Sportsmanship… Or not…

Poor Andy Schleck.

I say this seriously because I think that it stinks that he’s about to lose the Tour de France due to a mechanical error; his arch rival overtaking on a hill when he was behind and saw the problem even though the convention is to show some respect by stopping to ensure a fair and honourable battle.

On the other hand, I can see why doper Alberto Contador did what he did. Desperate to win, and with the drugs or extra blood not quite helping him enough, he took advantage of an opportunity out of his opponent’s control, despite it being ne se fait.

William Fortheringham put it well in The Guardian:

Contador is held to have broken an unwritten law: you don’t attack your rival when he has crashed or had a mechanical.

With cycling’s image as an honourable sport being tarnished more and more over the years by dope, doping and dopers and allegations of all three being thrown around faster than a fan can sling dung, you’d think that the cyclists would at least try to protect the honour of the sport when the public is actually present to witness potential acts of cheating dishonour.

But, no. Apparently.

One thing I would really like to know is what Contador’s team managers were screaming to him through his radio earpiece at the time… “Go go go!” OR “No no no!” My bet is on the former, sadly.

I almost want Andy Schleck to go against convention and try to overtake Contador on the last stage into Paris…

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