Tour de France Stage 14 & 15
July 19th, 2010 |Stage 14: boring…
Stage 15: Not boring!
From the video above:
0:01 Schleck launches his attack
0:02 Vino begins his chase
0:06 Contador begins his chase
0:11 Schleck has his chain problem
0:14 Vino catches Schleck and seems to soft pedal past him
0:15 Contador catches Schleck, no soft pedaling
0:19 Schleck is off his bike, Contador continues full on
0:40 Schleck is finally back on his bike and begins to chase Contador
Was Contador obliged to wait for Schleck? No way. As opposed to the Ullrich crash of 2001 where Armstrong waited, this was the final few kilometers of the final climb of the stage. This was not some miscellaneous climb a hundred kilometers from the finish of the stage. And as much as people have been enjoying quoting this event from the 2001 Tour today, there are other historical cases that show Contador was well within the spirit of the race to keep the hammer down.
The 1999 crash on Le Passage de Gois? Armstrong sent his team to the front and GC contenders like Zulle and Boogerd lost six minutes by the finish. Should Armstrong have waited for those guys?
Look at Stage 3 of the Tour this year. Cancellara is at the front with Schleck on his wheel as the carnage of the cobble sections take out rider after rider. Contador himself was involved in a crash. Did he whine and complain about unfair tactics once the stage was over? Not at all. As a matter of fact, who did complain? Schleck’s own team mate Jens Voigt.
The 2003 crash of Beloki on the descent into Gap? Did Armstrong wait? No way. Why? Because Vino was up the road and putting time into the group.
Keep in mind that Contador made his move today before Schleck had his problem. If he would have pulled up his attack would Sánchez and Menchov also sat up? Contador may not have the prestige and respect of the peloton to be able to enforce a neutralization.
In addition, Schleck?s problem was not a crash or a flat or some other form of bad luck. It appeared that Schleck was shifting under load from the small ring to the big ring and through his chain off the crankset. This is not bad luck, it?s either bad mechanical work or just trying to force a shift under too much torque. Add to that there was obviously no chain guard on the frame to keep the chain from dropping off to the inside of the crankset when Schleck attempted to get the chain back on the rings. I?ve seen these chain guards used by pros lots of times in order to avoid this very problem. Why was it not used on Schleck?s bike?
My opinion is that Contador, despite his near total lack of personality as well as the fact that no one really seems to like the guy, was totally within his racing rights to keep the pressure on today.
That being said, it?s not how I would want to win the Tour de France.
Now Schleck is all mad. We shall see what he can do with his fury.
23 Responses to “Tour de France Stage 14 & 15”
In addition, Schleck’s problem was not a crash or a flat or some other form of bad luck. It appeared that Schleck was shifting under load from the small ring to the big ring and through his chain off the crankset. This is not bad luck, it’s either bad mechanical work or just trying to force a shift under too much torque.
I agree 100%. If we start expecting races to be neutralized due to self-made problems (instead of incidents beyond one’s control, i.e. flat tires and the like), well, that’s no longer a sport I’m interested in watching.
Added bonus: This episode has given new life to @lancearmstrong’s fanboys. Instead of trying to think up excuses for their hero’s failings, they have now become very vocal against Contador, who is seen as one of the villains most responsible for last year’s unraveling of Der Lance. And that’s always fun to watch, too. Suckers.
Well, I watched it over and over and over again, and he was already in the big ring, it was an issue at the rear derailleur or something. When it happened, he was shifting with his right hand. After the problem, he shifted the front derailleur with his left hand to try to get the chain sorted. Also, by the time Sanchez and Menchov went by, Schleck was off his bike, so those two can’t claim ignorance (nor can Contador claim that he was just responding to them, didn’t know what was going on, etc.).
What about in 2003 when Ullrich waited for Lance on after the mussette bag took him out – wasn’t that on a crucial climb at the end of the Tour?
What about that fact that, unlike early in the race when there were a lot of players and unclear circumstances, by this point the Tour has basically come down to a two-horse race. Sportsmanlike conduct is less of a question mark. No, there is no rule against attacking when your opponent is down (or in the feedzone, etc.), but if you’re going to do it be prepared for everyone to call you a douche, especially if you seem to change your story between interviews.
The race is not completely over. There will be no major changes tomorrow, and coming out of the rest day, Astana will have to defend and drag everyone over a pair of Cat1s before Saxo Bank kills them off at the base of the Tourmalet. The big question is whether Schleck will lead by seconds or minutes. That’s going to decide the GC.
I’ll say that the last 49 seconds Contador has gained weren’t altogether honorable, but I think this is less about hating to see Contador win this way than Schleck losing it.
I’ve watched the sequence a few times now, but can’t detect the shift that actually dropped the chain. Expect an overnight shipment of Classics kit from the Saxo Bank service course.
History repeats itself.
It looked, to me, like a dropped chain induced by a case of chainsuck, then chain jam. Kind of a strange thing to happen on a road bike, especially one with (presumably) relatively new drivetrain components.
Fully agree, though. It was not on Contador to ‘wait’ for Schleck when other contenders clearly weren’t willing to wait, either.
I hate how people bring up Lance waiting for Ulrich, but they never bring up the passage de gois. When I talk to the casual cycling fan (I mean Lance fan) at the office I point what happened in the 1999 tour.
Contador shouldn’t have apologized. He should have said “Él comenzĂł su ataque, seguĂ y su cadena caĂda. No espero al jinete tonto de Luxemburgo que doesn’ t sabe cambiar de puesto. ¡Soy Contador, destructor de montañas! ¡Asesino de la lanza!”
I am excited to see what Lance has up his sleeves
@Little D: +1 Little D manda!
I shout “Flat!” all the time on the hills and no one ever stops for me.
I’m with Smithers on this one.
A flat is a random mechanical, it could happen to anyone at any time. Dumping it after hooking a spectator’s mussette strap is a random mechanical.
Throwing a chain means either the rider or his mechanic screwed up. That’s not a random mechanical. Schleck should realize that not being able to maintain or operate your bike is a legitimate problem.
And maybe at the same time someone could explain to him that he was supposed to attack on the steeper slopes lower down, that he wasn’t going to ride away from anyone on the flatter roads near the top. Sheesh. I was expecting a little tactical nous from a guy that is going to get smoked in the TT and needs time.
@Little D: Only a total doosh would say that.
saxo rides SRAM, yea? and don’t the saxo guys also use Specialized cranks with said SRAM components? (correct me if I am wrong.) It looked to me, too, like chain-suck. watch how he get’s bucked forward and rear wheel comes off the ground. something gets lodged and transfers his forward momentum into a buck rather than into progress of the expected variety.
I’m not sayin’. I’m just saying.
at this day and age, one should be able to shift under load and expect the drivetrain not to get all lodged up somewheres. for some, light weight and cheap price is paramount — bummer if that’s what causes schleck to loose the tour. what am I saying, he wasn’t going to win the tour anyway….
“what am I saying, he wasn’t going to win the tour anyway….”
That’s what got lost on all the noise. Schleck was not going to ride away from that group, not by attacking where he did. And I really don’t see him dropping Contador on the Tourmalet. He doesn’t have the team to set that up. Look at the team they brought, anyone think Spartacus and O’Grady are the guys to drive it and make people hurt on the climbs? Sure, it’d help to have Fränk there. But that isn’t a team designed for support in the mountains.
Contador will serve Schleck for lunch in Pauillac, Schleck’s fans will bring the whine. I wish someone could get a look at the bike to see if he was running non-SRAM jockey wheels. But if he was they are long gone by now.
@Bob Schwartz: I wish someone could get a look at the bike to see if he was running non-SRAM jockey wheels. But if he was they are long gone by now.
Like these?
Heh!
http://83.169.41.216/drupalprod/?q=Red
389€!! There is not a person here that wouldn’t hit the gas if someone with that stuff threw a chain.
this is awesome — a cacophony of bicycle components! 7/12th’s of a SRAM drivetrain + 4/12ths Specialized + 1/12th whatever that is = mechanical.
I wonder if L. Zinn would have approved…
Mr. Zinn wrote quite a few words to say “the chain dropped.” No need to link that, you’ll find it.
As for the €389 derailleur, MSRP on a standard top flight gruppo RD starts at around $300 for DA 7900, well over $400 for Super Record, Red is somewhere in the middle, and Di2 blows them all away.
“and Di2 blows them all away.”
indeed it does, sir. indeed it does.
Champs, are you seriously arguing drivetrain nuances with actual bike industry people?
What’s next, are you going to start explaining the ins and outs of the Tampa Cover 2 to Brett Favre?
@a. kruse: Little known fact #1: Bike industry people don’t know shit about bike set up.
Little known fact #2: Armchair QB’s know more about play calling than professional QB’s.
Little known fact #3: Every time I type QB I actually type QBP and have to go back and delete the “P”.
I’m not sure if those are nuances. A fancy 389 euro derailleur is expensive, but it’s more like getting the ceramic bearing upgrade (I think Red already has ceramic pulleys) than shelling out for Lightweights.
@Smithers: Well, thanks for shooting my theories about industry peeps knowing anything all to hell. You may not have wanted to tip your hand to me in that way – I’m sure I’ll remind you of that in the future…