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.

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