General Questions & Comments

Home

Social

Let the argument begin... who won?

Main Menu

Login Form

Index
» Social
» General Questions & Comments
» Let the argument begin... who won?

Page: 1

Post tools
- Subscribe

Let the argument begin... who won?

Jul-25-10 16:50:07

Let the argument begin... who won?

So, not sure yet of the tenth's of seconds but if Schleck had started the long TT LAST and had the time-check advantage, what would have happened? It ends in a tie, right? 8 seconds plus 31 seconds and you have 39 seconds.

Legitimate or stolen? Honorable or crook?

I'm going with the theme that the tour was stolen from Schleck and Contador knows it, tears on the podium or not. I was wishing bad luck on Contador on the way in, a flat, a fan, a mistake.

Ciao,
Stuart

__o
_ \ <_
(_)/(_)

~too much of anything is just enough for me. Pete Townshend

colnagotifosi: Stuart the Descender; 49 Posts

Administrator has disabled public posting

Jul-26-10 16:24:15

Re: Let the argument begin... who won?

It's a race, not a popularity contest.

Mechanical problems (including the chain falling off due to a missed shift or a punctured tire or the need for a wheel change because a bearing is dragging or a spoke breaks) happen. It's part of racing. No one should wait for something like that.

A crash due to a fan getting in the way or a fan's bag getting stuck on a handlebar or a dog running into the middle of the peloton is different.

I'm not a Contador fan, either, even though I run a Spanish crankset. LOL!

[Ok--I played big_smile ]

2006-2009 = 48,095 miles
2010 mileage = 10,257 miles
http://NoRacer.bimjournals.com
Isaias on Facebook

iodaniell: Isaias; 218 Posts

Administrator has disabled public posting

Jul-28-10 13:18:45

Re: Let the argument begin... who won?

I'd like to recall Stage 2, where the rain caused several crashes on a descent. After these crashes, Cancellera staged a "protest" that slowed the peloton and allowed other riders, including his teammate Andy Schleck (who was nursing his shoulder after a nasty crash), to regroup. Without Cancellera's help Schleck may have been out of the race after the 2nd stage. Several riders did not agree with Cancellera's protest and several riders did not agree with Contador attacking while Schleck repositioned his chain. So, how does Cancellera's reasons for a "protest" compare with the reasons that Contador should have waited for Schleck?

I'm not an AC fan, just adding to the debate. Despite AC wining the tour, I thought Schleck was the best story of the tour. For me, his candid pre and post race interviews were the highlight of every telecast.

Kent Morey: 5 Posts

Administrator has disabled public posting

Jul-28-10 15:41:31

Re: Let the argument begin... who won?

Here is another (nearly identical post to Kent's, above) that another member “R2” sent me offline.

"while thinking about whether Andy Schleck should have been tied on time with Contador at the end, consider this: During Stage 2 when Andy could be seen holding his arm like he broke a collarbone, it was none other than Fabian Cancellara --Andy's teammate-- who was neutralizing the stage "supposedly" in response to the 80 or so fallen riders on that descent. Could it have anything to do with the fact that Andy was looking at losing 5+ minutes there, thus ending his tour challenge on day 3. I'm surprised that no commentator said anything about this. I guess that would have put a very poor spin on the coincidence. Did the other favorites go down on that section? Did any Spanish journalists agree with neutralizing the stage while Andy was on the ground and Alberto was riding? I guess Cancellara was the closest thing to the Leader of the peloton, like Lance used to be.

Also, my group rarely waits for me if I shift wrong or too slowly and lose momentum. Unfortunately, Andy hit a bump while his chain was crossed and it dropped off the inside.
That happened to me the other day, but it was operator error, not bad luck.

It was a great tour to watch. Too bad no one else could really match them, though Menchov and Sammy Sanchez and a few others look good for the future and were close. Maybe next year there will be a TTT and/or an uphill time trial, both of which will help Andy. Also Frank's presence will help in taking turns attacking Alberto. And next year Saxo Bank will not be there. (?) It may be Andy and Frank's team maybe with a Luxemburg sponsor."

~too much of anything is just enough for me. Pete Townshend

colnagotifosi: Stuart the Descender; 49 Posts

Administrator has disabled public posting

Jul-28-10 15:42:36

Re: Let the argument begin... who won?

I think that Kent and R2 make a great point. As I recall at the time, the commentators pointed out that Cadel Evans probably would have been the winner if that Stage 2 neutralization hadn’t occurred because he would have been so far in front (I think someone said 10 minutes) that nobody would have caught him, ever.

Over the course of the twenty-one stages there were many instances of riders taking advantage of conditions and it is very hard to narrow it down to that one incident. I guess that my feeling was where/when in occurred, who was there and saw it (all of them) and that the other four competitiors all attacked as hard and fast as they could and ganged up to put as much time as possible on the descent too.

Compared to incidents of “waiting” for the Yellow Jersey in the past, this one looked like the complete opposite and, in the end, it would appear to be the deciding factor in the tour.

~too much of anything is just enough for me. Pete Townshend