Roche attacked this morning and got in a group with Kreuziger, Wiggins but Roche has since been dropped. Gadret was in peleton and trying to bridge the gap. What a cock!
Contador sort of apologised this morning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdOJLuePexs
eature=player_embedded
Roche looks to havebeen delayed for some reason and has fallen off the back of the pack with a few other.
Godo site for following events live here Le Tour Live
He is in a group with Sanchez x 2. Think he may have had another mechanical or perhaps has an injury.
Group of 10 riders over 6mins ahead of the pelaton, Armstrong and another Radioshack rider are in this group.
Would like to see Cunego do it.Rare high profile Italian rider who is clean.Decent kick so stuck a few bob on him at 9/2.He certainly won’t be gifting Armstrong the stage anyway
Armstrong better not win this, the cunt.
Stephen Roche said on Eurosport there that Contador was fully right to attack Schleck when his chain fell off yesterday. Says all the expert commentators were in full agreement with him in France too.
Has there ever been another incident like this in recent years? Seems to me it would happen quite a bit where a fella would get a puncture or something and his rival would then attack him. Or do they normally follow this ‘gentleman’s agreement’ not to do it?
Chiapucci attacked Lemond in 1990 after Lemond punctured.
Did he end up winning it? what was the reaction?
I think it was one of the Pyrennean stages, can’t remember exactly what happened on the stage but Lemond won the Tour. Chiapucci had gained about 15 minutes in one of the early flat stages and Lemond had to gradually chase him down over the course of the race.
Very rare for yellow jersey to be attacked in such circumstances. Heard few riders condemning Contador so Roche’s views certainly not universal.
Closest of tours was in 2003 when Armstrong held an extremely narrow lead on Ullrich and German had momentum going into stage 15. Armstrong crashed and Ullrich waited. When Ullrich waited he lost all momentum and Armstrong then attacked himself. Ironically Armstrong crashing could well have cost Ullrich that tour imo.
I remember watching that and thinking that Armstrong was a bit of a prick for attacking Ullrich straight away when he was pretty much stationery and waiting for him.
Yeah Armstrong later claimed that Tyler Hamilton (fella waving his arm) told him that Ullrich didn’t wait. Clear though that he did. Armstrong had lost over a minute to Ullrich on timetrial so was really all in the balance and Ullrich could easily have won that tour imo.
I obviously have not read all of this thread, so Larry or someone may referred to it earlier, but Lemond has been subpenoed to appear at a grand jury investigation into doping claims against Armstrong.
Their feud continues - Lemond’s wife seems bitter as well.
Yeah it is in the Armstrong thread. Will be very interesting to see what emerges. Armstrong allegedly tried to bribe someone to claim Lemond took EPO in his career. He has also threatened some of Landis’ friends. Doping in American cycling appears extremely sinister. Would make for a great film but plot might seem too far fetched to believe.
Kimmage was on radio this morning saying he considered this tour to be clean. Small time gaps between riders within top ten were something he used to back this up.
He had a piece on Sunday Times outlining how Sky had got their tactics wrong. They spend something like 6 million on getting Wiggins and have been very public about how they were going to be one step ahead of everyone in terms of preparation, equipment etc, Huge amount of money and seems to have backfired horribly. Transformation from track to road has been a lot harder than they thought. Hope Roche doesn’t end up there.
Kimmage is on Newstalk’s ‘Off The Ball’ tonight
He was as good as ever Larry. Was adamant that Contador was right to attack Scleck the other day, reckoned the apology meant nothing. He also said that Roche was wrong expecting his team mate to hand over his bike the other day when he was a far better climber than him. Sounded like he didnt have much time for Roche TBH. Perhaps a hangover from his ill feeling towards his father?
Gave Wiggins a slating too, said anyone who knew anything about the sport knew he wouldnt do it this year as the profile of the tour is far harder than last year.
Great racing this year; I fucking love Le Tour.
Alright Dan
Think Kimmage does actually like Roche from his comments before. He’s on record as saying he thinks he’s clean and one of the guys he feels sorry for. He’s not one to be blinded by patriotic or loyalties to mates etc so I imagine he’s genuine in that.
Fascinating guy on the sport still. He obviously wrote extensively on drugs and talks an awful lot about them and fair play to him for doing that. But he’s equally compelling on just writing or talking about the sport itself. His book is superb even without the exposé on the drugs.