Once again the ungainly Voeckler proved how tenacious he is and took another TdF stage win. In fact I even think that Cycling news must have used our reports from last year as in their daily report the outstanding word “pugnacious” was used to describe the Frenchman. The big news was Contador attacking when Schleck had a mechanical. Contador said he didn’t know. What a nob! We all know that they still have earpieces and you can guarantee he knew exactly what happened. Tell that story in 2 years when the radios are outlawed. Also Phil condoned the “attack” saying that Contador didn’t do any work that it was all Menchov and Sanchez. Are they watching the monitors from an alternate universe? I pretty much saw the putrid blue of Astana on the front most of the time. Anyway, Contador stood on the podium grinning like a shot fox while the french crowd booed him. 2nd time this year an Astana rider has been booed on the podium (Vino at Liege), what does that tell you?
But who cares about that! It is all getting a bit close at the top as everyone closes in on Fatboy.There was a fair bit of jostling for position. Not generally a lot of movers at this time but Perigord Vert balked the trend with a 28 place move. Although moving from 74th to 46th is not very impressive. No change at the bottom with Srampagno holding onto the Lantern Rouge.
Perigord Vert scored 100 for Thomas Voeckler coming in first place
Spunker scored 100 for Thomas Voeckler coming in first place
Princess Margarets Hospital scored 75 for Alessandro Ballan coming in second place
Perigord Vert scored 75 for Alessandro Ballan coming in second place
Cookie scored 75 for Alessandro Ballan coming in second place
St Pierre scored 75 for Alessandro Ballan coming in second place
Chuck scored 55 for Aitor Perez Arrieta coming in third place
Zippy scored 55 for Aitor Perez Arrieta coming in third place
Two Phat 2 scored 55 for Aitor Perez Arrieta coming in third place
Spokesman scored 55 for Aitor Perez Arrieta coming in third place
Last Chance Lance scored 40 for Lloyd Mondory coming in fourth place
The Trab scored 40 for Lloyd Mondory coming in fourth place
Monty Ventoux scored 40 for Lloyd Mondory coming in fourth place
Wingnut scored 40 for Lloyd Mondory coming in fourth place
Bif scored 32 for Luke Roberts coming in fifth place
Flirty O’Dirty scored 32 for Luke Roberts coming in fifth place
Possum scored 32 for Luke Roberts coming in fifth place
Tagalong scored 32 for Luke Roberts coming in fifth place
Pap Tyres scored 26 for Francesco Reda coming in sixth place
Two Phat 1 scored 26 for Francesco Reda coming in sixth place
Monty Ventoux scored 26 for Francesco Reda coming in sixth place
Dobbo scored 26 for Francesco Reda coming in sixth place
Heather scored 22 for Alberto Contador Velasco coming in seventh place
Sans Sommeil scored 22 for Alberto Contador Velasco coming in seventh place
Harvey Norman scored 22 for Alberto Contador Velasco coming in seventh place
St Pierre scored 22 for Alberto Contador Velasco coming in seventh place
Jangu scored 18 for Samuel Sánchez Gonzalez coming in eighth place
Floyd Pharma Lotto scored 18 for Samuel Sánchez Gonzalez coming in eighth place
Heather scored 18 for Samuel Sánchez Gonzalez coming in eighth place
Jangu scored 16 for Denis Menchov coming in ninth place
Bif scored 16 for Denis Menchov coming in ninth place
Monty scored 16 for Denis Menchov coming in ninth place
Ted scored 16 for Denis Menchov coming in ninth place
The Doctor scored 14 for Brian Vandborg coming in tenth place
Two Phat 1 scored 14 for Brian Vandborg coming in tenth place
Tagalong scored 14 for Brian Vandborg coming in tenth place
Comfortably Numb scored 14 for Brian Vandborg coming in tenth place
Les bigorneaux à pédales scored 12 for Johan Van Summeren coming in eleventh place
Tommy scored 12 for Johan Van Summeren coming in eleventh place
Rod scored 12 for Johan Van Summeren coming in eleventh place
The Nurse scored 12 for Johan Van Summeren coming in eleventh place
Chuck scored 10 for Andy Schleck coming in twelfth place
Iceman scored 10 for Andy Schleck coming in twelfth place
Dobbo scored 10 for Andy Schleck coming in twelfth place
RUK scored 8 for Jurgen Van Den Broeck coming in thirteenth place
Tommy scored 8 for Jurgen Van Den Broeck coming in thirteenth place
O’Dirty scored 8 for Jurgen Van Den Broeck coming in thirteenth place
Two Phat 2 scored 8 for Jurgen Van Den Broeck coming in thirteenth place
Team Green Machine scored 6 for Alexander Vinokourov coming in forteenth place
Flirty O’Dirty scored 6 for Alexander Vinokourov coming in forteenth place
Boab scored 6 for Alexander Vinokourov coming in forteenth place
Stuey scored 6 for Alexander Vinokourov coming in forteenth place
Perigord Vert scored 4 for Robert Gesink coming in fifteenth place
Paddles scored 4 for Robert Gesink coming in fifteenth place
Scumbags scored 4 for Robert Gesink coming in fifteenth place
21 Guns scored 4 for Robert Gesink coming in fifteenth place
Heather scored 20 for Alberto Contador Velasco leading the general classification
Sans Sommeil scored 20 for Alberto Contador Velasco leading the general classification
Harvey Norman scored 20 for Alberto Contador Velasco leading the general classification
St Pierre scored 20 for Alberto Contador Velasco leading the general classification
Perigord Vert scored 30 for Thomas Voeckler being the most aggressive rider today
Spunker scored 30 for Thomas Voeckler being the most aggressive rider today
O’Dirty is soft for An-dy…
Initially I was pretty horrified at Contador’s move - he was not simply following Sanchez/Menchov, he was putting the hammer down. He knew exactly what was going on.
When I thought about it some more though, I thought about stages 2 and 3. Cancellarra neutralised the race when after Schleck had crashed, but next day, when Contador and others were on the deck on the cobbles, Schleck was happily sitting behind the Cancellara diesel express and gaining back all his lost time.
I suppose the difference is it was not the yellow jersey that was being attacked…
To me there is double standards all over the place, and that only makes it more interesting.
Piss poor form from Contador et al, going straight past Schleck when he was clearly in trouble. Blimey, even us weekend warriors (and I use that term loosely) know when a bloke has dropped a chain. It’s pretty clear! The fact that Schleck was a good 20 metres in front of the pack and starting to pull away meant that the wolf pack behind would have HAD to have seen what happened - why else would a bloke stop dead in the middle of the road unless he was experiencing trouble?? Maybe they chose to look straight ahead. That way they could say “I saw a-nothing, Mr Fawlty…” Vino would have kept going no matter what. His form is well-known. But I reckon Contador should have waited in the interests of fair play. If he had’ve waited then dropped Schleck and taken the yellow jeresey, it would have been widely acknowledged as a great ride. As it stands, the yellow is tainted and I think it may be a burden for Contador tonight. Sanchez, Menchov and the others should also feel uneasy in their guts as they did the wrong thing, too. I’m not a huge fan of Schleck, but it’s just not right to see a bloke lose the yellow in such circumstances, especially considering my gut feel at the time of his attack was that he could ride away on put time on Contador and the others. Bring on tonight’s stage! I love the Tour!!
I agree that Contador should have waited but I’m not so sure it was easy to do. At the very moment Schleck faltered Contador was belatedly responding to his attack and would have been on the limit and focused on chasing Schleck down. At that point Schleck’s chain was only jammed and not off, and given their track-standing shenanigans on Sunday night would have had every reason to believe he was up to the same foolishness instead of going mano-a-mano like a man-oh. Do you really think the Astana D.S. would have been saying something like “Oh, Alberto, you better wait up, your buddy Andy’s in a pickle and has less idea how to put a chain back on than those C.C.C. boys”? No, I suspect he may have been screaming “Allez! Allez! Allez!”. Once up the road the moment has passed and the decision to wait becomes even more difficult, especially with third and fourth right there attacking. There were moments Contador looked genuinely perplexed rather than rapacious as he looked back down the road to see what had happened. I think the following quote from Riis referring to Contador’s attack is interesting:
“I don’t know. Was it possible for Contador to wait in that situation, with Sanchez and Menchov attacking? He has to follow those guys, for sure. He might not need to pull or attack, but he has to follow those guys.”
Meanwhile a fantastic marketing opportunity has been lost, as they were both riding SRAM Red.