Now that the Tour is Over…

By Martin • July 27th, 2009

tour …we can finally talk about it. Lance vs. Alberto.

First off, I have to say the Tour was incredible. Whether Fabian Cancellara in yellow for five stages or the lead-out brilliance exhibited by HTC Columbia, there wasn’t a day of the Tour that I feel didn’t accurately make the case for why professional cycling can be so exciting to follow. There were dramatic highs (Nikki Sorensen’s solo Stage 12 victory), crushing lows (Jens Voigt hitting the deck at 50 mph) and the usual coming-apart of otherwise solid riders (Carlos Sastre, Cadel Evans).

All of that aside, for better or for worse the Tour ended up being about Lance and Alberto. Who was the team leader? Who was working for who? Did Contador attack Lance in the Pyrenees to make a point? Did Lance jump into that breakaway group in an early stage to gain valuable seconds over his teammate and apparent rival? Did Lance hold back on some of the climbs, or did he just not have the goods to match Alberto’s accelerations?

Sure, the tension of their partnership and rivalry made for excellent commentary and likely attracted new viewers, but it also distracted from what was otherwise a fantastic — and to date, clean — contest. Andy Schleck didn’t get his fair shake, much less did the monumental efforts of his team. Bradley Wiggins wasn’t celebrated the way he should have been. Heck, the man never climbed well before in his life and now he’s suddenly placing fourth? And while Versus gave plenty of love to Cavendish, few other media outlets focused on what may well have been the most perfectly executed lead-outs in cycling history.

I don’t blame Alberto or Lance as much as I do Johann Bruyneel. It was a folly of the highest order to put both these guys — one a Tour de France legend, the other a legend-in-the-making — on the same team and act like there wouldn’t be tension. Sure, Johann will again be praised as one of the best managers in cycling, but I bet that an inside look into the Astana bus during the Tour would prove that he barely managed to hold things together.

And while I’m more sympathetic to Lance than I am Alberto — Contador just isn’t a very likeable guy, after all — I understand why the Spaniard felt the need to attack his own team on not one, but two stages. If you look at Astana’s Tour domestiques, it’s hard to believe that they weren’t stacked in favor of Armstrong. Levi? Please — he’s a Lance devotee. So are Popo and Kloden, and even Zubeldia. Contador probably didn’t think he would have much support if he faced any trouble on the climbs.

Given that Lance and Contador won’t ever ride together again, the 2010 Tour de France is shaping up to be even better than this year’s. This is what I’d like to see happen:

Lance leads up Team RadioShack as their Tour contender. (They better not use race radios from RadioShack, though. Those things suck.)
On a related note, Tour organizers place a limit on how many custom Madone’s Lance can race during the 21-day contest. Trek production facilities must be working double-overtime just trying to pump out his latest two-wheeled fantasies in time for the next day’s stage.
George Hincapie comes back for one last year, but not with Lance — with Columbia. Let’s get that man one more stage win before he retires or dies trying to win Paris-Roubaix for the 1,256th time.
Contador makes his way to a well-established team that doesn’t have a real Grand Tour racer in the ranks. Garmin Slipstream has been thrown out there. Not a bad idea.
Kloden finally realizes that he doesn’t have to play super domestique anymore. I’ve seen him soft-pedal his team’s leader up pretty much every mountain in France too many times. Free Andres Kloden!
Saxo Bank does exactly what they did this year. More Jens and Fabian, please.
Cadel actually gets on a team that has the capacity to work for him.
Denis Menchov stays upright.
For the love of God, let a Frenchman get to the podium.
Someone from Euskaltel Euskadi wins a sprint.
Andy Schleck takes the win.
No more Craig Hummer. No more Robbie Ventura. And new theme music for the Versus coverage. It’s sad that I can hum the annoying intro music for their Tour showings, but I can’t remember my Mom’s birthday.
And finally, yellow bike highlights for the maillot jaune are fine. Polka-dot highlights for the King of the Mountains leader, especially on their bike? Never again.

Since cyclists aren’t ever short on opinions, feel free to agree or disagree. Alberto and Lance — best or worst thing to happen to the 2009 Tour? What do you want to see next year?

Comments(7) Opinions

Comments

By greg on July 27th, 2009 at 11:10 pm

what about Cadel on Garmin? That would be weird huh? But I dont think anyone will want Cadel on their team, he’s too much of a sour puss cry baby. Weren’t you signed up for Lost River? Didn’t see you there.

By Martin on July 28th, 2009 at 12:03 am

I had one of those “Holy crap, I haven’t taken a weekend off the bike since March” moments, so I skipped. Next year for sure.

By Troy C on July 28th, 2009 at 2:02 am

I think Andy Schleck and Bradley Wiggins got more *net* attention than either would have received without the Astana drama, even if they didn’t get their fair share.

Armstrong ‘grows the pie higher’, to quote another famous Texan.

Nice post, though. I can’t remember my mother’s birthday either, but will carry the Enzyte theme song to my grave.

By Isaac on July 28th, 2009 at 2:13 am

How annoying is Contador’s voice? I mean hearing him hoarsely eek out a comprehensible-to-english-speakers “Win Lance’s Bike” in that Trek commercial makes me want to take his lunch money.

I heard Chris Horner at this shop in Chicago, and he pretty much confirmed that Cadel is suuuper serious and uncool (which is the opposite of Horner himself), and that Garmin were licking their chops at the once-impending demise of Astana. I personally think that’s old news, and that Garmin probably isn’t too likely a destination for Contador. Given that his english sucks, and Lance is back, he’d probably be more valuable to a team based in a place where he’s better liked. Like Spain.

Woo!

By Silver Fox on July 28th, 2009 at 4:55 pm

I’d like to see more weird style diktats.

By Silver Fox on July 28th, 2009 at 4:55 pm

… and less Fingerbangin’ and “podium tickle’n”

By Sean on August 4th, 2009 at 7:11 pm

Why no love for the polka-dot bike? Pro cycling is all about bright colors and matching. It’s only a matter of time before the maillot jaune will really have jaune everything – complete with yellow rims leaving trails of yellow brakedust.