Ullrich would have waited...but this one is a toughy since a dropped chain is arguably not a mechanical per se...

Either way, it all adds up to enhancing the spectacle for us watching from the arm chair.

---

-----------------------------------------------
www.true-motion.com Triathlete Casual Wear since 2007
(Twitter/FB)

Schleck can't expect his rivals to wait every time he fucks up, but this move stinks of fear and is unfortunate.

There's nothing better then when rivals dislike each other, so maybe this will prove the defining moment of a great rivalry in the years to come.

lol ....I don't think you'll ever see them doing a commercial together again...

---

---

Member of the Litespeed Factory Team
www.litespeed.com

I'll agree that AC knew, but AS wasn't going to do any damage. Vino had closed on him before the chain dropped. AC was closing on AS before the chain dropped. The question is more, what the heck was AC doing with Shleck attacked??

There's the ST audience: "AC sucks, he MUST have known and HAD to do this to win."

Then there's the actual bike racer, Ryder: "that's bike racing, <laughing> nobody is going to wait."

Provided Tyler told him too ;-) (take that Lance)

Agree on this adding to the drama - Schleck said something along the lines of having a belly full of fire and wanting his revenge in the interviews.

---

"Are you sure we're going fast enough?" - Emil Zatopek

I'm not saying that what AC did was unfair, just that AC must have known about the chain drop. Anyhow, a chain drop isn't really a mechanical...it's the rider's fault...

Here at work (bike shop) the name "Alberto Contador" has been replaced with "Little S**t"...probably for good now.

Question… Will the riders feel the same and work against Contador tomorrow or any of the following days?

> AC knows he can't hang in the hills with AS

Uh, maybe he can't beat Andy in the hills, but let's not overdo it. He can clearly hang.

When AC made the comments about Lance this year and his bad luck etc. I gained a little bit of respect, but all that just went out the window..... dick move.

---

_________________________________________________

Agreed. Anyone have a link to the replay?

I was iferring that IMO AS had the legs to do damage today, not on that particular attack per se, but I feel he would have kept attacking all the way to the top to get a few more seconds on AC before the final tt. AS knows he needs to win the tour now, AC is just praying he can keep a manageable lead/deficit going in to the tt

I don't see it happening. They've been neutralizing each other rather well over the past few days. If anything AS will be thinking he should have tried to attack a long time ago.

Just saw the stage live and to me it looked like AS attacked AC because he was trapped in (dick move?) and Vino started chasing him. Then AC reacts and do a counter attack, AS is still on his bike and i don´t think anyone looks at the chain as you pass. Small road and lots of people. Then AC hears on the radio that AS have problem and slows down, you can see him riding and looking back all the way to the top. When he AC can see that AS is riding again he continues to ride. I think AC did the right thing, he could have put a lot more time on AS but didn´t. You can´t expect the riders to wait for each other all the time since you only got a few stages to make a difference and i think it´s fair AS lost some time because this "mechanical" is probably his own fault.

>>The question is more, what the heck was AC doing with Shleck attacked??

It was like Boonen / Fabian at P-R. Maybe that's where AS got that move.

Also, Menchov and Sanchez rode caught back up to AC, which seems to indicate that he didn't stay full gas. They haven't be able to match his attacks to this point.

I think he should have waited. SS & DM were at the time 2 + minutes down. He knew and he was only after putting time on AS. What I feel he should have done was wait for AS, then AS & AC should have caught up to SS & DM. I do not feel as strongly about SS & DM now waiting since the time differences. Also once AC didn't tell them to wait, why should they. It was AC's call to have them wait. 3rd & 4th place riders are not the patrons of the group.

I think all this did to AC is earn him bad karma. It shows how little AC truely feels about himself.

I agree it has been a great back and forth, but AS knew that 31 seconds wasn't enough and that he needed more time the next few stages. You will def see a more agressive AS now, but I think we would have anyway

They didn't attack knowing that Contador/Armstrong had a mechanical. The attack was on at that point. AC attacked (in my opinion) knowing that Schleck dropped his chain.

---

f/k/a mclamb6

Sad day for Contador. If he had waited, he would have gained the respect of 99% of cycling fan. Instead, he is now seen as a total little shit by 99%. No one will forget or forgive that move. The European press will destroy him!

AC was already hammering because AS had attacked. It's not like AS and AC were riding, AS's chain dropped and AC went. It was a counter attack to AS's attack.

I don't think this one was a rider error. The way the back wheel popped up it looked like he might have hit a bump of some sort, maybe as he was shifting, and that caused the chain to jump. I recall in tours gone by, Lance waiting for Ullrich when he crashed and a group waiting for Lance when the fan snagged his bars on a climb and he went down. That is showing sportsmanship. There is no possible way that AC didn't see the chain drop since AS was pulled off to the side by the time he caught him and you could see AC looking behind after he went by. If AC had sat up and waited then everyone else would have too and a lot of the fans sent him that message when he pulled on the yellow jersey.

Exactly. First impressions - haven't watched and only read the cyclingnews text feed - AC et al knew it was a simple mechanical or should have known very soon afterwards and waited. If AS was not in yellow, the AC attack would be OK, but you just don't attack the yellow when they have a mechanical. It may be OK in other sports, but that's not how the TdF works.

---

Head down, thumbs up, give'r
@barrettdj

SCHLEK DID NOT LOSE THE YELLOW BECAUSE AC ATTACKED HIM ON THE CLIMB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AC only had 13 seconds at the summit - FS would still have been in Yellow. Andy lost it because he can't descend. End of story. I wish AC would have waited and put the screws to him on the descent instead, but unless AC wins the tour by less than 13 seconds that attack won't ultimately control the outcome. The descent however, may play a major role.

Contador is a douche.

---

clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com