Ho, ho. I should have commented on this earlier, but it’s been a busy day (deadlines, dentistry, etc.) Nevertheless, it was swell to watch the Schlecks get punk’d by Super Spaniard in today’s supposedly ho-hum stage, one that the official VeloNews Tour de France guide called “straightforward” while picking Thomas Voeckler for the win.
Well, Tommy V won, all right, in that he spent another day in yellow despite finally redlining (world champ Thor Hushovd actually crossed the line first). Cadel Evans did pretty well for himself, too, as did the suddenly audacious Super Spaniard and Sammy Sanchez.
But the Schlecks — especially Andy — stunk up the joint, and had the audacity to whimper about it afterward.
Asked if he had expected Contador to attack, Fränk Schleck replied, “No, not at all.” Super Spaniard had promised as much, and his boss Mr. 60 Percent knew from bitter experience that the Schlecks hate racing in weather that might get their kit dirty, but somehow Fränk missed the memo.
As for the younger Schleck, he spake thusly: “I’m pretty disappointed, but if this is what people want to see, a race decided on a downhill. I don’t think that. A finish like this should not be allowed.”
Oh, to be sure. There should only be uphill finishes, on straight, dry roads, for delicate types who can’t shift, descend or corner in the rain. And any team with a sprinter but no rider in the break du jour should help HTC-Highroad chase the escapees down so they’re not too pooped to line up the old choo-choo and fire the Manx Missile with 250 meters to go.
And attacking for more than 10 pedal strokes at a time should be strictly forbidden unless the attacker immediately begins looking around for his brother. Should he not have one nearby, he must first look for a teammate, and then for a countryman, and finally an excuse.
Mad Blog Media 
I wasn’t impressed by that Andy Schleck quote either. The race is not made up of just the parts you like. Its the whole fuckin’ course. Get used to it, Andy. Suck it up and do the job.
Hey, K … yeah, that sort of yammering makes me crazy. When I was down around 160 pounds I could climb OK for a 6-footer, but always got flogged on a fast descent. Ditto any kind of a crit course because I was (and am) strictly a diesel, cornering like an 18-wheeler and sprinting like a UPS truck. Plus I was allergic to risk-taking because I had to go to work after the race and my health insurance sucked.
Tough shit for me, eh? And tough shit for Andy S., too. Maybe he and his brother should take up rhythmic gymnastics. Or cycling journalism. Scribes and talking heads don’t have to worry about crashing the old office chair in a wet corner.
I just always assume that all quotes are badly translated. Especially those from Yanks. Gives me one less thing to worry about — bringing the list down to a manageable few thousand.
I wonder if Cav is serious or just mind-phucking the other sprinters. Because he’s been beaten this Tour four times in outright speed … just not very often at the finish line. He’s still the best, but his team is 50% of the fight, so natch if I was an opposing DS, I’d say, hang out around tenth wheel until the last 2km.
Huge day for Garmin. Up 7 minutes in the team comp if I’m reading letour.com correctly.
Steve, you can’t go far wrong betting on a bum translation (especially if you’re reading an AFP story).
But Wilcockson is a Brit with 40-some-odd Tours under his belt, and parlez that ol’ français. And Hoody lives in Spain and hablas that lingo pretty good. Tech dude Nick Legan speaks Frog in addition to geek, if I recall correctly.
The other guys break out the digital recorders and puzzle it out as best they can, which ain’t easy when you’re trying to translate Cav’-speak. But I was watching that stage on streaming video and I think the quote is pretty much spot on.
Whether Cav’ was calling the other guys pussies or trying to recruit more wheels for the finales, of course, is strictly a matter of interpretation.
Funny … Andy said he was misquoted and misunderstood .., then proceeded to say the EXACT SAME THING all over again.
Everyone in the know was sure Contadoper was going to do something like this -the big question is: how many blood bags does he have left? And don’t forget, while the Schlecks clearly did not dope today, they likely have some bags left for Thursday -you watch them go up that day! Course, xtra blood in their blood won’t give them courage…
Maybe its time for the Wizard of Oz to be handing out Courage, Brains, and Heart?
Remind me: “everyone in the know” is whom again?
Maybe the Schlecks are like the Sedins: always bitching about something when it doesn’t go there way. And ask the city of Vancouver how that played out last month.
Oh well, at least Luxembourg is small enough that it doesn’t matter. Silly Euros and their attitudes about entitlement.
What I don’t get is WHY people like and cheer for the Schlecks? They’re incomplete riders and whiners– and then there’s the 7000 euro to Fuentes issue. Cavendish has been taking a lot of flack for holding onto the cars on the climbs so he’s probably pissed off at most everyone – and he’ll be out of the picture (unless the cameras watch to see if he holds onto any more cars) until Pair-ee so no surprise he’s grumpy. If he’s going to SKY next year the rest of the team is probably sick of him as well anyway.
Yeah… Sounds like a couple of Luxemburgers need a side au fromage. They’ve got two up hill finishes coming their way. After statements like that, they better be rocking it.
Speaking of whine… While I do really like Thor and his wins in the “hilly” stages, what is it with Phil & Paul seeming to completely forget Eros Poli’s Epic (yes I used the E word) win on the Ventoux stage in the 94 edition of the Tdf?
Eros Poli, by the way: last Italian to win a stage on Gino Bartali’s birthday
I think Voelker can say good-bye to yellow tomorrow. Meanwhile, what’s this with the Schleckey stink-eye described in VeloNews (“…Schleck pulled aside Contador and gave him a look as the two rode side-by-side for a few meters…”)
I’ll have to watch tonight. Here’s hoping that Cadel Evans drops the whole bunch on the next two stages. He seems to be the only one of the four (Evans, Schleck, Schleck, Contador) without shit all over him.
Everyone’s in agreement (outside Luxembourg) that the Schlecks, particularly Andy, can’t handle all the requirements for winning the big one. There’s the matter of NOT going uphill that hurts them.
That said, today they did better (20th of July) and they had Evans who did get gapped by the two Spaniards, to help them get back up to the wheel by the finish.
Cav’s was as kind in a reply jab as I ever heard from him and his talk yesterday was in English. I saw that “live.” (I thought Andy’s was too I thought but I may be wrong there.) Both he and Farrar later said all’s well, neither one appearing to want to tick off the other in front of the cameras too much. Cav’s problem is he is NOT as fast as he has been so he rather needs his train now. If he ships over to another team, Sky maybe, then there will be a problem for him. He’ll either have to get some of that speed back and learn how to be McEwen-ish or throw out Wiggins from team leadership – which is pretty easy if he blows on him hard enough, the poor bloke.
// Everyone’s in agreement (outside Luxembourg) that the Schlecks, particularly Andy, can’t handle all the requirements for winning the big one. //
Which is why O’Grady, Voigt, and Cancellera all followed them from Saxo to L-P? Opinions are cool, but absolutes tend to get folks in trouble. Rarely supportable.
Cavendish will get whatever and whomever he wants at SKY. The number of wins he can deliver make Wiggins irrelevant. Of course the whole SKY thing could come crumbling down along with James Murdoch and the mess they’re in over the phone hacking in the UK.
TV has said it’s only a matter of time before he loses it. But, say he’s within a few minutes on Sunday. No rule against attacking on the final day, yeah? Tell me the badger wouldn’t.
What we really need is another final day time trial.
I’d settle for just a full day of racing instead of the champagne toast photo op.
Well, Andy Schleck certainly quieted the peanut gallery today.
Who’s in the know Stevo? Me, apparently… 🙂 That said (sorry, couldn’t resist) Voeckler may just win this thing yet! Watch Frank go now that they have toasted the Contadoper and wasted Evans…