Quantcast

Tour de France

dsotm

Monkey
Jul 21, 2006
151
0
WRJ, VT
I didn't dislike him until now. That was a completely classless move. I hope he bonks hardcore tomorrow (like he did in PN).
 

BikeMike

Monkey
Feb 24, 2006
784
0
So, it's ok to drop the 14th place guy when he flats, but not the first place guy who schrews up a shift? WTFLOLBBQ. AMFA!

Srsly guys, don't be ridiculous. It sucks to see it happen like it did, but all the hate is misguided frustration. It's a ferkin' bike race. Adversity and random events is part of the deal. If you want a pure test of fitness, line everyone up on trainers and compare VO2max, time to exhaustion, protein markers, etc. It would be as boring as fish pooping.

Also, either they're all not on the sauce, or lovely Mr. Schleck is on it at least as much as anyone else.
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
It would be as boring as fish pooping.
Watching fish poop is pretty funny actually.



Yeah I don't know.....andy's bike didn't break.....he shifted like a dork or his bike wasn't setup correctly (not likely IMO). He kind of blew it. As much as I'd like to see him spank fingerbang, he made one of the 1000s of mistakes inherent in a BIKE RACE, namely operating your bike correctly. He flipped out and rather than pedal to get his chain back on, he stood there in shock. While understandable it's not entirely in the 'just plain bad luck' category like having a french guy wad up in front of you while trying to light a cigarette.
 

OGRipper

back alley ripper
Feb 3, 2004
10,654
1,129
NORCAL is the hizzle
Did anyone see or hear anything more specific about what happened to Schleck? It was hard to tell, but it looked like something different from the typical chain drop from shifting to the little ring. I thought he was about to make a move, so maybe shifting into a bigger gear?

Regardless, sucks to see it happen. And kinda funny that they are both riding specialized. Tough call as to whether to wait. It's racing, **** happens. But Contador is just full of crap on Velonews:

“I don’t believe you can win the Tour with this...Anyway, 30 seconds won’t change the race, if you win or not."

Right.
 

golgiaparatus

Out of my element
Aug 30, 2002
7,340
41
Deep in the Jungles of Oklahoma
Contador: Talking about when Schleck had the mechanical:
"But when it happened I was on the attack"

I think this idiot forgets that he's not the only one watching the race. I for one was watching Andy in front accelerating away from Contador when he dropped his chain. Contador was not on the attack at all... He was 3rd wheel with a 3-4 bike gap between himself and Andy. Contador's attack came right after Schleck dropped his chain, not before.

I think the fact of the matter is that Contador just wants to win and he doesn't care how. All this bulsh!tting the public with this "I didn't know, the gap was too big when I found out, I was attacking him when it happened" it's just making him sound like he's full of sh!t.
 

OGRipper

back alley ripper
Feb 3, 2004
10,654
1,129
NORCAL is the hizzle
Yeah that's what I've been saying. He was responding to Schleck's attack, not doing his own. He's either lying or totally confused about what happened. It looked like he had the legs to bring Andy back on that attack but damn Andy was having a stellar day and it's impossible to know what would have happened. I really wish they were able to duke it out fairly. It was one of Schleck's last chances to get more time.

The whole thing sucks, but you can bet it will motivate Schleck for the rest of the race.
 

dante

Unabomber
Feb 13, 2004
8,807
9
looking for classic NE singletrack
What an F'ING DICK. He absolutely knew what the F was going on, and he was attacking to ensure that he'd be in yellow. I liked him up until now, even excusing the attack when Vino was in the lead a couple days ago, but this is complete bullsh!t.
 

blue

boob hater
Jan 24, 2004
10,160
2
california
As much as I dislike Lance, I'd like to seem him try to play spoiler against Cuntador tomorrow...

That or have Fabian pull a Thor from a couple years ago and rape a climbing stage.
 

BikeMike

Monkey
Feb 24, 2006
784
0
I think this idiot forgets that he's not the only one watching the race. I for one was watching Andy in front accelerating away from Contador when he dropped his chain. Contador was not on the attack at all... He was 3rd wheel with a 3-4 bike gap between himself and Andy. Contador's attack came right after Schleck dropped his chain, not before.
[edit: I am an idiot and apparently can't tell the difference between Vino and AC.]
Strange. I don't know which race you were watching, but Contador was clearly catching Schleck. He was not 3rd wheel. There was no one between them. He kept pace as he went by, sat down, and Schleck was still pedaling the whole time. Did he look back to check if everything was OK? No. Did he accelerate again after cruising past without looking back? Yes. Was he concerned about what Schleck was up to behind him? No, not until there was a pretty good sized gap. [/idiot]

Normally, at the speed they were traveling, it is possible to get a chain back on without dismounting, in which case it would have been a good time to punch the gas just a bit. There's a fine line there. Would you slow down for someone because they took an unfortunate line around a corner and spun a wheel on some gravel, loosing momentum, but staying upright? I'd keep going.

Andy loosing time because he dropped a chain wasn't what anyone wanted to see (though he did panic, and he lost (more) time because he panicked.) It's not awesome at all, and it totally would have been a cool feel-good story if Contador had been more concerned about what was happening and waited for Schleck, but it's a race. Stuff happens.
 
Last edited:

Silver

find me a tampon
Jul 20, 2002
10,840
1
Orange County, CA
Lance seems to be doing a ****ty job of riding for Levi like he said he would. Doesn't seem like he has taken a single pull and he doesn't seeming to be pusing himself very hard. If he is resting for a stage win time is running out, you need to be both lucky and strong to win and it may take a try or two to pull it off.


Attack!
Attack!
Attack!
Attack!Attack!
You really think Lance was serious?

If you believe that, I have a stack of negative dope tests to show you :D
 

ire

Turbo Monkey
Aug 6, 2007
6,196
4
Contador was behind Vino, who was behind Schleck, a bit.
:stupid:

Vino darted across the gap with Contador taking more time to come across.

On another note, Lance is in the break going for the stage win. He doesn't seem to quite have the punch of years past. He needs to unload Damian if he is to win.
 

OGRipper

back alley ripper
Feb 3, 2004
10,654
1,129
NORCAL is the hizzle
^^^ Ha! Awesome.

Lennard Zinn over at Velonews has as plausible a theory as anyone:

http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/07/news/technical-qa-with-lennard-zinn-why-did-schlecks-chain-come-off_130090

Makes sense that it would have happened during an upshift. He would not have been shifting out of his big ring at that point. He was getting a gap and would have needed a bigger gear.

As for the whole notion about it being unique to sram derailleurs, I have no idea but if it's true there is going to be a whole lot of face-palming.

So, user error combined with a bad design costs schleck a legit chance to gain time while wearing the yellow jersey? Ouch.
 

-dustin

boring
Jun 10, 2002
7,155
1
austin
Look at the video posted with the mechanic washing the bike. The cage on the RD doesn't look like a Red cage (and the pulley doesn't appear to be a SRAM pulley).

I don't know if I really buy into Zinns description. Who knows.

I still want to see the chain. I'd also like to see his power data after the "oops".

And I'm so stealing that picture.
 
Last edited:

MMcG

Ride till you puke!
Dec 10, 2002
15,457
12
Burlington, Connecticut
It sucks that Contador did what he did, but I also think it is ridonculous for all these companies to have "special" yellow bikes for when their guy is in yellow...........just ride the same color bike as everyone else already. sheesh

Rant over.

Now...............I hope Andy Schleck gets all sorts of revenge on Alberto before all is said and done this year! Go Andy Go!
 

golgiaparatus

Out of my element
Aug 30, 2002
7,340
41
Deep in the Jungles of Oklahoma
Strange. I don't know which race you were watching, but Contador was clearly catching Schleck. He was not 3rd wheel. There was no one between them. He kept pace as he went by, sat down, and Schleck was still pedaling the whole time.
I'm watching the TDF... difference is I can tell the difference between Vino and Contador... watch the video posted on the last page. The guy on Andy's wheel is Vino. Same guy who kept pace and "sat down" after he passed. Notice Schleck looking down and coming to a stand still... at that point, Contador who was 3rd wheel, goes by, full gas, out of the saddle.

I stand by my statement... Contador has no class. Apology or not. If you do something dickish and then apologize... you still did it... you're still a dick.
 

blue

boob hater
Jan 24, 2004
10,160
2
california
I'm wearing my KOM Virenque QuickStep kit on recovery days to piss off the annual TDF freakshow on the roads.

Hilarity is definitely ensuing.
 

GravityFreakTJ

leg shavin roadie
Jul 14, 2003
2,947
0
at a road race near you
I have never been an AC fan but I saw nothing wrong with what he did. Andy was attacking, flubbed a shift and AC took advantage. Might be diff if they were just tempo'n up the road.
What gets me is ole pistole saying he didn't see what happened. Really? You are watching the yellow jersey attack , watch his bike hop in the air, watch Andy set down and stare at his cranks and coast? How the crap do you not notice.
Does EPO cause eyesight loss?
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,446
20,248
Sleazattle
The "don't attack when someone has a problem rule" has rarely happened IMO. How many contenders in the past few tours have been dropped in a stage when the field was split with a crash? Who held up for Contador when he flatted at the end of the cobble stage? Racing is just as much about knowing how to handle your bike and bringing durable equipment as it is about bringing legs.