In bike racing, the rider leading the pack always loses, unless it’s the last 200m. That’s why Andy Schleck didn’t want to lead Alberto Contador even if Contador almost came to a stand till just to allow Schleck to go to the front. Schleck said that he didn’t want to lead Contador in the short and steep climb to Ax-3 Domain since he was afraid that he would be dropped if Contador counter attack.
Schleck may have the actual leadership (by 31sec) at the moment but it can easily be erased by Contador in the final 52k ITT. Contador knows it but I don’t think Schleck realizes it. Their personal battle almost led to a serious consequence when Sammy Sanchez (3rdoverall) and Denis Menchov (4th overall) got away near the end when both were watching each other’s like lovers. Fortunately, good sense prevailed and they were able to limit their losses to just 15sec against the escapees.
It’s my opinion that Schleck, although he may be leading the race now, should be one to go on the offensive, not the other way around. He has 3 more mountain stages to do that before the final ITT, a discipline he is not very good at. He needs a 3min advantage at least to hold on to yellow, not half a minute, if he wants to win.
Contador, on the other hand, is doing the right thing in attacking Schleck. He can’t depend on his TT prowess to win since a lot of things can still happen between today and Sunday. A crash here or a hunger knock there can lose him some time before the ITT and its goodbye, yellow jersey. It’s a lot better to have the yellow jersey now than later.
Water carrier?
When Lance Armstrong lost a lot 11min after stage 8, he said that he’d be working as a domestique for teammate Levi Leipheimmer. A lot of folks couldn’t wait to see LA humiliating himself going to the team car and get bottles and food for Levi. It never happened.
But yesterday, the yellow jersey and the undisputed team leader of SAXO BANK, who went back to get his water bottle in spite of the fact that he had a domestique with him. It was a dangerous thing to do because if Contador had attacked at that instant, he would have been too far behind to react immediately.
It wasn’t the first time that I saw the yellow jersey acting like a waterboy. Victor Hugo Pena, who wore the yellow for a few days, fetched water for LA when he rode for US POSTAL a few years ago. But he was a domestique, not the team leader.