Peloton won't play waiting game with struggling tour de france legend Lance Armstrong
Peloton won't play waiting game with struggling tour de france legend Lance ArmstrongShould they have waited, or forged on ahead regardless?
That was the question on the minds of fans and media alike yesterday a day after seven-time champion Lance Armstrong virtually lost all hope of winning an eighth yellow jersey. Armstrong suffered a number of crashes on the 189 km ride from Station des Rousses to Morzine-Avoriaz on Sunday, the most fatal one happening at the foot of the Col de la Ramaz, the penultimate climb of the day.
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| Lance Armstrong (centre) rides in a training session on the first of the two rest days of the 2010 Tour de France cycling race in Morzine ski resort yesterday. Armstrong has no chance of winning this year's Tour de France because of injuries suffered in a crash. PIC/AFP |
The American suffered a sore hip and scrapes after crashing when he clipped his pedal at a roundabout. As he dusted himself off, the peloton raced on ahead. After a frantic chase, Armstrong finally gave up, later admitting ufffd after he finished almost 12 minutes in arrears to all his rivals ufffd he could not produce the power he needed to get back to the peloton.
Some contenders suggested they should have been more fair-play and slowed down to allow Armstrong to rejoin them ufffd which, in certain circumstances, is part of bike racing etiquette.
But not everyone was convinced.
Despite never having won the Tour, two-time runner-up Cadel Evans has been a major contender for several years. And he remembers only too well his crash at the start of the race in 2008, to which the peloton responded by racing as hard as possible to drop him. "Two years ago when I crashed in the Tour I had one of hardest days of my career on the stage to Hautacam, with all the bruising and pain. That day, I got dropped with Julian Dean on the first climb and was fighting for yellow at the end of day," said Evans, who will wear the yellow jersey into today's stage when he will start with a 20sec lead on Saxo Bankm rival Schleck. "I went from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs. It was different today."
Britain's Bradley Wiggins said Armstrong's crash prompted little emotion in the peloton as they raced up the Col de la Ramaz. "I don't think people (riders) give a monkey's to be honest, maybe the spectators and the press do, but amongst the riders it's just a crash. Lance has gone down, and everyone carries on. A few guys maybe get a bit, 'oh no, Lance has crashed, what do we do?' But the racing carries on." ufffd
