Erases any question about who owns this year’s tour, doesn’t it. I almost feel sorry for Contador. Aced out of the tour by poltics last year. This year when he should have enjoyed favorite status and been able to ride the race he wanted, all of the Lance controversy came into play. I know he has made some questionable tactical moves, but I can see his point as well. If he had a chance to put some time into Wiggins (and yes, Lance as well) I don’t blame him for taking it. Kloden by rights should have been able to keep up, and when he couldn’t Contador didn’t push as hard as he could have.
You have to admire the talent this guy has.
I admire Lance’s guts in coming back and doing well, but he took all the oxygen away from great performances by some of the other riders. I think in a couple years when the Schleck brothers gain some maturity, there will be great racing between themselves and Contador, with maybe Martin thrown in.
And you didn’t mention the Astana funding problems earlier in the year.
You’re right, Mom MD, AC has had a lot of distractions off the bike. Probably wondering what happened.
He also put a lot of oxygen into the race too, though - there's no doubt his presence & the leadership "controversies" have generated a lot of excitement & ensuing public interest in all the teams & riders which wouldn't have been there had he stayed home this year, even among the French public.
But I sure hear what you're saying. At the end of the day, it was frustrating to see the whole brouhaha about Contador bolting from Kloden take away from Thor's extraordinary performance yesterday. I mean he's a sprinting specialist & he won - what was it? the first three mountain stages?LOL! For a while there when he was chugging up the sides of those cols, you could imagine him winning the green AND the polka dot jersey for the stage. And yet after Alberto dropped Kloden, that's all everybody (including me) wanted to talk about. So Kloden not only got the short end of the stick - in a way, so did Thor.
I feel the same way that you do. It seems to me Contador is the best racer in this tour, but not only is he still waiting for proper public support from his team leaders, but Lance keeps calling him out on Twitter of all places. I was wondering yesterday if talking smack about your teammates is considered “following team orders. always.” :-)