As Fangirl feared,Andy Schleck couldn't drop Contador this afternoon.And so,according to Logic,the Luxembourgian's going to lose this year Tour de France.
Surprisingly,although Logic inspires sad thoughts in her ("Contador let Andy win this stage,Contador was stronger than Andy this afternoon,Andy's going to lose this Tour..."),right now Fangirl is happy.In fact,although Andy couldn't drop Contador, this afternoon he raced in a very determined way,looked really strong,got another stage victory and showed to everyone that he's finally become a champion.A young,handsome champion.
To say the truth,even Fangirl has recently admitted that Contador probably gave Andy this victory as a present ("You get the Tourmalet stage,I get the Tour"),but in spite of this,one thing is sure: those who win on Tour de France's legendary climbs (and Tourmalet is one of them) enter the history of Cycledom.And this afternoon Andy Schleck definitely entered cycling history by winning on this famous mountain.
During the stage there were some amazing looks between Contador and Schleck and one of them,the one after Contador's impressive attack,almost gave me goosebumps.It was so intense and so meaningful!
After the stage then there were some very nice scenes.Firstly,Andy hugged Contador. Then,the Spaniard kidded with Andy by hitting him jokingly on the cheek.If I had been Andy,I wouldn't have reacted as kindly as he did ;)
Today also Andy's team was very good.Many have pointed out the disappointing performances of Saxo Bank,which was great during the first flat stages but then disappeared as soon as the Tour road started to become steeper.Today instead everyone did his work at the front.And,as usual,Chris Sorensen's facial expressions caused some chronists to joke about him.Actually,while Chris was pulling at the head of the peloton,even my mother felt worried about him and asked me whether the guy at the head of the bunch was dying."No mum,it's ok,it's Chris Sorensen.That's his style".At those words,she stopped feeling worried.
Then,after Fuglsang's work,Andy attacked.Before of that moment there had been a breakaway formed by some interesting guys (Kolobnev,Burghardt,Pauriol,Boasson Hagen,Flecha...) and Sastre had tried to join them with a little help from Konovalovas (and not 'Konolas' as someone on tv called him).But when Andy attacked,as I was saying,the last breakaway rider,Kolobnev,was caught after a few seconds (deciding to go on a breakaway the day of Tourmalet stage wasn't a very brilliant idea,unless those riders just wanted to try to survive in that way...).
At that point,with about 10 kms to go,the 'Andy and Alberto show' ('AS and AC show' sounds well too) began.The Luxembourgian,the blond,the blue-eyed young man versus the Spaniard,the dark-haired,the dark-eyed champion of 27.
It was also a psychological battle,the one between those champions.But then,when Contador realised that a sprint was going to decide the Tourmalet's winner,he let Andy win the stage.So,in that way,today both these boys have got their two tickets to Cycling History: Andy did so by winning on Tourmalet,while Contador did so by winning his 3rd TdF.Or,at least,that's what everyone thinks.But remember that there are still a lot of kms before of reaching Paris and that there are just 8 seconds between Conta and Schleck.As Andy said after the stage,'everything can still happen'.
Just like you can see one of your school marks going down from 9 to 8 on the penultimate day of school because your teacher is a b...,ehm,because your teacher didn't think you were as brilliant as usual in the last test of the year,well,in the same way Contador's yellow jersey could slip onto Andy' shoulders after the TT.Dreaming is possible,isn't it?
In spite of today's stage,in fact,I still think that Andy can win this Tour.Actually Fangirl thinks that Saxo Bank guys (supporters,riders,soigneurs,everyone) should try to cast a spell on Contador.Said spell should hit Conta on Saturday morning and make him enter the infamous "Michael Rasmussen's TT mood".In that way,Alberto should crash at least 3 times during the TT and Schleck should easily win the Tour.
Obviously Logic dislikes this idea,since she doesn't believe in spells and she also knows that,if Andy should won the Tour in that way,nor he nor the supporters would be totally happy.
Talking about the supporters,then,I have to say that some of the people who were on the Tourmalet this afternoon were idiots.I mean,you stay there for many hours and then,when the riders arrive,you begin to run behind them? You must be a fool to do that!
I was next to one of those incredible running creatures during Tonale's stage at the Giro and I can assure you that they don't care at all about riders.They just care about themselves.I'm particularly annoyed by those people not just because one of them ruined every picture of the riders that I tried to take on that day.No.I'm particularly annoyed by those people because on that day,every time they stopped after their runs,they asked someone things like "Has Pinotti already arrived?" or "Who was at the head of the race?" .In their own stupidity,in fact,those people had been running behind Pinotti a few seconds before,but were too stupid to realise it.
Luckily no one crashed because of a supporter (or because of a sheep...) and so we can say that everything went well this afternoon,the afternoon that gave Andy the joy of another victory,that allowed Contador to keep his yellow jersey and get closer to Paris,and that saw Vinokourov losing 8 positions in the GC (anyway,that's another story...).
Before of closing this post,btw,here's a great vid that you might enjoy:
http://www.saxobanktakingthelead.com/?p=3675 (yes,my 'good working computer' is finally back and so I can watch vids again).The main actor in this video is the fucking amazing Jens Voigt and I'm sure that many SB supporters will surely find it interesting.Btw I totally believe him when he says that it's good to share a room with Chris Sorensen.I mean,in that hotel room Chris basically slept on a couch (notice the book net to the pillow...) in order to leave the big comfortable bed to the injured Jens.And then,according to Jens,Chris even manages to get asleep before that his roomate starts to snore.What a great couple of men.
Surprisingly,although Logic inspires sad thoughts in her ("Contador let Andy win this stage,Contador was stronger than Andy this afternoon,Andy's going to lose this Tour..."),right now Fangirl is happy.In fact,although Andy couldn't drop Contador, this afternoon he raced in a very determined way,looked really strong,got another stage victory and showed to everyone that he's finally become a champion.A young,handsome champion.
To say the truth,even Fangirl has recently admitted that Contador probably gave Andy this victory as a present ("You get the Tourmalet stage,I get the Tour"),but in spite of this,one thing is sure: those who win on Tour de France's legendary climbs (and Tourmalet is one of them) enter the history of Cycledom.And this afternoon Andy Schleck definitely entered cycling history by winning on this famous mountain.
During the stage there were some amazing looks between Contador and Schleck and one of them,the one after Contador's impressive attack,almost gave me goosebumps.It was so intense and so meaningful!
After the stage then there were some very nice scenes.Firstly,Andy hugged Contador. Then,the Spaniard kidded with Andy by hitting him jokingly on the cheek.If I had been Andy,I wouldn't have reacted as kindly as he did ;)
Today also Andy's team was very good.Many have pointed out the disappointing performances of Saxo Bank,which was great during the first flat stages but then disappeared as soon as the Tour road started to become steeper.Today instead everyone did his work at the front.And,as usual,Chris Sorensen's facial expressions caused some chronists to joke about him.Actually,while Chris was pulling at the head of the peloton,even my mother felt worried about him and asked me whether the guy at the head of the bunch was dying."No mum,it's ok,it's Chris Sorensen.That's his style".At those words,she stopped feeling worried.
Then,after Fuglsang's work,Andy attacked.Before of that moment there had been a breakaway formed by some interesting guys (Kolobnev,Burghardt,Pauriol,Boasson Hagen,Flecha...) and Sastre had tried to join them with a little help from Konovalovas (and not 'Konolas' as someone on tv called him).But when Andy attacked,as I was saying,the last breakaway rider,Kolobnev,was caught after a few seconds (deciding to go on a breakaway the day of Tourmalet stage wasn't a very brilliant idea,unless those riders just wanted to try to survive in that way...).
At that point,with about 10 kms to go,the 'Andy and Alberto show' ('AS and AC show' sounds well too) began.The Luxembourgian,the blond,the blue-eyed young man versus the Spaniard,the dark-haired,the dark-eyed champion of 27.
It was also a psychological battle,the one between those champions.But then,when Contador realised that a sprint was going to decide the Tourmalet's winner,he let Andy win the stage.So,in that way,today both these boys have got their two tickets to Cycling History: Andy did so by winning on Tourmalet,while Contador did so by winning his 3rd TdF.Or,at least,that's what everyone thinks.But remember that there are still a lot of kms before of reaching Paris and that there are just 8 seconds between Conta and Schleck.As Andy said after the stage,'everything can still happen'.
Just like you can see one of your school marks going down from 9 to 8 on the penultimate day of school because your teacher is a b...,ehm,because your teacher didn't think you were as brilliant as usual in the last test of the year,well,in the same way Contador's yellow jersey could slip onto Andy' shoulders after the TT.Dreaming is possible,isn't it?
In spite of today's stage,in fact,I still think that Andy can win this Tour.Actually Fangirl thinks that Saxo Bank guys (supporters,riders,soigneurs,everyone) should try to cast a spell on Contador.Said spell should hit Conta on Saturday morning and make him enter the infamous "Michael Rasmussen's TT mood".In that way,Alberto should crash at least 3 times during the TT and Schleck should easily win the Tour.
Obviously Logic dislikes this idea,since she doesn't believe in spells and she also knows that,if Andy should won the Tour in that way,nor he nor the supporters would be totally happy.
Talking about the supporters,then,I have to say that some of the people who were on the Tourmalet this afternoon were idiots.I mean,you stay there for many hours and then,when the riders arrive,you begin to run behind them? You must be a fool to do that!
I was next to one of those incredible running creatures during Tonale's stage at the Giro and I can assure you that they don't care at all about riders.They just care about themselves.I'm particularly annoyed by those people not just because one of them ruined every picture of the riders that I tried to take on that day.No.I'm particularly annoyed by those people because on that day,every time they stopped after their runs,they asked someone things like "Has Pinotti already arrived?" or "Who was at the head of the race?" .In their own stupidity,in fact,those people had been running behind Pinotti a few seconds before,but were too stupid to realise it.
Luckily no one crashed because of a supporter (or because of a sheep...) and so we can say that everything went well this afternoon,the afternoon that gave Andy the joy of another victory,that allowed Contador to keep his yellow jersey and get closer to Paris,and that saw Vinokourov losing 8 positions in the GC (anyway,that's another story...).
Before of closing this post,btw,here's a great vid that you might enjoy:
http://www.saxobanktakingthelead.com/?p=3675 (yes,my 'good working computer' is finally back and so I can watch vids again).The main actor in this video is the fucking amazing Jens Voigt and I'm sure that many SB supporters will surely find it interesting.Btw I totally believe him when he says that it's good to share a room with Chris Sorensen.I mean,in that hotel room Chris basically slept on a couch (notice the book net to the pillow...) in order to leave the big comfortable bed to the injured Jens.And then,according to Jens,Chris even manages to get asleep before that his roomate starts to snore.What a great couple of men.
On Saturday, I am sure Andy will have the time trial of his life on Saturday if he accepts the wisdom of Jens to tell his legs, er, "Shut up legs!"
RispondiEliminaAndy absolutely has to follow Jens' advice if he wants to win this Tour.Or perhaps,with a little help from other people,he (or Uncle Bjarne or whoever else) could try to create problems to Contador in the hours before of the TT.A disco party in the hotel room next to his,some people arguing in the corridor in the early morning,people going around the hotel dressed up like Borat,anti-doping guys turning up at 5 am,the television showing Pozzato's commercial while Alberto is having breakfast...All those little things could definitely help Andy in his final attempt of winning this Tour.
RispondiElimina