Tour de France: Will Contador pay for his breach of cycling's unwritten rules?
| Pau, France
Defending Tour de France champion Alberto Contador stirred controversy Monday when he attacked the final climb of Stage 15 just as race leader Andy Schleck's chain popped off.
But why? As Lance Armstrong's team director Johan Bruyneel put it, it was just a smart move.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 say to Contador, 鈥楬ey, wait for Andy,鈥欌�� he told reporters. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no gifts in this race.鈥�
IN PICTURES: Scenes from the 2010 Tour de France
But to others in the tight-knit professional cycling community, Contador 鈥� whose attack moved him into the overall race lead 鈥� committed a grave breach of the sport's unwritten rules of etiquette.
鈥淐ontador just gained a great chance to win, but he lost the chance to win greatly,鈥� tweeted Cerv茅lo TestTeam owner Gerard Vroomen.
The rules, from sunglasses style to tactical savvy
Here鈥檚 a primer of cycling's rules of the road for newcomers.
Style counts: Sunglasses go outside the helmet straps; wearing yellow is usually reserved for the Tour de France; and if you win a stage, zip up your jersey to give your sponsor鈥檚 logo some TV time.
Tactical savvy is also essential knowledge: Follow the wheel in front of you to avoid crashes; pull your weight on breakaways.
And if a rival is beset by misfortune, like a mechanical problem or a crash, wait for him to get back on the bike. When the race leader has to use the bathroom, everyone slows down.
But, these being unwritten, there鈥檚 always room for interpretation.
One good turn deserves another
Whereas Bruyneel supported Contador's move yesterday, his team took a different tack some years back.
In 2001, he was managing the US Postal team when Armstrong waited for his rival Jan Ullrich to recover after a crash.
Two years later, on Stage 15 of the Tour, Ullrich returned the favor when Armstrong鈥檚 handlebars got caught up in a fan鈥檚 bag on a key climb.
鈥淚f I would have won this race by taking advantage of someone's bad luck, then the race was not worth winning,鈥� Ullrich said after the stage.
Payback
Conversely, there is such a thing as payback in the pro peloton. Much like retaliation pitches in baseball, riders or teams will wait for the right moment to exact revenge on rivals who have wronged them.
鈥淚t鈥檚 usually a dish that鈥檚 best served cold, many races later, but sometimes it happens in the same race,鈥� says Cycling Weekly鈥檚 Gregor Brown.
During a stage of February鈥檚 Tour of Qatar, Britain鈥檚 Team Sky, aggrieved at the lack of cooperation from other teams to catch a breakaway, launched an attack while many riders were picking up food 鈥� a serious faux pas among cyclists.
Later that day, Sky鈥檚 Edvald Boasson Hagen, the race leader, had to make a pit stop.
As punishment for his team鈥檚 earlier transgression, rivals charged ahead without him, eventually knocking Boasson Hagen out of the lead.
Will Contador be punished by other cyclists?
Whether Contador will be subject to similar treatment remains to be seen as the Tour makes its way toward Sunday鈥檚 final stage in Paris.
Though Schleck declared that he would get 鈥渞evenge鈥� for yesterday鈥檚 incident and has former teammates that may look out for him 鈥� cooperation among teams is another unspoken tradition 鈥� Contador has much support in the peloton as well, especially from fellow Spanish riders.
In fact, the absence of a rules enforcer in the peloton may be the most interesting detail to come out of the ordeal.
There has been a clear hierarchy in the past, with so-called bosses like Lance Armstrong advising the peloton and doling out punishments.
But struggling through his last Tour, Armstrong may be more concerned with finishing the race than policing it.
And the unwritten rules may be suffering.
鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of like anarchy right now so we鈥檙e seeing these things happen,鈥� says Cycling Weekly鈥檚 Brown.
IN PICTURES: Scenes from the 2010 Tour de France
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