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The Wind Is Your Friend or Déjà Vu |
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By Ron B.
 By now you have seen, heard or read about the stage 3 shenanigans in the TDF. I say shenanigans because some claim Columbia-HTC planned the attack, some say they were merely opportunistic, and I am sure there are others who would claim that Armstrong was somehow responsible. I think the more prosaic explanation is that the brain strust of Phil Liggett, Paul Sherwin and Bob Roll actually got something right by remarking at the beginning of the stage how the wind would have an affect on the outcome of the race.
I think Armstrong had it right when he said, "When you see what the wind is doing and you have a turn coming up, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out you have to go to the front." Clearly, in the world of bike racing, Armstrong figures Contador is no rocket scientist. I think Contador himself summed it up best, "It was very windy in the end, when the sprinters’s teams took over. At that moment we lost the coordination within our team a bit. Without the team's coordination, it is much harder to fight in conditions like these." Ah, so true, so true. The sad part, is that Contador didn’t say this after stage 3 of the TDF, he said it way back in March of this year, at the end of stage 3 of the Paris-Nice.
Wow, another race with a windy finish that one team took advantage; in Paris-Nice it was Rabobank.  Now the Questions: So, we can add short memory to Contador’s other traits – but wait, where was his team manager this time alerting to the danger? Where was Armstrong? Why wasn’t he helping his team leader when he needed it? Can you imagine the resulting shi$ storm if Postal/Discovery had allowed something like this to happen to Armstrong in any year from 1999-2005? What does this mean for GC? Is there really a split in Astana? Is Vino really going to have Bruyneel whacked if he isn’t allowed back on the team? So many good questions, and perhaps fodder for another ranting blog post. Notable notes from the peleton: As reported by Cyclingnews.com, “Hincapie, who rode by Armstrong’s side for all seven of his Tour wins, was asked that question, and he responded initially with a blank expression.” Ok, I couldn’t stop smiling at this one. Has anyone seen Hincapie with anything other than a blank expression?
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