Contador, Cheated?
The 2009 Tour de France is still being contested in Alberto Contador’s head. At least, if you follow the Spanish newspaper Marca, or most any other news outlet in Spain, it would seem that while Contador won the war, there is yet a PR battle to fight. Not a week has gone by without the paper running some story on the turmoil within Astana as reported by Contador or a teammate.
Lately, Contador’s target has been as much Bruyneel as Armstrong. He’s been quick to talk about the team’s politics and what he saw as Bruyneel’s attempts to isolate him within the team. It’s hard to say what the truth is and gossip has the value of sand at the beach, but one previous skirmish recently resurfaced that makes the situation a bit more curious.
At the end of the tour, everyone was abuzz about Contador having to catch a ride with his brother because all the team cars were shuttling Armstrong’s cadre. The first occasion was from atop Mont Ventoux, the second on the way to the final time trial. Bruyneel and Armstrong said Contador’s claims were completely false; we’ll never know.
What didn’t get the same level of attention was Contador’s claim that he didn’t get top quality equipment. The claim has been translated a few different ways, but the insinuation was that Armstrong had better equipment than Contador did. Until this week, there was really no way to know just what he meant.
As he said/he saids go, this gets a bit confusing. It begins with Contador statement he didn’t get top quality wheels and had to go buy wheels for the prologue in Monaco. Armstrong shot back and said Contador had exactly the same wheels as his teammates. This week, in a blog entry on Marca, writer Josu Garai wrote that Contador told him and members of Contador’s entourage “confirmed” that Contador purchased a set of Lightweight wheels. Yes, the ungodly expensive, handmade carbon fiber wheels that hail from the land of der Jan.
Well purchase them he may have, but race them he never did. I’ve gone back through the archives of John Pierce, Yuzuru Sunada and Roberto Bettini and viewed profile shots of Contador in each of the mountain stages and the time trials. In each of the shots you can see Bontrager logos on the wheels.
Now disc wheels are all pretty similar, right? So Contador could have been running a Lightweight disc in the rear and a deep-profile-rim wheel in the front, both with Bontrager decals, right? Not so fast. The Lightweight disc has a transparent finish to it, so that you can see the carbon fiber internal spoke pattern. It looks nothing like anyone else’s disc. Similarly, the Bontrager-branded, HED-designed H3 front wheel and Jet disc rear wheel look nothing like any Lightweight. Neither the H3 nor the Jet disc are offered at retail by Bontrager, but because Bontrager licenses HED technology, the re-branded wheels are done with both companies’ full knowledge and consent.
So that leaves the wheels that Contador used on the climbing stages. The high-flange appearance of the Lightweights really can’t be confused with the utter flanglessness of the Bontrager Race XXX Lite tubulars. The white spokes, the beveled rim profile, it’s a distinct look.
A quick e-mail to a source at Trek also confirmed what is standard practice with sponsors: Each Astana rider at the Tour had exactly the same equipment, right down to the slowest of the domestiques.
Is it possible that Bruyneel told the mechanics to withhold wheels from Contador? In theory, maybe, but again a quick check of the photos shows he’s on the same wheels as Armstrong and the rest, so that variety of crazy didn’t take place. It’s true that Armstrong’s bikes and wheels had unique decaling, but unique equipment wasn’t limited to Armstrong as evidenced by the all-white Madone Contador rode for most of the Tour and the personalized black and yellow bike he rode on stage 21 into Paris.
It’s not hard to understand the Spanish media’s dislike of Lance Armstrong and Johan Bruyneel. Alberto Contador is a national hero and the media has largely portrayed the conflict between Contador and Armstrong as a Hatfield/McCoy blood feud.
That Contador is happy to be free of Armstrong should go without saying, but until Armstrong’s return to the sport, it seemed that Contador and Bruyneel had a good relationship. Since parting ways, Contador has been spare in his praise of his former director and Bruyneel has spoken openly of how he believed success went to the Tour champion’s head, making him harder to work with.
And what of Trek? Insiders there are mum on the point, but having the Tour de France champion claim he was shortchanged on equipment must smart.
No matter whether you take a side or not or whose side you take if you do, the claim by Contador that he didn’t get the same equipment as his teammates and had to go buy his own is absurd. It begs the question why he would say such a thing. Seemingly, being wronged by teammates, staff and sponsor make him an even greater champion in the eyes of his countrymen. But with the truth being as weird as it was, one can wonder why that story isn’t enough.
Images: John Pierce, Photosport International
Jeebus!
I think the point of the article is that whether Contador had to buy his own bike, wheels, get his own ride to stages, cook his own dinner or whatever. It reflects poorly that he continues to publicly dwell on it.
As the ‘undisputed best bike rider in the world by a country mile’, Contador seems to have a curious preoccupation with gossiping with tabloid reporters.
Armstrong used his second tour win to prove it was no fluke and lined up the team, sponsors and business that would completely dominate the sport for years to come. Contador could be doing the same but seems more interested in feeding the gossip mill.
Really, this post is not about wheels.
This post isn’t about wheels.
Whether Contador had to find his own ride to stages, buy his own wheels, carry his own bottles or fix his own dinner, it’s all just gossip. The point is that it is beneath the ‘best bike rider on the planet by a country mile’ to be rehashing it in tabloids 6 months later.
What was the last best rider ever doing after his second tour win? Oh, just lining up some sponsors, building a solid business on the bike and off, starting a little organization called Livestrong. Maybe you’ve heard of it.
While Contador can obviously win races, he is not convincing anyone that he is too savvy off the bike.
oops, i reposted because my browser quit. Whoops oops.
Regardless, yours is the only comment to make me laugh since all this started.
I’ve encountered some other stuff since all this started and am waiting for responses from some folks. I’ll update you all when I’ve heard back.
Here is the deal, and I don’t think it’s rude (and it that astounds you?!?), this post was all about Contador being cheated and, yes, like it or not it was about wheels and it was all about wheels. The author pointed to looking at a myriad of photographic evidence and the evidence showed that in fact Contador didn’t ride Lightweight wheels, he rode the distinct Bontrager wheels. Why would he lie about such a thing?
Then it became pretty damn obvious that the guy did in fact ride lightweight wheels. Then it was plural versus singular. Now it’s not about the wheels – it’s about how he acts and now it’s “common knowledge” that everyone on Astana rides lightweights. Grow up, people.
Look, defending Contador makes me ill. He’s a bore, he’s too skinny, he looks like the character from the Jim Carey movie “The Mask” and he’s part of a generation of riders I clearly don’t care for. With all that said, he was diminished by his own DS and Lance Armstrong who worked in collusion against the guy. No one ever said sabotage, I said collusion. Maybe you need to go look it up. Maybe Contador is crying cause he had to buy the wheels at an actual bike shop himself and Lance had a male slave boy go and do it. I don’t know the minutia on the situation, but it does ring true given all else that the guy got short changed. When Lance bitches about Cofidis, he’s a man out for revenge, when Contador bitches about his own DS not supporting him he’s a baby. Whatever.
The point is, is the author of the article going to let it be known that on this issue he was wrong? Or is this going to be another case of some jackass with a blog spreading misinformation? black and white? Maybe, but in this case it fits.
Velomonkey: So far, I’ve seen exactly one photo that has indicated he may have ridden one Lightweight wheel. No plural here. I wrote a post based on the best information I can get my hands on. I am doing what I can to dig further and as I get more information I can stand by, I’ll publish it.
Thank you for reading,
Your Jackass
fyi, myriad is used incorrectly in your post velomonkey. it’s quite a common mistake, and a pet peeve of mine as i frequently see journalists and other media types make this mistake. correct usage of myriad in your sentence should have been like this: “The author pointed to looking at myriad photographs and the evidence showed that in fact Contador didn’t ride Lightweight wheels, he rode the distinct Bontrager wheels”.
@Velomonkey I agree with everything you say except for two things: I am a fan of Contador (and I was even once a fan of Armstrong…a long, long time ago) and there are no “jackasses” here. I am afraid though there may be something more insidious at work here which couldn’t possibly be the work of a jackass. Instead I think there may be something like a philosophy behind these naked distortions.
Without a detailed explanation from Contador about what exactly he was referring to this is all just baseless speculation. Contador had a winning strategy in the Tour. Stay laser focused on the racing and concede the media circus to Armstrong. It worked brilliantly then and he should just stick with that winning strategy. LA would like nothing more then to draw Contador into anything that would get his head out of race mode. The twiiter trashtalk has already begun and the season has barely started.
I’d also add that considering that Astana forgot their race radios for the Tour down Under Contador has got much more pressing concerns then setting the record straight about who did what to whom last season.
Henry, you hit the nail. That also relates to what jza said about both guys´ off-bike capacities and focuses. I was thinking exactly that when I saw Astana blowing Adam´s chances at TDU yesterday. It may be that LA doesn´t need to build his mind game strategy much further, looks to me that Contador´s team is handling that part with great eficiency.
Just my 2c, now back to the topic…
It’s fascinating to me that everyone is so ready to prescribe the appropriate behavior for Contador at this time, which apparently is to stay quiet, while it is perfectly acceptable that LA & JB can continue on their little PR war. It doesn’t seem as though their little head games dating back to Armstrong commenting that Contador had “a lot to learn” after Paris-Nice stood them in particular good stead. Armstrong finished more than five minutes back in the TdF and didn’t do anything else in any other races for the year. Contador doesn’t have a Twitter account and has refused to answer JB’s statement that Contador got egotistical after his grand tour wins. He answered some questions for a Spanish sports publication. Some want to dismiss his assertions simply because those bastions of truth and justice LA & JB say it didn’t happen…that way. Fine. But in my estimation, JB stabbed the rider in the back that got him a TdF win and then a Giro & Vuelta when the team was prohibited from the TdF just so he wouldn’t have to be a regular old DS but instead a glorified chauffer for movie stars. I don’t know any of these men personally, I only know them from their public personas and actions. But based on that, I think Contador is a worthy champion and Armstrong and his personal DS Bruyneel have shown themselves to be ugly champions. I don’t think I am alone on this http://www.bicycling.com/tourdefrance/article/0,6802,s1-7-123-20581-1,00.html.
@ Rich – correct, myriad should have been used as an adjective and it wasn’t. Thanks for pointing out, needless to say, countless photos weren’t looked at.
Nobody is the jackass, except maybe me if I keep reading this site. I am still laughing out loud that singular versus plural is used a point. It’s really rather comical and sad.
@ Henry – forgetting radios at a spring training race which is also the first race of year and his little to no significance isn’t a sign of things to come. Who knows, maybe they were practicing for racing without radios – doesn’t matter it’s freakin’ January people.
I might also add that we’re all just of slow ass riders who play fantasy cycling and I’m sure most of spend way too much money. With that said, the one guy who is/was a pro, i.e., Joe Papp, gets dissed. We’re all just a bunch of armchair observers who have never even had the chance to step up to the plate (again, except for one person). Myself personally, I agree with what Sophrosune said. We’re giving all this attention to something the guy said six months after the fact and further more it may prove completely true. Meanwhile you have LA dismantling the team, saying “there is no i in TEAM” and then skipping the victory dinner. Lying about taking no pay, but then treating donations to Livestrong as income. The list goes on. The guy is not a company man, he is the company and to me that is a very dangerous slope and by his actions I don’t see it as good for the sport.
No, there are no jackasses here, but there might be some shills and that’s worse. I guess we’ll wait and see.
@Velomonkey. This time I agree with everything you’ve said, including me being a fatass rider who spends way too much money on cycling.
Cheers!
two observations here… OK three
)
1) the whole thing is a bit petty and ridiculous… armstrong v contador + above.
2) I find it very very hard to see anything other than a vastly higher volume of petty PR and snipping from Lance & Bruyneel towards ALberto than the otherway round… Alberto has kept a far more dignified silence on the whole thing in general.
3) on equpment. I have to agree with the *basics* of Padraig’s analysis that the team on the surface all rode the same sponsored kit in the tour… HOWEVER we all know that in every past tour Lance has had a constant stream of special edition, tweaked, prototype / one off specials rushed to him on the slightest whim by all his main sponsors. That is to his credit and the relationship he has built with them… yet it is quite easy to imagine that alberto as clearly the rightful team leader and clearly stronger rider on the team could be miffed to be on the standard kit and offered nothing more, while specials arrived by personal courier for lance day after day.
In that case he’s sort of right, but also sort of silly not to see that thats bound to be the case given Lance’s longstanding relationships and interest in getting the latest and greatest.
Hey Padraig, You might want to read Marca http://marcawas5.recoletos.es/blogs/Controlador?opcion=9&codPost=5129. It appears all the details have been provided. I am sure this will never sway you, but perhaps some of your other readers who can read Spanish or use a translator will get the necessary details to determine what really happened. And needless to say, it does not paint a pretty picture of Lance Armstrong.
It would seem the Marca article supplies the sort of detail that was missing about what exactly Contador was referring to. It’s consistent with the head games that we witnessed leading up to and during the tour that were obviously intended to throw Contador off his game just enough to get Armstrong into yellow. No wonder Contador went off the reservation.
So, what the article is saying is that Trek provided Lance with a pair of wheels for the time trials that weighed something like 150 grams less than the ones Contador was issued, and that when Contador asked the mechanic for the same wheels he was told, “No, these are for Lance.” Contador still won the first time trial, beating Armstrong by 22 seconds.
The article then says that Armstrong went back to the team issue wheels for the Annecy time trial and this time lost to Contador by 1:30.
According to the article, Lance even told Contador directly that the wheels he was getting were better, though it also says that Trek supplied Contador with special equipment, just not the same as Lance’s.
My Spanish isn’t fluent, so perhaps someone else can elucidate the finer points.
Your ability to toe the party line is impressive.
You neglect to mention that Armstrong and Buryneel went on a PR offensive with multiple interviews calling Contador a liar. Saying that Marca “Licks his ass” (Armstrong’s words, not mine) Accusing Marca of publishing false stories. In the end it is clear that it was Armstrong and Bruyneel were lying, not Contador.
Unlike what Johann and Lance claim Contador WAS given inferior equipment and had to buy his own disk from Lightweight. Armstrong’s wheel was not only 15% lighter but also 30% more ridged and had Ceramic bearings.
It is clear from multiple photos that both Armstrong and Contador used Lightweght disc’s in the Monaco TT, the difference is Contador paid for his.
You are making a mistake if you think echoing Armstrong’s lies is a wise journalistic choice. If you continue to misrepresent the facts you will only lose creditability
Padraig,
You hear back from those people yet? Is there ever going to be an update on this story and your claims? Time is running and my hope is running out.
@Da Robot I am nowhere near fluent as my friends here in Spain can attest to. But there’s a couple of finer points you seemed to have misunderstood. After Contador bought the lighter wheels he used them in the prologue as did Armstrong and he was faster by 22 over 15k. Then in the team time trial, Contador elected to go with the old heavier wheel while Armstrong continued to use the lighter wheel. Then in the ITT they both used the lighter wheel. I am sorry that Padraig feels it necessary to go out and find some sources that will corroborate his assertions. We all know this is about TT wheels not road wheels and we have all seen the photos of the TT wheels and they are Lightweights. I think if he could just bring himself to say, “I misunderstood which lead me to make a mistake,” it would be a step in the right direction.
@Sophrosune, Fausto & Velomonkey
I see now how I have misinterpreted some of the article. Personally, I find Contador’s claims plausible, though, just as I wouldn’t take LA’s or JB’s word for any of what went on, I have a hard time accepting entirely AC’s account. Misunderstandings (or subterfuge) between hyper-competitive people who speak different languages are almost unavoidable.
I do believe there probably was some difference between what Lance was provided by Trek and what Contador was offered. Was it fair? Was it understood? Was it malicious? Was it petty? Yes. No. Maybe. Of course.
My takeaway from the incident as well as this ongoing discussion (such as it is) is that the people involved are displaying their capacity for small-mindedness. Support for one side doesn’t necessarily translate as opposition to the other, and I very much believe that, just as my perception of characters in the Astana drama has been formed by not only their actions, but also their words, so has my perception of the players in this debate.
What you say matters, and how you say it does too. No one of us holds a monopoly on the truth. We come here to, hopefully, find it together. Humbly.
Robot,
You’re my hero. Listen, if you’ve got some free time could you broker a peace deal tomorrow with Israel and Palestine? You’re diplomacy is epic.
FYI, Lightweight confirm Contadors version of events to Marca.
Johann and lance have been very vocal in their attempts to smear Contador but the facts support Alberto. They appear to think that nobody will actually check into the story, or think people can’t read Spanish or look at pictures.
Sounds like the old man is worried
All: I’ve got a request for information in with Lightweight; we’ll see if they’ll say anything off the record. There’s been a great deal of mudslinging since Bruyneel and Armstrong parted ways with Astana. It goes both ways; I can’t find fault with Contador and not also find it with Armstrong. The trouble is that Marca, by their own admission, has been very partisan. What Armstrong was saying was that they “kiss his ass.” In that regard, it’s kind of hard to disagree with him.
My goal in writing the piece was to see if it might be possible to bring some objective fact to a curious situation.
As I see it, here’s where things stand: Armstrong and Contador both rode Hed trispoke front wheels and Lightweight rear discs. That’s all we can be reasonably sure of. There are claims that Contador’s wheels were purchased for him by the team and that he purchased his wheels himself. There are claims Armstrong’s wheels were stiffer, lighter, had ceramic bearings … in short, better. I’m waiting to see if the folks at Lightweight will say anything, but all that is definitive is that the facts behind the equipment seem to have become irrelevant in the war of words between the two camps.
This one was a can of worms that got weirder the more I dug. Go figure. Thanks for reading everyone.
I´m fluent in spanish and what I could draw from this article is that the whole thing started at the team mechnic´s level, and only aftwerwards it went up the surface thanks to the ongoing war of words between JB/LA and Conti. If that was indeed the case (as it seems), it´s also clear that there were way too many people involved in the said-this-said-that during this early stage of the… hmmm… affair…, enough to cause a lot of confusion and misinterpretation that built and built.
It all happened the day before the start of the Tour, and if I remember the tension between them wasn´t all that ugly by then, or at least not as bad as it is now. Still, Lance has tremendous influence over Trek and everyone around him, thus the theory of conspiracy is perfectly plausible rather than just a crazy theory. I mean, I wouldn´t be surprised if indeed he was up to something well ahead of the Tour.
But to me, it´s equally plausible that maybe he was just looking for an edge, being aware of the new LWs while others weren´t. The article states that not only Contador´s mechanic was eagle-eyed (to spot the difference between the wheels), but also up-to-date about new equipments and relases (to bring the matter up to Contador´s attention, and also provide him with the new LWs). Yet he did nothing untill he felt that maybe Contador was perhaps getting different treatment.
Riders care for equipment in different levels, just like F-1 racers. Some are extremely picky, others leave the details to his mechanics or just don´t care. Armstrong had better support in this regard, otherwise the wheels affair would have surfaced earlier. The article makes clear that it was Contador´s mechanic who spoted the difference and brought up the matter to his attention, but what exactly led to this may never be clear. Of course, Contador is top level so he may not wish to compromise at any level, but initially it was a small matter.
My opinion.
How does the mudslinging go “Both ways”?
We have seen a year long media campaign to paint Contador as stupid, arrogant, tacticly inept…..on and on it goes. Like most of what Team Dopestrong says their claims to not stand up to scrutiny.
It is not hard to see why Contador, like many others, respects Armstrong achievement as a rider but does not like him personally.
Armstrong does not have friends, he has employees.
One word for this posting (cause let’s be clear, it’s not an article, it’s a blog posting) “EPIC.”
@DA ROBOT – I want to hug you, and then I want to ask you “what the hell was that?” Did it make me feel warm? Sure. Did it make any sense to the issue at hand? No. Which leads me to my next point.
@ Padraig – I think with what I am about to say I speak not only for myself, but for others, just a theory though: You need to come clean and come clean now. Re-read your article, you went on about how you looked at all these pictures and Contador couldn’t have possibly been on lightweight wheels. Fast forward a ton of posts and now you are waiting for light weight to get back to you on micro details of ceramic bearings and other matters. Back up, buddy, you need to recant your entire argument and, please, spare me the plural versus singular – you look like an idiot when you go there (sorry to call names, but come on).
This situation is so simple – Lance left the sport and let a team die when he left. Then under the cover of saving the world and hope riding again he came back. He went to a team with a DS he knew all too well and some of the riders – it’s what I would do, too. However, that team had a new player and that guy was crushing in grand tours. The guy, I’m talking LA, doesn’t play well with other alpha males and Contador was the new kid on Lance’s playground – namely the tour. Is anyone, including you padraig, going to argue that doesn’t Lance use anything he can to beat people including but not limited to mental games. If this is still a question for anyone, then you don’t know jack. It’s all fair, which is fine, but it’s also tasteless, but, hey, we’re talking about a guy who brought Sheryl Crow to tour of flanders – that act alone kicks him out of my book, but I digress.
As a college adjunct professor (yea I know I have a ton of grammar and spelling mistakes – get over it I don’t teach English, I teach in a MBA program) this is getting me worried that some people here just wont see facts when they sit right there in front of them. It’s like arguing the sky isn’t blue – it’s really rather pathetic. Grade thus far – F minus.
Here is the post you should have written
http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/2901/Contadors-Tour-wheels-saga-rolls-on-Spanish-writer-contradicts-recent-claims.aspx
more drama than my 14 y/o girls first date, and less impressive to me as her Father, is the way this thread has dwindled down to this: personality clashes, he said that she said and the who cares of what the ethereal plains have emitted into the stratosphere cause tis ripe.
velomonkey, whereas I can appreciate your fervor, yet I am not so sure your open to allowing someone to reconcile this, as Robot has evidently graciously offered, and you refer to it as a meaningless gesture. I actually share in these tendancies you have as well, having a firm conviction and holding to it. And whereas I find it best to be confident in what I hold near and dear, I sometimes find it most fruitful after such discussions to move on, allowing all to work on those things that are beneficial. Afterall, if one who holds the truth could just beat it into someone else, we would all agree then, now wouldn’t we? But we can’t, the mind must be won, convinced, persuaded. Sometimes its best to make allowances for one another, as we all move around in this fast paced ride together. Afterall, no matter what the subject matter, there will and is room for an opinion, take hard and fast facts and mathematical equations, there are opinions in numbers and quantities. There is room for the truth to not be known, there is room for the truth to be purposely hidden from us and thus conjecture to fly about the room like a rubber bouncy ball. Just hope that nobody gets hit by it or hurt, but sometimes it does.
Just my passing thoughts, your pull.
We can all have a group hug. That’s fine with me. But when I am wrong I face it and admit it. Carrying on with half-truths and it’s all how you define “is” type of arguments is pathetic. But I suppose you can’t teach people principles.
Velomonkey: You’re free to express your views here, but I can’t stress this enough: you must be civil in your discourse. You’ve crossed a significant line.
@Padraig Aside from your attempts to denigrate Contador’s character with the very first sentence of your blog, let’s look at some of the assertions you made that are from photographs and first-hand accounts, shall we say…innaccurate. First: “Well purchase them he may have, but race them he never did.” Incorrect. He did race them (yes, plural because he bought two rear disk wheels, according to accounts) And there are photos that corroborate it. We also know he used them in the prologue and ITT. Second: Your entire line of argument that dismisses the possibility that it could not have been Lightweight disk wheels so we need only examine photographs from the mountain stages is completely and utterly wrong. I trust you have abandoned this useful fiction of yours. Have you? Now some assertions that you made recently such as “The trouble is that Marca, by their own admission, has been very partisan.” Really? Where do they admit to this partisanship? You say your goal in writing this piece “was to see if it might be possible to bring some objective fact to a curious situation.” On the contrary, it seems you made every effort to obscure the facts with faulty reasoning (couldn’t be Lightweight disc wheels so it must be mountain stage wheels) and make just boldly wrong assertions (those were not Lightweight disc wheels when they most certainly were by first-hand accounts, photographic evidence and even Armstrong’s admission). Now, regarding your character assassination of Contador, it seems that this story was known by the press at the time but Contador would not comment on it for the record, at least to the Spanish press. In an Italian magazine article, Contador addressed it. At which time, Armstong and Bruyneel both vigorously denied and it seems now told little white lies in their denials that they are trying to correct. Now who is contesting the 2009 TdF in their head? Armstrong? Bruyneel? Contador? I would like to see you, or anyone who has commented on this blog, remain quiet in the face of these circumstances.
If this wheel business was an isolated incident it would be insignificant but in the context of what went on before and during the tour it fits a pattern that lends credence to Contador’s complaints. We will never know who said what to whom in private but it’s clear Contador bought the wheels because he felt he was being short changed and when the fact was published Armstrong and Bruyneel lied about it.
I think the tone of the article attacks Contador on the basis of pure speculation and what little “objective” information their is verifies Contador’s claim about purchasing the wheels. I can’t see Leightweight or any other manufacturer wanting to get in the middle of this LA vs. AC shit storm so I doubt there will be any comments. It looks like we will get a year long build up to the Tour that will make the trash talking leading up to the rumble in the jungle absolutely tame (looks like Wiggins wants to join in the fun as well). A good old fashioned sporting blood feud should drive viewership so maybe it’s all good for cycling.
I might add it might be fun for spectators but maybe not so much for commentators and journalists who by even touching the subject are sure to piss off the tifosi of one side or another
@Henry I agree with much of what you say, especially that the tone of Padraig’s post was inquisitorial against Contador. It attempted to establish itself as an objective relating of the facts when in actuality it was quite the opposite (false assertions, wild goose chases, and little fact that would shed any light on the issue). So, if someone wants to write an article that challenges Contador (I am an admitted fan) but does not distort the situation with odd omissions, strange rationalizations and awkward reasoning, I am ready to listen.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve asked the folks at Lightweight for information that pertains to this post. What I’ve gotten from them so far is inconclusive. What my contact there had to say was, ” If you saw those successful sportsmen using our rear disc we can’t answer in the negative…”
Had I been a mouthpiece for Armstrong, Trek or someone else, this post would been a puff piece about how great Bontrager’s carbon wheels are. Rather, my purpose was to see if some light could be shed on the Armstrong/Contador conflict by a means that is actually verifiable. There’s no way to know what took place with team vehicles and whatnot. Armstrong could be lying about what took place and/or Contador could have misread the situation. Or maybe it’s all he said and worse. We won’t know that. Ever.
I decided to look at the wheels because the photos won’t lie. After looking through dozens of images by multiple photographers, I believed I had a factual answer. Many of you readers forwarded additional images that shed no new light on what was used. A single image forwarded showed the signature Lightweight diamond pattern. I bothered checking stages that weren’t TTs as well as the TTs just to be thorough.
I’d hoped we’d learn something that would tell us something more about the conflict between Armstrong and Contador. With one Lightweight wheel in use, not two (the front is a HED), the result is pretty inconclusive. We can’t know if Contador bought the wheel himself. We can’t know if the wheel is any different from what Armstrong used. We can’t know what was said behind closed doors.
I respect that some of you see an Armstrong conspiracy in all this, him aided and abetted by Bruyneel. Maybe it happened. My post was written with the goal of shedding some light on that, and I really didn’t care who came off looking worse. Reader input resulted in the one image to reveal a Lightweight in use and while I’m chagrined I couldn’t see that before writing the post, I’m grateful I got it. While in one way that image clarified matters in one regard—that he did use a rear Lightweight—it made them murkier in another regard. I just don’t think there’s enough evidence here to conclude anything, which makes this post a failure based on my stated goal.
An interesting final postscript to this post. A source I have at Lightweight says that while no one could forbid Contador from buying any wheels he wanted, the team bought rear discs for each of the riders to use. He wouldn’t say anything more detailed than that.
Well, then, THAT settles it.