SPOILER ALERT if you havent seen todays stage

[GIANTboy]

Here is good question for the forum...was it right for Contador to attack the yellow jersey after having a mechanical malfunction on the way up the mountain?
Personally I think it was a cheep shot and totally un-sportsman like. Any thoughts?

[Scott Baker]

It was within the rules to not wait on Schleck, but good sportsmanship would say otherwise. Remember when Ulrich crashed off into the ravine and Armstrong waited on him? Or when Armstrong got crashed by the musette bag and the group waited on him? I really think Contador is afraid of Andy and took advantage of the situation. The heat of the moment makes people react differently. Contador said he did not see what happened, but after the attach Andy laid out to then suddenly stop would raise a common sense red flag. However, is was a "fair" reaction even though I think it was in poor sportsmanship.

[GIANTboy]

I would agree. After watching it again you could tell that Contador saw the chain slip. He was behind Schleck by at lest 4 bike lengths and then kicked it seemed after Schleck had set down and almost dismounted. It makes me sick really. Of course its well within side Contador's nature to be completely un-sportsman like.

[mvi]

Andy did not wait for AC in the Roubaix stage when the pack split because of a crash, but went on full throttle.
It was kind of OK for AC to do so IMO.
ps Shimano cassettes and chains back on Andy's bike today I bet.

[YellowLemondTed]

I don't think the Andy attack in the Roubaix and the AC attack in the tour are completely comparable. I don't think that just because there was a crash, Andy should have waited for AC. That goes more to position in the peloton when the crash happened. AC was not at that race for anything but experiencing the cobbles before the tour. Had they both been leading, then get held up, it would have made more sense for Andy to wait for AC and be a good sport.

When Schlek's chain dropped, and AC went hard, that was a bit unsportsmanlike. Especially when AC and Andy are the two that are really racing for yellow in this year's tour. I think it does show some fear that AC has for Andy and how strong of a competitor he's been this month.

[mvi]

I can find me more in Sastre's comments today (from VN site):
quote:
Sastre said the peloton is taking things too far when it comes to “fair play.”

“Whoever wants to make a polemic out of this can do it freely. I have fallen in this Tour, I fell during the Giro, I have had mechanical problems, and nobody ever waited for me,” Sastre said. “I think we are turning cycling into a baby’s playpen and that’s what happens in these circumstances.”


Much like Lance Armstrong’s failed bid for a stage win Tuesday, Sastre’s ride across the Pyrénées was his last shot at glory during this Tour.

Sastre got stuck in “no man’s land” midway through Thursday’s stage in a failed bid to bridge out to the day’s seven-man breakaway and eventually was swept up by the peloton at the base of the Col du Tourmalet.

The 2008 Tour champion came into this year’s Tour racked with injuries from two serious falls in the Giro d’Italia and has not been a factor on GC. After his stage victory bid fell short, he slipped to 21st overall at 25:50.

Sastre has not revealed if this will be his final Tour, but he sounded philosophical following Thursday’s stage.

“Today’s stage provided plenty lot of material for commentary. For some it was crazy, for others it was stupid, and others a day of courage and bravery. For me, it was a day to enjoy being on the bike,” Sastre said. “Today’s stage gave me something more than a victory. I believe that victories are important, but the defeats are even more so, because they teach you a lot. Today’s stage taught me something new about myself that I didn’t know. I am content to have tried, to have fought and to have come back to the race that I like more than any other with motivation.”
end quote
And that was beautiful said.