Alberto Contador may or may not regret the way that he won the yellow jersey today on stage 15 of the Tour de France, but judging by the amount of vocal booing he received when he put on the coveted maillot jaune, he may yet rethink his day's winning tactic.
Contador took advantage of a moment when Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) lost his bike chain to claim 39 seconds on the former Tour de France yellow jersey and claim the lead of the race by 8 seconds.
After the stage Contador said that he was unaware of Schleck's technical difficulties and that he was already attacking when Schleck's bike chain fell off.
"There are people who understand and there are those who do not. Today
was circumstances of the race. I had already opened up my attack. The
stage was already launched,” Contador said. “The peloton waited in Spa,
but today the circumstances were different. I can understand why there’s
polemic."
While there are no carved in stone rules on the subject, some riders and cycling fans would consider taking advantage of another cyclist misfortune at such a critical time of the race to be an unsportsmanlike way to win.
“My stomach is full of anger. The race I not finished and I want to take
revenge,” said Schleck. "I would not have raced like that and taken
advantage of the situation. For sure, those guys don’t get the fair play
prize today.”
In Spa on stage 2 of this year Tour de France the peloton waited because of a big crash and did not attack or take advantage of the situation.
"I can understand why Andy is disappointed. He had to attack today, just
like I had planned to attack. It was a day when he wanted to take time
and, in the end, it was me who took time,” Contador said.
"I’d like to
take the maillot jaune in different circumstances, but what’s more
important is that I took time. The race was on — you cannot stop the
race at a moment like that. Nothing changes for me. I am still
concentrated on the race, on my rivals who are close to me."
And so the controversy continues to rage on as some riders support while others condemn Contador's win today.
Follow on twitter @ everymantri or view latest
videos on YouTube .
Top Ten Riders Tour de France Stage 15 Results:
1 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom 4:44:52
2 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:01:20
3 Aitor Perez Arrieta (Spa) Footon-Servetto
4 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:50
5 Luke Roberts (Aus) Team Milram
6 Francesco Reda (Ita) Quick Step
7 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana
8 Samuel Sánchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
9 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank
10 Brian Vandborg (Den) Liquigas-Doimo
Top Ten Riders
General Classifications Stage 15 Tour de France
(GC):
1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 72:50:42
2 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 0:00:08
3 Samuel Sánchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0:02:00
4 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 0:02:13
5 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 0:03:39
6 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank 0:05:01
7 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Team Radioshack 0:05:25
8 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha 0:05:45
9 Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana 0:07:12
10 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin - Transitions 0:07:51
Contador took advantage of a moment when Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) lost his bike chain to claim 39 seconds on the former Tour de France yellow jersey and claim the lead of the race by 8 seconds.
After the stage Contador said that he was unaware of Schleck's technical difficulties and that he was already attacking when Schleck's bike chain fell off.
"There are people who understand and there are those who do not. Today was circumstances of the race. I had already opened up my attack. The stage was already launched,” Contador said. “The peloton waited in Spa, but today the circumstances were different. I can understand why there’s polemic."
While there are no carved in stone rules on the subject, some riders and cycling fans would consider taking advantage of another cyclist misfortune at such a critical time of the race to be an unsportsmanlike way to win.
“My stomach is full of anger. The race I not finished and I want to take revenge,” said Schleck. "I would not have raced like that and taken advantage of the situation. For sure, those guys don’t get the fair play prize today.”
In Spa on stage 2 of this year Tour de France the peloton waited because of a big crash and did not attack or take advantage of the situation.
"I can understand why Andy is disappointed. He had to attack today, just like I had planned to attack. It was a day when he wanted to take time and, in the end, it was me who took time,” Contador said.
"I’d like to take the maillot jaune in different circumstances, but what’s more important is that I took time. The race was on — you cannot stop the race at a moment like that. Nothing changes for me. I am still concentrated on the race, on my rivals who are close to me."
And so the controversy continues to rage on as some riders support while others condemn Contador's win today.
Follow on twitter @ everymantri or view latest videos on YouTube .
Top Ten Riders Tour de France Stage 15 Results:
1 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom 4:44:52
2 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:01:20
3 Aitor Perez Arrieta (Spa) Footon-Servetto
4 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:50
5 Luke Roberts (Aus) Team Milram
6 Francesco Reda (Ita) Quick Step
7 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana
8 Samuel Sánchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
9 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank
10 Brian Vandborg (Den) Liquigas-Doimo
Top Ten Riders General Classifications Stage 15 Tour de France (GC):
1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 72:50:42
2 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 0:00:08
3 Samuel Sánchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0:02:00
4 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 0:02:13
5 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 0:03:39
6 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank 0:05:01
7 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Team Radioshack 0:05:25
8 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha 0:05:45
9 Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana 0:07:12
10 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin - Transitions 0:07:51