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2010 Tour de France

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Yeah I don't like that he attacked the yellow like that as I remember Armstrong's crash and a mechanical with them waiting up for them. Speaking of Armstrong is he really in that bad of form this year or is he saving something for one last huzzah with a stage win?
 
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Contador takes yellow after Schleck mishap in Pyrenees
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The friendship is now apparently on hold.
"We're only here in a bike race, so let's leave it that way," Schleck said after a long pause, when asked if he and Contador were still friends. "I think everybody can make his opinion about the race today."
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By the finish, Schleck swatted back reporters and gritted his teeth in anger. Contador said such woes are part of the sport, and insisted he didn't know about his rival's troubles right away.
"Those are the circumstances of the race," he said. "I knew there would be a debate after that, but I attacked before I knew he had a problem with his chain, and I was already ahead when I knew it."
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Schleck himself benefited from Contador's sense of fair play earlier this Tour. In Stage 2 into Spa on July 5, the Spaniard waited when Schleck went down in one of an array of crashes on rain-slickened roads.
"Alberto was one of the guys who waited for me in Spa, so that was really 'chapeau' (hat's off)," said Schleck. "Today was a different story, a different scenario."
As the July 25 finish on the Champs-Elysees in Paris looms, the competition and nerves in the pack are heating up - but sportsmanship should still take precedence, Schleck said.
"Today, you know, everybody is in panic, they see already the Eiffel Tower. I would not have taken advantage of the situation," he said. "It's not up to me ... but for sure these guys don't get the fair play prize today."
"I wouldn't want to take the jersey like that."
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continued

Entire article: http://www.cbssports.com/cycling/st...wins-tour-de-france-stage?tag=headlines;other
 
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Contador made an apology after yesterday's stage.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdOJLuePexs]YouTube - Alberto Contador explains his feelings about Andy Schleck and himself after Stage 15[/ame]
 
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dragurd;1734668; said:
Yeah I don't like that he attacked the yellow like that as I remember Armstrong's crash and a mechanical with them waiting up for them. Speaking of Armstrong is he really in that bad of form this year or is he saving something for one last huzzah with a stage win?
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Lance got into the breakaway today. There were 10 guys, and on one of the big climbs he attacked. The group split for a while, with 4 other guys staying with him, but later on almost all of them caught up.

The stage had 4 big climbs, but since it ended with over 44k of downhill and flats, the main contenders didn't attack each other and just let the breakaway go. Borredo got away from a group of 8, and he led for 43k, but got caught with about 1000 meters left. Lance tried to go in the sprint, but didn't have the legs to accelerate after the long day and finished 6th. It was a solid showing, and will probably be the last time he'll finish near the front.

Tomorrow is a rest day, Thursday has the big finish at the top of the Col du Tourmalet, where Schleck has his last chance to attack Contador. Friday will be a flat stage for the sprinters, Saturday is an individual time trial, and Sunday will be the ceremonial ride into Paris that ends with a sprint finish on le Champs d'Elysses.

The green jersey (best sprinter) is very close, with Thor Hushovd regaining it by 4 points over Pettachi today. The polka-dot jersey, for the 'King of the Mountains', is still in doubt, as 39-year old Christophe Moreau racked up a bunch of points today; that will be finalized on Thursday where the finish on Tourmalet will be the final climbing points awarded in the race, with the stage winner getting 40 points toward the polka-dot jersey.
 
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I just saw that I really thought they waited too long to catch him but made it. He started his sprint way too far back and ealy to have a chance. He made some gains but didn't have a good position. He might of had a chance if he was 3rd or 4th wheel going into the sprint.
 
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A classic confrontation as the stage finished on the top of the Tourmalet today, with Schleck attacking on the middle of the climb. Only Contador could go with him. They passed the final breakaway rider with a few kilometers left, and were over a minute ahead of everybody with 3 or 4K remaining. Contador just followed, he tried to attack once with a couple of kilometers left, but couldn't get away. He then just marked Schleck all the way to the finish, not passing him at the end, but allowing Schleck to get the stage win that he did all of the work for.

Contador was conscious of the sportsmanship factors today - early in the race he held up the peloton when 3rd place rider Sammy Sanchez took a nasty fall - it looked like the wind was knocked out of him and he was off the bike for well over a minute.

Contador should win it barring a disaster in the time trial on Saturday. The battle for the third podium spot should be close.

Time....Time
after...after
Stage17.Stage16.Cyclist...........Team
00:00...00:00...Contador, A.......Astana
00:08...00:08...Schleck, A........Saxo
03:32...02:00...Sanchez, S........Euskaltel
03:53...02:13...Menchov, D........Rabobank
05:27...03:39...Van Den Broeck,J..Lotto

And Radioshack looks to have clinched the team competition.

Time.....Time
after....after
Stage17..Stage16..Team
00:00....00:00...Radioshack
08:30....04:27...Caisse d'Epargne
33:39....17:23...Rabobank
37:58....20:56...AG2R
50:16....31:13...Lotto
54:40....29:07...Astana

 
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Contador won in every way imaginable today.

He blocked Schleck's best chance to win the overall tour while demonstrating that Schleck was never capable of beating him in the mountains.

He won the sportsmanship award (well, everyone's vote but Menchov) by slowing for Sanchez.

He won the Miss Congeniality trophy by letting Schleck cross the line first while simultaneously castrating him with a pat on the cheek.

And he deflected any potential criticism of his not winning a stage during the tour by placing the very conduct he had been criticized for lacking above a stage win.

Brilliant day for Contador - best rider of the tour regardless of what happens from here on out.

Can't wait for next year and a year older Andy Schleck riding with Frank once again.


And don't forget that as boring as tomorrow's stage may look, the green jersey is very much in play.

(And don't forget to swing by your local Burger King. Luxembourgers are half off.)
 
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"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair;" Charles Dickens

Like a Christmas morning when you didn't get the toy you wanted and the ones you got broke.
 
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So Contador bests Schleck by 31 seconds in the time trial today, making his overall lead 39 seconds. They'll almost certainly end up with the same time tomorrow, so 39 seconds will be the winning margin.

Despite being on the air for over 15 minutes after the final clock stopped, neither Phil nor Paul mentioned that 39 seconds was EXACTLY the time difference that Contador gained on the day that Schleck had a problem with his chain and Contador rode by him.

It was a very relevant point, and they both missed it completely. Who would have won if Contador had waited for Schleck that day? We'll never know, but today could have been an even more exciting TT than when Greg LeMond outdid Fignon to win by 8 seconds in 1989.

Menchov easily passed Sammy Sanchez for 3rd place. Tomorrow will be the ceremonial ride until the final few trips around the loop ending on les Champs-Elysses.

Pettachi has a 10 point lead over Hushovd for the green jersey, and 16 over Cavendish, so he just needs to finish within a few spots of them in order to hold onto it.

Time....Time
after...after
Stage19.Stage18.Cyclist...........Team
00:00...00:00...Contador, A.......Astana
00:39...00:08...Schleck, A........Saxo
02:01...03:53...Menchov, D........Rabobank
03:40...03:32...Sanchez, S........Euskaltel
06:54...05:27...Van Den Broeck,J..Lotto

And Lance will stand on the podium as part of the team victory ceremony.

Time.....Time
after....after
Stage19..Stage18..Team
00:00....00:00...Radioshack
09:15....08:30...Caisse d'Epargne
27:49....33:39...Rabobank
 
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http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/cycling/news/story?id=5631343

Tour de France winner Alberto Contador plans to hold a news conference Thursday to address reports of a positive drug test, his publicist said in a statement.
Contador, who won the Tour de France for the third time, apparently tested positive for bronchodilator clenbuterol during drug tests conducted on the final day of this year's race. He was notified on August 24.
Contador, 27, has scheduled a news conference at noon Thursday at the Hotel Las Artes in Pinto, Spain, according to a release from his publicist. Contador has put together a group of experts who will say the positive test is a result of "food contamination."
"The experts consulted so far have agreed also that this is a food contamination case, especially considering the number of tests passed by Alberto Contador during the Tour de France," the release said.
Clenbuterol is a synthetic bronchodilator often prescribed to asthma sufferers. The drug is on the World Anti-Doping Agency's banned substances list and its use would mean a two-year ban from the sport.
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