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BOBKE: BOB ROLL'S TOUR REPORT: A FEW THINGS THAT HAVE BOBKE SURPRISED
Bobke
July 18, 2010
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Today’s lesson: Expect the unexpected. If anyone put money down on Christophe Riblon winning the stage today, I would guess they are much richer for the wager. Talk about a surprise! I think another surprise was once again seeing how vulnerable both Schleck and Contador looked. I think their rivalry is so intense in the Tour that it’s exhausting both of them. I’d say neither team is stronger than the other at this point, although Astana does look a bit more organized.
More surprises? I was definitely expecting to see more out of Radio Shack. Look at all the talent they have there and they aren’t showing much. Lance is not the only guy on the team getting old and that will probably have to be addressed in the future. Kloden, Levi, even Horner, all in their mid-30’s. I mean they are riding great for a bunch of old guys, but not what you’d expect from one of the best Grand Tour teams on paper. It’s definitely not good to see the gap between Levi and Menchov/Sanchez grow, but remember, if you blow on the Tourmalet it can prove really decisive because it’s so hard.
That would be another surprise though – the amount of bad luck that Lance keeps having. That guy had pretty much smooth sailing for seven years and now he’s crashing daily. Oh, and another surprise would be if Andy Schleck wins the Tour.
One last surprise, well, not so much for me, but probably for some investors in Great Britain – how about Bradley Wiggins! He’s having a really hard time out there, but then that writing was on the wall. This sort of thing happens a lot when a rider has a great year, weasels out of his team contract so that he can sign some big money deal with a new team, has a team built around him and then he flames out. Whoever is bankrolling the Team Sky operation, well, they may know business, but they obviously don’t know bike racing because if there’s one rule we all live by, you can’t buy success in the Tour – it takes time. A successful rider and team need to be nurtured - take Andy Schleck - a perfect example. We’ve heard all these stories about the British Invasion and how much money they’re spending – what has it got them so far? I bet someone up in jolly ol’ England is asking, “Oi, what did we get for our money?!”
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