4)  go and gain time on him. As they only needed 2 min and Sanchez can fly down a hill. 

He was 14 seconds over the top ahead but 50+ seconds by the bottom of the hill. So he gained what he needed on the downhill, which was probably the plan anyway as Shleck is known as a poor downhiller

Plus Andy started the attack. It is not as if he (AC)  attacked whilst the yellow jersey was taking a leak. He didn't attack the day yellow jersey crashed.  If he was doing it to be purely malicious he would have killed up the hill as well and opened a much bigger gap.

Last night I saw an old interview with Lance talking about how the GC were idiots to wait for him when he broke a pedal (95-98?)

Rand,

the bang-bang-shoot is just his thing, no? Like  Tiger's arm swoosh or throwing your arms up under the marathon tape. Good win or not, some of that just becomes habit when you win.  His heart didn't look in it.

I s'pose you're right, Melis ... It's his trademark and I'm sure the sponsors want to see it [I mean someone paid to put the logo on his hat, right?]

Not a decisive win, however ... kinda like you won because a defenseman knocked the puck in his own net ... Ooops!

Quote:

Originally Posted by melistic 

... or throwing your arms up under the marathon tape.

 Don't know anything about that one

Ok, ok...  Someone explain to me. I don't care for the Bored da France...  But this issue interest me.

Someone was having a mechanical problem and a competitor (Contador) "attacked" (I'm assuming took advantage to pass).   If I'm right, I'm not seeing the problem with this.  If an opportunity presents it's self, don't you take advantage of it? 

It's a race right?  Or is it a "let's ride nicely and look at the scenery event?"

Well, Menchov and the other dude weren't up there at the attack.  Schleck killed it, then it was Vino that came up and AC looked as if he was ready for some oxygen as Schleck was spinning with no chain.  Menchov and the other dude had to come up to keep up with AC, not the other way around. 

Maybe the guy should learn to shift, maybe he needs a better bike.  I'm going for Menchov at this point.

I'm not defending Contador...BTW, did you see that he and Andy made up on French TV?

But this quote from Sanchez does seem to make a lot of sense.  When your HR is in the red zone, everything that you see out of the corner of your eyes doesn't register. 

There is a lot of talk about an incident in the race [Schleck's mechanical]; I believe that we shouldn't focus on something that is natural in cycling - tomorrow it could happen to me or anyone else...

In the race, I didn't know if Andy had a problem or not. He started very strong, Contador went after him, then Menchov moved... From the TV it sure looks great, but in the race, at 200 beats a minute, with thousands of screaming fans on the road... The instinct is telling you to go with the big move and mark the man.

Well of course Sanchez said that... don't they fly the same flag?? Any cyclists knows HR lags effort, it would take at least 30seconds to go from threshold to 200 beats  ;)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Timr1 

I'm not defending Contador...BTW, did you see that he and Andy made up on French TV?

 

But this quote from Sanchez does seem to make a lot of sense.  When your HR is in the red zone, everything that you see out of the corner of your eyes doesn't register. 

 

There is a lot of talk about an incident in the race [Schleck's mechanical]; I believe that we shouldn't focus on something that is natural in cycling - tomorrow it could happen to me or anyone else...

In the race, I didn't know if Andy had a problem or not. He started very strong, Contador went after him, then Menchov moved... From the TV it sure looks great, but in the race, at 200 beats a minute, with thousands of screaming fans on the road... The instinct is telling you to go with the big move and mark the man.

When riders attack on a climb, the others need to make a fast decision and will their bodies to go harder when they are already on the rivet.  The fact that 90+ percent of the riders in the race were well behind them at that point underscores how hard they were riding to that point, bearing in mind that they had dropped the 200 best professional riders in the world.  It's not like sitting home in front of the tv, it's a really freaking hard minute in time for each of the players and it's the "crunch time" that any racer has experienced where the selections of the day are made.  At that moment, everyone is riding to their max, some make it look easy but it's just not, it's hard and painful.

It sort of surprises me that many of my friends who have raced bikes are anti contador on this one, maybe I'm missing something.  I can think of many races where I was dropped or in a break and can't exactly remember how it happened.

I have to agree with Bobke on this one.  You want to win b/c you were the strongest competitor, not because you took advantage of a mechanical issue.  On the other hand, no one waited for Lance when he popped a tire on the cobblestones.  He was still a GC at that point...

However, it is 8 seconds...not 8 minutes.  AS still has time to prove that he deserves the yellow jersey. 

There is alot of history with this race.  yes it is a 'race', but its over 100 yrs old with alot of tradition.  One of which is the yellow Jersey gets a little more respect than the others.  Its always been that way.  Thats why they sat up when Lance was taken down by a muzet bag some kid was holding on the side of the road a few years back.  Thats why when everyone was crashing on the stage to Spa, Cancellara, who was in Yellow at the time, told everyone to sit up and the whole peleton listened.  So if the yellow put a move on you and it works, then he drops his chain in front of you and you speed by as he is standing still with a mechanical, its frowned upon.  Is it against the rules, of course not.  Its just not 'honorable' in a race with this much history.  Its not the local crit.

Contador did apologize about the circumstances, so I give him credit for that.

http://www.universalsports.com/news/article/newsid=483904.html 

I know you can't project these things out (mainly because you can't really project how the stage where Schleck dropped his chain would've turned out had Schleck NOT dropped his chain which means all the subsequent stages change based on that result) but I think by my unofficial calculations, Schleck and Contador would've been tied had they finished same time on that somewhat notorious stage now.

Ahh, well...this should create debate for years to come I suppose

I also don't think Contador should've waited. Schleck attacked, missed his chance, bad luck. And btw, I don't like Contador at all, I was rooting for Schleck all along. And well, was that 100% mechanical? It happened to me several times to drop the chain while I shifted the front while rapidly shifting in the back. But well, I have cheap components, and I'm a newbie...

I still haven't come to a conclusion on which side I fall in this case. Problem is that I see both sides and can give merit on each. So at this hour I do not "blame" Contador.

What I find a shame is that the race seems to have been, in the end, dictated by a time that might include this event. AC won by 39 seconds, and it seems he gained as much on the stage in question. And where I find it "less than ideal" for him to win this way is because, from my point of view, it was actually Schlek who was driving and controling the race, making far more moves than AC for separation, and not just on that stage -- seemingly most stages -- where AC was merely sucking wheel and holding on to the attacks rather than making many of his own. Schlek seemed more in control. And I think AC knew it based on how he talked about not being as fit as last year, when AC was mostly untouchable, sitting back and pouncing at will. I wish AC won by far more time or that Schlek would be able to gain the time back on that last mountain stage (the one after this incident).

All of this said, the one thing that really stands out for me is the professionalism of Andy Schlek. He is the definition of what it means to be a good sport. Wow. Imagine being in his shoes. He rose above.

Dude.

I'm definitely a fan.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thor 

All of this said, the one thing that really stands out for me is the professionalism of Andy Schlek. He is the definition of what it means to be a good sport. Wow. Imagine being in his shoes. He rose above.