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Ok, did you stay at home eating water melon under the air conditioning throughout the weekend or get out sweating like we did? Hope you made the latter choice. Anyway, let's start our brand new week with Shijie Monday...
Tour News
After stage 15 there was only one subject that everyone is talking about and that was - Alberto Contador; “should he or should he not” have waited for Andy Schleck when his chain came off. My personal view is that these things happen in bike racing, Nico Roche also punctured that day, no one waited for him!
It seems that these 2 guys are made up now...
Here are a few other comments from the world of cycling:
Denis Menchov, 4th Overall:
"I can't explain because I didn't see what happened. We know that Alberto and Andy play with each other. We have to follow one of them. I saw the reaction of Contador and I thought it was decisive, so I tried to follow him." When asked if Alberto Contador did the “correct” thing? "I don't know. You'll have to ask him. The question didn't come up in me!”
Samuel Sanchez; 3rd Overall:
“There is a lot of talk about this incident in the race, I believe that we shouldn't focus on something that is natural in cycling, tomorrow it could happen to me or anyone else! In the race, I didn't know if Andy had a problem or not. He started very strong, Contador went after him, then Menchov moved. From the TV it looks great, but in the race at 200 beats a minute with thousands of screaming fans on the road, the instinct is telling you to go with the big move and mark the man”.
Bjarne Riis, Saxo Bank/Schleck Manager:
“I don’t know. Was it possible for Contador to wait in that situation, with Sanchez and Menchov attacking? He has to follow those guys, for sure. He might not need to pull or attack, but he has to follow those guys."
Cervelo’s Gerard Vroomen:
“Contador just gained a great chance to win, but he lost the chance to win greatly.”
Maybe More Talk Worthy?
Nico Roche punctured at a nasty moment on the stage and at that moment the Ag2r leader needed his team help, but “teammate” John Gadret went on the attack. Nico said in his blog for The Irish Independent: “If John Gadret is found dead in his hotel room in the morning, I will probably be the primary suspect, but after today's stage, as he sat beside me on the team bus I had great difficulty in not putting his head through the nearest window."
The bad news was that Roche lost eight minutes and dropped to 17th place, all for nothing as Nico remarked: “Unbelievably, Gadret had attacked Schleck and Contador near the top, even though there was a group five minutes up the road and he had absolutely no chance of winning the stage”. Both riders have long term contracts with Ag2r, could get nasty?
A Close Call For Jens!
German hard-man; Jens Voigt had a repeat of his crash from last year, but this time he rode on. Puncturing you front tire at speed is never a good idea, after he finished the stage he commented; “I’m doing 70 kilometres an hour on the first descent when my front tire explodes,” he explained. “Before I hit the asphalt I actually managed to think that this is going to hurt. Both knees, elbows, hands, shoulders and the entire left side of my body were severely hurt”.
German hard-man Jens Voigt has had some major crashes
“My ribs are hurting but hey, broken ribs are overrated anyway. Fortunately, I didn’t land on my face this time and I’m still alive.
“I was offered a ride on the truck that picks up abandoned riders but I’m not going to quit another Tour de France. Now there’s a rest day and Paris is not that far away.”
We are doing a special follow-up story on Jens next week, don’t miss that one
And Basso?
The winner of this year’s Giro d’Italia; Ivan Basso has acute bronchitis, but he is struggling on regardless. After finishing in the grouppetto with the sprinters in Pau he said: "Today, I continued for the honour, even my sports directors proposed for me to leave, but I never like to retire, and I wanted to give everything to cling to staying in this Tour." He was thinking ahead to Wednesday and said: "Now, I only think about the rest day tomorrow, there I hope to erase this bad day from memory. I'm not used to being in the gruppetto when the players are at the front. I assure you, it is not fun."
Ivan's sister Elisa Basso
We don’t have any good pictures of Ivan but we do have this one of his sister…
Transfer News And Rumours
Sylvain Chavanel And Jerome Pineau Renew With Quick-Step
There’s good news in the Quick-Step house. In the 2011 season the French duo Chavanel-Pineau will again ride for Team Quick-Step. The agreement for one year plus an option for 2012 was signed today in Pau. “For Quick- Step it’s an important confirmation as they lead up to a new season”, said Quick-Step Media service.
Hesjedal To Stay Garmin-Transitions
With a fantastic Tour de France behind him, Ryder Hesjedal has signed a contract to bind him to the team through 2013. He said; “I’m very happy with this team. It’s a big reason why I am here today,” Hesjedal told a handful of journalists during Wednesday’s rest day. “I’m the most focused I’ve ever been. I’m comfortable on this team. I’ve been here since ‘day one.’ I’ve tried to step up a level each year. The team gave me that luxury to have that security.”
The Rumour Mill
The biggest rumour has to be that Alberto Contador will be riding for Bjarne Riis next year. Specialized are to be co-sponsor with Sungard and the Schleck brothers are nowhere to be seen. Astana want a solid agreement with the Spaniard on Sunday, the last day of the Tour. Quick-Step, Garmin and Caisse d’Epargne would also like to have the Grand Tour winner in their stable.
The Schleck’s?
Frank and Andy Schleck are to be the leaders of the new Luxembourg team, the Sponsor to be a well known chain store; Auchan.
Drug News
OK, where were we? Floyd Landis spills the beans about his old team; U.S. Postal. American authorities get involved and so does Interpol. Lance Armstrong questions Floyd’s truthfulness and his sanity. Trek team bike were supposed to be sold to pay for drugs. Ex-UCI Pres; Hein Verbruggen gets into an e-mail slagging match with Landis. Riders agree to help the investigation. Greg Lemond is subpoenaed and attacks everyone, but agrees with Floyd, who he had earlier given evidence against.
Petacchi Under Investigation
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, the top sprinter has been accused of “use of forbidden substances and practices,” specifically the blood booster PFC (Perfluorocarbon) and human serum albumin. His house has been searched and nothing found, but team mate Lorenzo Bernucci did have banned substances. Petacchi has said (through his lawyer) that he will be available questioning as soon as he has finished the Tour de France.
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