Another tangential question. I notice Chris Boardman has been riding an unbranded bike for his 'this is the final bit of the stage' reporting. From the dimensions it looks like a Boardman carbon frame- is this a new prototype or have ITV asked him to remove the logos as it amounts to free advertising?
I think he mentioned (on Twitter maybe) that it is a Boardman bike minus the branding. He always seems to be wearing a Boardman logo shirt when he's on it though.
Another tangential question. I notice Chris Boardman has been riding an unbranded bike for his 'this is the final bit of the stage' reporting. From the dimensions it looks like a Boardman carbon frame- is this a new prototype or have ITV asked him to remove the logos as it amounts to free advertising?
I think he mentioned (on Twitter maybe) that it is a Boardman bike minus the branding. He always seems to be wearing a Boardman logo shirt when he's on it though.
yep, not allowed to advertise, just like last year.
poor old wiggo. got lucky last year i guess with the easier tour, TTT and alot of soft pedalling by astana to keep armstrong in the race. it was pretty boring last year compared to this year though. anyway. good for wiggo making a decent wodge of cash from Sky, i feel like my HD sub has been put to good use.
To me he was wrong - it was a mechanical and Contador looked like he saw it and decided to take advantage - no different to seeing a rival puncture and immediately hitting the gas. If I was the Saxo DS from now on if I saw Contador puncture Cancellera and Jens would be on the front with the hammer down straight away.
Tend to agree with Pops, and indeed from the footage of the yellow jersey presentation it didn't seem a popular move. Thought Contador was a little disengenuous talking about how he slowed in Spa when Andy crashed. To me it sounded a bit like 'well I stopped at that Zebra crossing, so I didn't need to stop this time'. Will be interesting to see how tomorrow pans out- looks like an absolute killer of a day (2 off Cat 1s, 2 off HC) but with the long downhill drag it seems unlikely to be a good day for a decisive breakaway for Andy.
I think contador should have waited - he clearly saw schleck throwing the chain. Not sure how cos I didn't see him move to change gear. Anyway contador has the exact same gruppo so hopefully it will happen to him too !
Now it's out in the open so to speak, I have to say, I agree that he should have waited...according to popular opinion, Contador would stuff Schleck on the TT anyway....I think this shows that Contador is scared of Schleck and not confident that he can put enough time into him on the TT so he's taken an unsportsmanlike advantage of a mechanical failure / fault....I hope that Andy really stuffs AC on the hills....
Should make for an interesting couple of days.....
Oh, and Cougie...click the link...she is a babe....
He's still a villain as far as I'm concerned....he's just trying to save face...I really hope AS beats the crap out of him in the mountains....probably won't happen and how much time would he need to mitigate the time lost in the TT? How much better is Contador at TT?
General consensus is about 2 minutes. I reckon that's too much to leave to the Tourmalet on Thursday unless Contador blows completely - he needs something today.
On the positive side Schleck did look to have cracked descending yesterday - I thought he limited his losses really well given that Sanchez is meant to be quick down a hill and Contador and Menchov were both working too whereas Schleck seemed to get limited help from VDB.
I hope some crazed nutter comes out of the crowd pushes Contador over, bang out of order what he did yesterday. Today should be interesting - esp. as someone's already posted a 'spoiler' thread so somethings happened (unless it's someone who's done what I should have done and taken the day off).
In the post race interview, Contador said that he hadn't realised that Schlek's chain was off. From the way he said it I figured he was lying. And from the slow motion replays he could see perfectly that Andy had had an mechanical something or other. Then he apologised later, so he definitely knew. But he's too nice a person to be a real villain so I felt a bit sorry for him when he got booed.
Poor Andy tore up that hill after them like a condemned man -impressive. And made for a very exciting finish.
However, I think Sanchez (my personal favourite) and Menchov have come out of this better than anyone and may even push Schlek off the podium. But after Contador launched that attack they had no choice but to follow I suppose.
Mmmm, any ideas what to do tonight? Actually I'm out - nice piece of timing given it's the rest day. Hopefully the Tour will get decided tomorrow as I won't be near a TV on Saturday!
I am so looking forward to today....I also hope as said before that Shleck gives it a real go and puts a couple of minutes into Contador....just as revenge for what happened on Tuesday and to give him a chance in the GC as he will no doubt lose time on the TT....
Comments
I think he mentioned (on Twitter maybe) that it is a Boardman bike minus the branding. He always seems to be wearing a Boardman logo shirt when he's on it though.
yep, not allowed to advertise, just like last year.
poor old wiggo. got lucky last year i guess with the easier tour, TTT and alot of soft pedalling by astana to keep armstrong in the race. it was pretty boring last year compared to this year though. anyway. good for wiggo making a decent wodge of cash from Sky, i feel like my HD sub has been put to good use.
Beat me to it DTES....
Great stage today...controversial....should be a cracker tomorrow..
So what do people make of todays "incident" then ?
I think they should have waited.......
Assume everyone has watched it now.
If not stop reading.
To me he was wrong - it was a mechanical and Contador looked like he saw it and decided to take advantage - no different to seeing a rival puncture and immediately hitting the gas. If I was the Saxo DS from now on if I saw Contador puncture Cancellera and Jens would be on the front with the hammer down straight away.
undecided about it.
Will be interesting to see how tomorrow pans out- looks like an absolute killer of a day (2 off Cat 1s, 2 off HC) but with the long downhill drag it seems unlikely to be a good day for a decisive breakaway for Andy.
I think contador should have waited - he clearly saw schleck throwing the chain. Not sure how cos I didn't see him move to change gear. Anyway contador has the exact same gruppo so hopefully it will happen to him too !
Now it's out in the open so to speak, I have to say, I agree that he should have waited...according to popular opinion, Contador would stuff Schleck on the TT anyway....I think this shows that Contador is scared of Schleck and not confident that he can put enough time into him on the TT so he's taken an unsportsmanlike advantage of a mechanical failure / fault....I hope that Andy really stuffs AC on the hills....
Should make for an interesting couple of days.....
Oh, and Cougie...click the link...she is a babe....
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/contador-makes-youtube-apology-to-schleck
youtube apology - shame he didn't get the velonews girl to deliver it.
At least he apologised - a bit half hearted but better than nothing - shame really as this tour needs a good villain.
General consensus is about 2 minutes. I reckon that's too much to leave to the Tourmalet on Thursday unless Contador blows completely - he needs something today.
On the positive side Schleck did look to have cracked descending yesterday - I thought he limited his losses really well given that Sanchez is meant to be quick down a hill and Contador and Menchov were both working too whereas Schleck seemed to get limited help from VDB.
In the post race interview, Contador said that he hadn't realised that Schlek's chain was off. From the way he said it I figured he was lying. And from the slow motion replays he could see perfectly that Andy had had an mechanical something or other. Then he apologised later, so he definitely knew. But he's too nice a person to be a real villain so I felt a bit sorry for him when he got booed.
Poor Andy tore up that hill after them like a condemned man -impressive. And made for a very exciting finish.
However, I think Sanchez (my personal favourite) and Menchov have come out of this better than anyone and may even push Schlek off the podium. But after Contador launched that attack they had no choice but to follow I suppose.
Yeah I'm off to London to see the ITU at the weekend. Stoopid boy. Missed the start due to IMDE and now I'm missingthe finish !
Thursday could be a blood bath i reckon - and eeevil after a rest day !
i can't see lance doing anything. he looks so old.
looking forward to today. on holiday so i'll catch the last bit int he afternoon.
I am so looking forward to today....I also hope as said before that Shleck gives it a real go and puts a couple of minutes into Contador....just as revenge for what happened on Tuesday and to give him a chance in the GC as he will no doubt lose time on the TT....
Cougs....what's the ITU?
ITU= International Triathon Union- it's the London leg of the world series this weekend
http://www.triathlon.org/news/article/london_world_champs_preview/
Cheers FeFe
Bit keen there Cougster....hoping for a few tips???