OFFICIAL 2025 Tour de France thread

Pats54

imalive wrote:

Share Updated: July 20, 2010, 7:56 AM ET

Contador apologizes to Schleck

MADRID -- Spanish cyclist Alberto Contador has apologized for the way he took over the lead in the Tour de France from rival Andy Schleck.

During Monday's stage, Schleck's chain came off and Contador kept riding, rather than waiting in accordance with race etiquette.

In a video posted on YouTube, Contador said: "Maybe I made a mistake. I'm sorry. I don't like things like what happened today, I'm not like that and I hope the relationship that I have with Andy can go back to being as good as it was before this happened."

Contador initially insisted he hadn't seen that Schleck had a problem.

The tour continues Tuesday with the 16th stage.



Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

can I get a grain of salt with that? :think:

I love "Maybe I made a mistake" What a shitty way to lose yellow though.

polaris_x

yeah ... like i said yesterday, i'm pretty sure alberto knew there was an issue and by the way he was looking back constantly up the rest of the climb - i'm guessing he was kinda hoping he would see andy ... hopefully, the tour won't be decided by these 40 seconds ...

the long descent finish today is kinda ruining the stage ... nothing is gonna happen ... we'll see if lance can win a stage ...

Pats54

polaris_x wrote:

yeah ... like i said yesterday, i'm pretty sure alberto knew there was an issue and by the way he was looking back constantly up the rest of the climb - i'm guessing he was kinda hoping he would see andy ... hopefully, the tour won't be decided by these 40 seconds ...

the long descent finish today is kinda ruining the stage ... nothing is gonna happen ... we'll see if lance can win a stage ...

Much better when they have the Mt. top finishes.

polaris_x

Pats54 wrote:

polaris_x wrote:

yeah ... like i said yesterday, i'm pretty sure alberto knew there was an issue and by the way he was looking back constantly up the rest of the climb - i'm guessing he was kinda hoping he would see andy ... hopefully, the tour won't be decided by these 40 seconds ...

the long descent finish today is kinda ruining the stage ... nothing is gonna happen ... we'll see if lance can win a stage ...

Much better when they have the Mt. top finishes.

yeah ... how can you have a stage with two cat 1 and two HC climbs and have no change in the top of the GC standing? ... ridiculous ...

nuffingman

Hopefully all the talk of AS and AC will give way to the racing. Not sure what all the fuss was about as AC had already stopped for AC during the tour and how many times do they have to. Next we'll have F1 drivers pulling over for a guy with a flat.

If you take part in a sport where you can be at the mercy of a mechanical object you have to take the knocks.

This tour is excellent and it's a shame it finishes Sunday.

norm

from ac's twitter:

@andy_schleck and me have been talking in the race about yesterday and our relationship will not change.We are good friends.

PJGirl321

quote] I bet LA would be a little closer if not for those crashes and prob on pace for a podium finish. At this point in his career no longer in the same class as the pure climber's. From what I was reading BMC was pushing a monster pace. Looks like Astana's team so far has been the strongest as AC has been surrounded by his team for good parts of the climbs. Levi not in the same class as those guys either.[/quote]


LA would absolutley be in a better place and poised for the podium if not for the crashes and the flat tire during the earlier stages. He came into TDF in good form this year after placing 2nd in the GC for Tour de Suisse. I don't think he anticipated these circumstances when he announced 2010 would be his last TDF. I would be surprised if he retracts and is back next year. I see the podium being AC, AS but not sure who to call as a possible 3rd. Though I would love to see Levi up there. He's 7 in GC right now.

Good to see some cycling fans here. Maybe we'll see a PJ cycling jersey in the Goods section someday. :thumbup:

PJGirl321

PJGirl321 wrote:

quote] I bet LA would be a little closer if not for those crashes and prob on pace for a podium finish. At this point in his career no longer in the same class as the pure climber's. From what I was reading BMC was pushing a monster pace. Looks like Astana's team so far has been the strongest as AC has been surrounded by his team for good parts of the climbs. Levi not in the same class as those guys either.

LA would absolutley be in a better place and poised for the podium if not for the crashes and the flat tire during the earlier stages. He came into TDF in good form this year after placing 2nd in the GC for Tour de Suisse. I don't think he anticipated these circumstances when he announced 2010 would be his last TDF. I would be surprised if he retracts and is back next year. I see the podium being AC, AS but not sure who to call as a possible 3rd. Though I would love to see Levi up there. He's 7 in GC right now.

Good to see some cycling fans here. Maybe we'll see a PJ cycling jersey in the Goods section someday. :thumbup:[/quote]

I meant to say I "wouldn't" be surprised if LA retracts and is back next year.

Pats54

PJGirl321 wrote:

PJGirl321 wrote:

quote] I bet LA would be a little closer if not for those crashes and prob on pace for a podium finish. At this point in his career no longer in the same class as the pure climber's. From what I was reading BMC was pushing a monster pace. Looks like Astana's team so far has been the strongest as AC has been surrounded by his team for good parts of the climbs. Levi not in the same class as those guys either.

LA would absolutley be in a better place and poised for the podium if not for the crashes and the flat tire during the earlier stages. He came into TDF in good form this year after placing 2nd in the GC for Tour de Suisse. I don't think he anticipated these circumstances when he announced 2010 would be his last TDF. I would be surprised if he retracts and is back next year. I see the podium being AC, AS but not sure who to call as a possible 3rd. Though I would love to see Levi up there. He's 7 in GC right now.

Good to see some cycling fans here. Maybe we'll see a PJ cycling jersey in the Goods section someday. :thumbup:

I meant to say I "wouldn't" be surprised if LA retracts and is back next year.[/quote]

I believe he is racing next year just not at the TDF. The one crash where he slide on is back at 40MPH I think really took a lot out of him. Really tough for him to compete with the younger riders at this point in his career. Would love to see him ride some of the one day spring classics (Paris Roubaix) Nice to see him on the break yesterday. When was the last time we saw that. Terrible stage b/c the finish was all downhill. With those MT's should have been a MT finish.
Yes a PJ Jersey that says I'm still alive as I haul my ass up the big hills here in central mass.

Pats54

nuffingman wrote:

Hopefully all the talk of AS and AC will give way to the racing. Not sure what all the fuss was about as AC had already stopped for AC during the tour and how many times do they have to. Next we'll have F1 drivers pulling over for a guy with a flat.

If you take part in a sport where you can be at the mercy of a mechanical object you have to take the knocks.

This tour is excellent and it's a shame it finishes Sunday.

They don't stop the clock on a TT if you have a problem.

AC can settle all of this by winning with a 2+ minute cushion.

Always hate it when the tour ends

polaris_x

Pats54 wrote:

They don't stop the clock on a TT if you have a problem.

AC can settle all of this by winning with a 2+ minute cushion.

Always hate it when the tour ends

you aren't really racing against the clock in a regular stage ... you are racing your fellow competitors relative to each other ... i believe tradition in sport is a good thing ... especially when it comes to fair play ... in soccer if a guy is really hurt - the other team kicks the ball away and then gets the ball right back ... i think this is one of those good traditions in cycling ... alberto believes in it hence his apology ...

sucks it's a rest day ... as for the tour itself ... i'm kinda torn ... although there has been some fantastic stuff early on ... the pyrenees have been a dud except for chaingate ... hardly much change at the top of the GC capped off by yesterday's stage ... so, i'm really hoping for some carnage in the GC standings tomorrow and a TT that will be close ...

Pats54

polaris_x wrote:

Pats54 wrote:

They don't stop the clock on a TT if you have a problem.

AC can settle all of this by winning with a 2+ minute cushion.

Always hate it when the tour ends

you aren't really racing against the clock in a regular stage ... you are racing your fellow competitors relative to each other ... i believe tradition in sport is a good thing ... especially when it comes to fair play ... in soccer if a guy is really hurt - the other team kicks the ball away and then gets the ball right back ... i think this is one of those good traditions in cycling ... alberto believes in it hence his apology ...

sucks it's a rest day ... as for the tour itself ... i'm kinda torn ... although there has been some fantastic stuff early on ... the pyrenees have been a dud except for chaingate ... hardly much change at the top of the GC capped off by yesterday's stage ... so, i'm really hoping for some carnage in the GC standings tomorrow and a TT that will be close ...

Just throwing that out there. I feel he should have waited as that is the tradition in cycling. He can end it all by putting in a monster ride tomorrow and put some time between himself and AS.

Agreed, how can you have huge climbs like yesterday and not have a shake-up in the GC with some real fireworks on the road. Really disappointing. Saw a show the other night recapping on of LA's wins ( think it was 03). Really miss big Jan. Can't believe how he rode up those mountain passes and never stood up. His knee's must be junk. The question I have is will AC win a stage this year???

Kloddz

Turns out AC apologized to AS, and the apology was accepted, so all the talk about this incident should stop now, and all of us should appreciate tomorrow's stage, which I hope will be a huge - and fair - battle between the two. (The atmosphere in Luxembourg is pretty heated up because of this now, and I as a Luxembourger think that it's not gonna be those 30-something seconds that will win or lose the TDF for either of the two, so people should really calm down now...) May the better win, simple as that.

As to whether AC will win a stage, either tomorrow (although I hope - and dare to think - that AS is stronger in the mountains this year and will win tomorrow, however without opening a significant enough time gap over AC to win it all), or Saturday's time trial (which may depend on how well Cancellara has recovered from his mid-week illness - reports have it he had a slight cold - because I think those two will be the ones that it comes down to in that stage) are the last remaining chances.

Riverrunner

[urhttp://www.cyclingnews.com/news/roche-furious-at-gadret-for-not-helping-with-tyrel][/url]

The same day as the chain dropping incident, Roche's (AG2R) team-mate Gadret refused to stop and help Roche when he had a flat. Apparently Roche is team leader. Not only did Gadret refuse to stop but he attacked! Ha! Roche was/is furious. He said if Gadret was found dead in his hotel room he [Roche] would be the number 1 suspect. I bet their team dinners are a little stressful.

polaris_x

Pats54 wrote:

Just throwing that out there. I feel he should have waited as that is the tradition in cycling. He can end it all by putting in a monster ride tomorrow and put some time between himself and AS.

Agreed, how can you have huge climbs like yesterday and not have a shake-up in the GC with some real fireworks on the road. Really disappointing. Saw a show the other night recapping on of LA's wins ( think it was 03). Really miss big Jan. Can't believe how he rode up those mountain passes and never stood up. His knee's must be junk. The question I have is will AC win a stage this year???

ya ... big Jan that guy rode up the alps on his big ring! ... i still can see him riding off the mtn into a creek and carrying his bike up the hill while lance waited ... hahahaha

AC's only chance a stage win is tomorrow ... however, i don't think any teams are strong enough to contain breakaways ... if a couple of nobody's break off - no one is gonna want to do the work to contain them similar to yesterday ... saxo bank is pretty much depleted and astana need to conserve to work on the final climb ... i can see a few guys take off and win tomorrow ... but they have to be nobody's well down in the GC ... i don't see AC winning the TT although both Cancellara and Millar are both fighting things so maybe ...

and kloddz - totally agree ... it helps that both AC and AS are good friends ... i suspect Andy will need at least 1.5 minutes on AC tomorrow for a chance at yellow in paris ... i also feel that if frank was around - andy would have at least that amount of time on AC by now ... poor Andy has been riding by himself with very little support ...

nuffingman

Can't wait for tomorrow. That looks like quite a big hill at the end!
Think I might watch the whole lot live and not just the highlights like I normally do.

Also a big hats in the air to the commentators. They can keep going if nothing is happening. Brilliant

Kloddz

I agree on the lacking support for Andy on the Saxo team after Frank crashed out, it's a real shame. Contador in comparison had Vinokourov, now that's another caliber... But: I hear both Schleck brothers will be running in the Vuelta in about a month (Frank is already back on the bike two weeks after the collarbone fracture, man these guys are real tough material :twisted: ) and maybe they will be able to support each other there the way they intended to do in the Tour - so good things to come. Plus, a new (Luxembourg based) team is in the talks for next year, with both of them as the corner stones of course, and hopefully some strong guys in support. And rumor has it that Riis (Saxo team manager) will try to lure Contador to Saxo to replace the Schlecks, which would be kinda odd...

As for tomorrow: yep, I also think a minute and a half would be the strict minimum advance Andy needs to have a shot at winning the GC, two would be better but will be tough to come by... Anyways, I'm looking forward to it! (And an unproductive day because my attention will be split between work and watching the live stream from around 4pm on )

PJGirl321

quote]I believe he is racing next year just not at the TDF. The one crash where he slide on is back at 40MPH I think really took a lot out of him. Really tough for him to compete with the younger riders at this point in his career. Would love to see him ride some of the one day spring classics (Paris Roubaix) Nice to see him on the break yesterday. When was the last time we saw that. Terrible stage b/c the finish was all downhill. With those MT's should have been a MT finish.
Yes a PJ Jersey that says I'm still alive as I haul my ass up the big hills here in central mass.[/quote]


Yes no doubt that Armstrong will do other races. Not to mention that Radio Shack put a lot of money and committement into building a team around him. But I don't think he wanted to leave TDF in this way. He was on the podium last year. On another note AC should have waited for Schlek. I know there is a lot of debate about it but precedents have been set in the sport.

We need a PJ Jersey. Stones, Dead, Floyd - they all have cycling jerseys.

Wobbie

Riverrunner wrote:

The same day as the chain dropping incident, Roche's (AG2R) team-mate Gadret refused to stop and help Roche when he had a flat. Apparently Roche is team leader. Not only did Gadret refuse to stop but he attacked! Ha! Roche was/is furious. He said if Gadret was found dead in his hotel room he [Roche] would be the number 1 suspect. I bet their team dinners are a little stressful.

:shock: :shock:

astana just seems like a monster. AC never seems to be w/o protection. who's the teamate with the breathe right strip, the gold medallion and the perpetually exhausted look? :?

i'm rooting for andy and i'm hoping for some big time drama on the tormalet tomorrow....no more of this "same time" crap!

Wobbie

whoa!!! old news, i'm sure, but paul and phil are having words! :shock:

"you've never ridden a tour de france, phil"