Stage 15 *spoilers* (Page 3)

Damn if you do, damn if you don't:

“My stomach is full of anger. The race I not finished and I want to take revenge,”. “I would not have raced like that and taken advantage of the situation. For sure, those guys don’t get the fair play prize today.” said Schleck.

“There are people who understand and there are those who do not. Today was circumstances of the race. I had already opened up my attack. The stage was already launched,”. “The peloton waited in Spa, but today the circumstances were different. I can understand why there’s polemic.” said Contador

“In the heat of the race and the finale, you cannot say to Contador, ‘wait for Andy.’ Andy didn’t wait for Contador on the cobblestones, either,”. “You can’t say to Sammy Sánchez, I’ll let you go because I’ll wait for the yellow jersey. No, there are no gifts in this race.” said RadioShack’s Johan Bruyneel.

“Sánchez and Menchov were going full gas. It won’t help to criticize. For us, it would have been better if they had waited, but we cannot expect any help in these circumstances,”. “I think Contador waited at the beginning, but it took awhile before Andy was on his bike again. How long can Contador wait? I don’t know. Of course we’d have hoped he waited more. I don’t want to create a polemic, but how many guys crashed today? Nobody helps them, nobody waited. That’s how it is.” said Riis.

“Off the record? That’s ,” one former Tour rider said in between team buses.

“In 2001 I waited for Ullrich when he went down off the road,”. “But maybe this is different, because this was the last climb of the race, and it was really on. I don’t want to make a hard judgment without seeing the images.” said Armstrong.

“It’s hard to say. I didn’t really see what happened,” he said. “If Contador waits, the other guys have to wait, too. He needs to follow, of course. It’s a situation.” said Riis.

“everybody was 100 percent.”

“When everyone is going 100 percent in the final, if Alberto waited, the others, Menchov and Sanchez, would keep going, just like they did yesterday,”. “It’s not really possible to wait.” said Vinokourov

“Contador just gained a great chance to win, but he lost the chance to win greatly.” said Gerard Vroomen

“If Contador had waited he would have won the heart of the world. Like this he got a yellow jersey on his back, but it’s always gonna be a (question mark).” said Robbie Hunter

"Contador is sure to face a bigger test from the enraged Schleck on the road to Pau tomorrow, but will perhaps take consolation from the thoughts of some respected Tour veterans. Asked for their opinion on the incident, Laurent Jalabert, Bernard Thévenet and Bernard Hinault all described Schleck's incident as an inescapable part of racing and said they were looking ahead to see how Contador and Schleck will respond"

IMO AC could have waited and I think he did to some extent since AS lost only 12 sec to the top when he lost more than that trying to get the chain back on. But then the race was on and having Sanchez hammering the descent you have to go, it is called racing. AS lost the yellow jersey on the descent btw. Besides, not even current or previous tour riders or team directors are agreement as shown above hence I won't judge AC, but that's just me. I can't wait to see what's next on the tour during the week.

I think this quote sums the entire situation up better than anything else I have seen so far:

Cervélo team owner Gerard Vroomen had this to say on Twitter: “Contador just gained a great chance to win, but he lost the chance to win greatly.”

Completely agree with this ^^^^^

But, if they are smart, they'll avoid commenting!

 a lot of interesting points of view, however I believe there is one thing missing that nobody is talking about
  
   The time gap at the crest of Port De Bales between AC and Andy was 13 seconds. Andy is not the best descender and at the finish at the bottom he  gave up 26 more seconds and loss the jersey. I think AC did act unsportsmanlike but you cannot say AC got the jersey because of the dropped chain, but rather Andy lost it on the way down.

 

 

Sanchez comment but it is in spanish: http://www.esciclismo.com/ampliada.asp?Id=15358/>

Completely agree, not to mention that Sanchez and Menchov were not waiting for anyone.

he didnt do anything wrong, 3 days out yo uwait, 10 days out yo uwait, 2 days left in the mountains you cant wait. Andy didnt fall upon misfortune, he slipped his chain. Should AC have attacked i dont think so but i dont think he should have been forced to wait either. I think its terrible for the viewers and the tour that its going to be decided by a mechanical as there is no chance in hell andy beats AC in the TT. He might even lose out on 2nd to menchov/sanchez because they tt that much better than him.

But the time loss on the descent was a direct result of the time loss on the climb. There were 3 riders sharing the work with AC, DM, and SS. AS had a rider who had popped and Vino sitting on so AS had to do all the work on the way down the mountain. If he comes over the top with the other 3 he loses no time.

x 2

AC didn't need to reclaim any more time on AS, given that he's far better in the TT.  He could have taken the high road and waited--gaining the admiration of the whole cycling world--and STILL easily won the overall.

Contrador is a DICK!!!!

contador claims the same, he saw andy attack and moved to counter.

Thanks Jorge!

Buck

Wow, where to start!
 AC knew what happened he is desperate now, there are many riders stronger than him now! He should have stopped, but he doesnt have any class!
 Schleck cant put his own chain on, takes me five seconds, so it should take a pro 1!
And what happened to Shlecks teamates, they dont seem to be much help! I wish HTC would take Schleck all the way to the finish tommorow to get him back the jersey! What about Radio Shack, I dont think Lance or Levi are contenders any more, maybe they will help Andy! I know they dont care for AC too much.....

So perhaps the question is not "Should Contador have waited?" --- but ---- "Should Contador, Menchov and Sanchez have waited?"

x3.  I think it would have been a very classy move.  AC clearly knew about the chain problem, He looked back for the counter right after he passed and continued to do so on the way to the summit.  Schleck is clearly superior and I honestly think he would have gapped AC if the problem wouldnt have happened.

I give the 3 the benefit of the doubt that after seeing andy schleck attack they were probably in response mode and were not watching to see if he slipped his chain, they just knew they went passed him. Once they knew i assume they were already descending. in which it would have been easy for them to slow the pace. The attack wasnt wrong, taking the MJ off andy was because he knew before the race was over yet didnt wait.

the part where i am conflicted is that it was during a shift, he didnt fall or puncture (uncontrollable mechanical) he slipped his chain, completely his fault and the fault of his team for choosing to blow all of his mates to set a high tempo. If it were the reverse wed be praising vino for being a great teamate and giving AC his bike and then how awesome AC is for catching back up. all relative.

I'm not sure how much info they get over the radio, but it sure seems if there was confusion among the three on the way up, they would certainly have known what was going on after they reached the summit. I think they could have held back on the descent, as at that point it was just Vino, Andy and Van Den Broeck chasing behind them and nobody in front of them posed any threat whatsoever. This is where AC, as last year's winner and this year's current second, could and should have done what history dictates is the honorable thing and the other two should have followed his lead.

it looked to me like vino waited for andy. He was the first to respond to andys attack and was on his wheel and stayed there for the rest of the race. or did i just miss some coverage?

  How can you say that for sure ? I think that is mere speculation that the time loss on the descent was because of the chain drop.
    We are talking about the very technical descent of the port de bales and for Andy to loose 26 seconds on this descent is a fact that everyone is missing in all of this emotional hoopla. Andy loosing all that time on a technical descent was not because vino was sitting on his wheel and he had nobody to work with, but simply because lack of descending skills.
 I like Andy and feel he get robbed, but only robbed of 13 seconds not 39 and the jersey.

  Andy has plenty of opportunities to gain back time lost, AC has a much tougher task rebuilding his public image.

This is shaping up to be an awesome tour !  Every jersey is tightly contested even the team contest. I cant wait 'till tomorrow...

He shouldn't have stopped and he did slow; IMO where he dropped the ball was in not either having Menchov and Sanchez hold up or just letting them go and waiting for AS (since he was only 18 seconds back and neither is really concerned about Menchov or Sanchez).  I think Gerard Vroomen (of Cervelo) summed it up nicely "Contador just gained a great chance to win, but he lost the chance to win greatly."



How many times have you had to replace your chain while you were standing on a HC climb after attacking the field and watching your closest three competitors ride away from you?



Saxobank rode a strong stage which is what put AS in the position to attack; his teammates rode tempo up the climb, peeling all but the top riders off the back of the peloton and when the last domestique popped, AS starting attacking.  Saxobank may have started with the strongest team at the tour and have been riding well to defend AS since he has been in yellow.

Shane

I bet franks broken collar bone is hurting alot more now because this wouldnt have happened if they didnt stick the stupid pave into the race.\

considering every rider on bike chatter said he should have waited im going with he should have waited.

Although if cav drops his chain in a sprint or punctures or falls, is any1 going to wait. NOPE

Edited by mkarr0110 2010-07-19 4:26 PM

That's Vino's job; as soon as AC went by AS, Vino needed to mark AS and only go up the road if AS was able to bridge back up to AC.  Otherwise, he sits on AS's wheel and enjoys a free ride to the finish.

Shane