This is a comment from my friend, David, who is a big cycling guy. Apparently, my cycling knowledge is woefully inadequate. I thank you, David, for setting me straight. I apologize to my readers for not getting my facts straight.
Quotation from FairorFoul: "It is customary in cycling for other riders to wait for a rider to fix a problem for which he is not at fault, such as a mechanical failure..."
Not quite true, my friend. It is customary in cycling for other riders not to attack the race leader and gain time, if it is known that he has fallen under some duress (mechanical, crashing, etc).
From the race video, AC's domestique, Alexandre Vinokourov, led an attack when he perceived what appeared to be a moment of weakness by Schleck. As team captain, it was AC's responsibility to rein in Vino, if the attack was not warranted. That he followed immediately after Vino led me to suspect that Team Saxo-Bank's management may not have relayed to the other team managers that Schleck fell into mechanical duress. If that had happened, AC would have been obligated by race etiquette to slow the attack and allow the yellow jersey time to catch up.
Neither captain disclosed in the post-stage interviews whether that necessary communication took place. Schleck may not have realized on how much time he had lost, and thought that he could have caught up. Unfortunately, he couldn't and the time split remained the same between them until the final individual time trial, where AC demonstrated his greater superiority.
LOL. What people tend to forget is that this is AC's 2nd actual victory. His first one was a hand-me down from Landis having his title stripped for doping. Oh well, details.
David also reminds me that Lance Armstrong and his Radio Shack team won the team title (best aggregate time) in this year's Tour de France. At least Lance will retire on a high note after a race in which he could have fared better individually had he not been involved in a series of crashes in the early stages.
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