Monday, July 19, 2010

Luxembourgerish for Doh!

Andy Schleck's chain came of the track, and it cost him his shirt. That might be the most memorable thing about the 2010 Tour if Contador wins this thing by a slim margin. The debate whether or not Contador is a snake for leaving Schleck in the dust while he tried to re-set his chain could rage for a long time.

At least one thing I am certain about--Contador is a crummy liar if he expects us to believe he didn't see that Schleck had a problem with his bike. Considering that some guy in a bright yellow shirt was standing in the middle of the road and trying to pull a chain around a gear when Contador zoomed past him, this is one of the worst lies since "I did not inhale."

That said, if it was bad form of Contador to take advantage of Schleck's bike equipment problem moments after Schleck had dropped Contador like a bad habit, whining about it is bad form too. Besides, I'm not so sure Schleck would not have done the same. Cycling is a cutthroat competition. Them's the brakes. Champions overcome, and Schleck still has a chance. In fact, on day 1, if you had told him he'd be sitting 8 seconds off the yellow jersey after stage 15, he'd probably have been pleased. Champions also know how to control their rage, so if Schleck decides to go nuts on Stage 16, he might burn out and shoot himself in the foot. It's actually not a favorable stage to attack because the last climb is a few dozen km from the finish. He'd be better off letting Astana wear themselves out Tuesday and saving his attack for Thursday.
As for Contador, if he can drop Schleck in the mountains and beat him in the time trial, no one will argue he won dishonorably.

Meanwhile, RadioShack got three guys to the finish line before Banesto's top trio finished stage 15, so they took a 4 minute lead in the team competition. That's still a short lead, but it's the longest anyone has had yet.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

The first day in the Pyrenees

I was kind of wrong about window dressing being over, as Schleck just stayed on Contador's wheel and they finished with the same time. I was definitely wrong about the strength of Astana, who were just great setting the pace on the two big climbs in stage 14. Meanwhile, Saxo Bank was AWOL. The funny thing is, Astana got nothing for their efforts and Saxo Bank wasn't burned. If anything, it is a morale blow to Astana in that they executed their plan well and got nothing. If I understood Schleck's post-race interview, he planned on playing defense in stage 14, but he hinted that he'll attack on stage 15.

As those two guys were watching each other, they let Menchov and Sanchez ride ahead, so the guys in positions 3 & 4 in GC picked up a few seconds on the guys in 1st & 2nd. It wasn't enough to put either of them in real threatening position (Sammy Sanchez is 2 minutes behind Contador), but if this game repeats itself, Schleck and Contador could find that they've shot themselves in the feet in letting these two guys get too close.

The team race had more drama, and Banesto took the overall lead back from RadioShack by 8 seconds. For a while it looked like Banesto would take the race by the throat when Kiryienka was in the group ahead of the peloton and Armstrong got popped off the peloton while Kloden and Horner struggled to stay with the peloton on the penultimate climb. By the time the race ended, though, Leipheimer had passed all the Banesto guys. Kiryienka, Moreau, and Luis Sanchez finished together a few seconds behind Leipheimer, with Kloden and Horner recovering to finish just a few seconds behind them. It's amazing that the team race is so close that a few seconds here and there are making the lead change hands so frequently. The current 8 second margin is virtually nothing, although RadioShack's advantage in the time trial is such that I think Banesto would need 3-4 minutes margin heading in to the time trial.
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