Alberto Contador clutches the yellow jersey from Andy Schleck
Tour de France is sailing smooth along with the customary surprises and happenings. The fifteenth stage of the event is over and it is left with just five more stages now. Tour de France has never been so exited and full of surprises before, as the event of 2010 is full of controversies and climax.
On one side it was Australian cyclist, Mark Renshaw who was out of the tour by virtue of head butting a New Zealand’s rider. On the other side the defending Champion Alberto Contador’s victory over the leading cyclist Andy Schleck is no less than a shock for the crowd.
Yes we are talking about the end of the stage fifteen of the tour in which the Spaniard has conquered the lead from Luxembourgish Andy Schleck. It was a quite controversial win for the defending champion but wining was all that mattered for Contador at the moment.
Contador clutched the yellow jersey from Andy Schleck in the 15th stage when Schleck faced a mechanical problem with his bicycle and that problem casted him a loss of almost 40 seconds away from the defending champion.
There was a time when the rivals were competing hard against each other and Andy the rider from Luxembourg was leading Spanish Contador by thirty one seconds. After that Andy’s ride dropped its chain and that was the reason he lost his control over the race and over the lead as well.
There are five more stages left for the race but it is going to be very hard for Schleck to bounce back again as in time trial there is no match for Contador in the world.
The recent stage of Tour de France of 187.5 kilometres from Pamiers to Bagneres-de-Luchon was hard, nerve wrecking and stamina throbbing for all the riders. The cyclists have been trying to take control over each other but it was a lucky day only for the Spaniard when it comes to winning.
The climb was getting steeper and steeper and Contador proved that he is the champion of all the formats of the cycling race. Contador is now leading the Saxo Bank Team champion Schleck by 8 seconds which apparently looks little but it is prominent lead when it comes to climbing and cycling.
Now the positions and the leads of different cyclists over one another are getting shorter and shorter. Alberto Contador is leading the overall standings and wearing the yellow jersey. Contador is followed by Andy Schleck who is just 8 seconds behind.
On the other hand, the Spanish cyclist Samuel Sanchez is getting stronger and handsome; he is at the third spot standing just 2 minutes behind the leader. Sanchez is followed by the Russian cyclist star Menchov who is just 2 minutes and 13 seconds behind the leader Alberto Contador.
Andy who was leading the race expressed his views that the way Contador played, does not deserve the fair play award at all after making such a mean move. He added that he is very angry and will take the revenge as soon as possible by getting the top position back from the Spaniard and will settle the brawl at once.
At the end of the stage when Contador was being awarded a yellow jersey the French crowd booed at him. The crowd expressed their anger for the way Contador gained the lead over his rival, as he did not show sportsman spirit to win.
On the other hand Contador answered the rumours by saying that he was trying to deliver his best during the climb and his intention was to attack on the rival and was totally unaware about the fact that his chain was down. The stage was won by French rider Voeckler and it was 5th win of the France cyclist in the 15th stage this year. Though controversies are part of all sports but future will declare the real cycling champion.
Tags: