limerickman said:Contador was in full control 2009 TDF stage 17 - Bourg-Saint-Maurice Le Grand-Bornand 169.5 km.
Granted the Schlecks did stay with Contador but I reckon Contador was nowhere near his limit.
Remember it was the Schlecks who made the initial breakaway and only Kloden and Contador could stay with the Schleck brothers.
Then Contador made a break and broke Kloden.
It was clear that this was not part of the plan (ie Contador to break Kloden).
Contador immediately eased off once he saw Kloden in trouble.
And then once they saw the had AC isolated they attacked all the way to the finish.
But more importantly neither of Schlecks had it to break Contador at that point of the stage.
Which is why it was stupid for AC to attack. There was no need. All he accomplishes was knocking his loyal teammates off the podium.
If they had they would have tried to break Contador when he (AC) slowed down for Kloden 9having seen Kloden also in trouble).
Don't know what you are talking about. The Schlecks and AC finished together.
No, I reckon AC was nowhere near his limit on stage 17.
One of 2 things happend on that finish, neither of which looks good for Alberto.
1. He dropped his teammate, gave the stage win to another team on some stupid agreement and faked a lunge at the end to make it look good. or,
2. He dropped his teammate, was isolated by the Schlecks and was so gassed at the finish he couldn't win the stage.
And as for Ventoux - he held back to make sure that Astana got two riders on the podium.
Again he was nowhere near his limit.
He was strong enough to handle Andy's final attack because he spent 2k out of the final 5 riding Lances wheel. Look at the tape. Not saying it was a bad idea but clearly in that wind at the finish all 4 of them were gassed.