@ Bobcha... hey man, or woman... I read your posts...­ before you post at least check your english a bit...­ mine is not perfect, but yours is terrible and so some­ of your comments make no sense at all... and I do not­ mean as an offence, but as a reader... well, I like it­ that I make you laugh... cuz I like to see people with­ a smile on their face and laughter we say is half of­ whole health... u know better to laugh happily happy­ for the contenders and their race than to cry jealously­ against Lance... it shows weakness... I love any­ nation, but Contador is truly nothing special of a­ rider... in fact, a very boring person... all he can do­ is climb, and even that somewhat conditionally. As a­ rider of course, in person he might be a very enjoying­ person to be around, but I dont care about that... he­ chose to be a pro cyclist. Ok, Im done with these­ comments.

all the fus over a watch maybe it was a cheap shot,but­ the boss usually rises above those cheap shots,lances­ reaction was not one you wud expect from a legend ie­ bad smell,althou el pistelero is the best in the sport;­ i think lance as got a few surprises up his sleave 4­ ac,ie janni brack mite be the big threat this tour if­ the boss backs him we may yet see a upset as the­ young lad as got talent to spare,kloden after today­ will just be a super dom,plus menchov hasnt fell of his­ bike so that is a good indecation he isone to watch­ asteresno better super dom than robert g,loking forward­ to morros day in mountains,plus we wil find out wether­ vino is goingto listen to team instructions,dave clarke

Story about Contador would never have so many comments­ unless Lance was involved. Go LA!

@ovasee
U make me laugh

And, need I remind you that Lance is way more­ experienced than Contador, as a rider, and as a man...­ especially when he had to fight his disease by­ himself... maybe you should know that no one who was by­ his side when he was a successful rider was there when­ he got informed of his terrible cancer... he knows and­ sees thru people's games, so why should he bow down­ to Alberto, just because he shows up at his bus­ offering something what... a year after... anyone who­ has any real experiences in racing, could see the­ professionalism on field last year with Lance's­ moves in the mountains... he was extremely careful and­ limited to not threaten mister Contador... but does­ Contador care... or did he? No. To him, that is how it­ should have been because he si such a great champ,­ rite? Well, anyways, Contador will get a lesson­ probably from Brajkovic, if not from Lance himself...­ and, if it comes from Brajkovic, it is gonna be the 2nd­ already only in this year... Contador barely held the­ pace of the group he was in on the cobbles and not to­ mention that he got injured way less than Lance the day­ before the cobbles, so Lance was chasing everyone alone­ after Popovych got tired... so, hurt, dusty caught­ between cars, on the toughest terrain, the final most­ tensed and fastest kilometers... and he progressed and­ caught quite a few preeceding riders in groups, while­ Contador was comfortablly covered by a few riders­ having problems to follow them, so tell me, who is the­ champ? I used to race for 7 years and I know what it­ takes to do what Lance did on the cobbles, and I did­ not experience the cobbles, so it is even harder then­ the toughest experiences I endured myself. If you are a­ couch potatoe and a Sunday rider, shut your mouth about­ Lance.

Contador is not a bad person in my eyes, but just a­ rider with no charisma whatsoever... someone that could­ do anything, but he just doesnt have any style, someone­ I would easily forget as the person of cycling­ history... he is ok, but nothing special... why, if he­ is so extreme he could have not gotten rid of the­ Schlecks last year... someone like Indurain and­ Pantani... when they went their full force, no one­ could follow... so, c'mon people, seriously...­ Contador is weak and he knows it, thats why he tries­ these cheap tricks with the watch... just to remind­ Lance who he should watch out for... to mentally­ distract him and as a revenge to the rest of the guys­ who dared (DARED) to live his side... Contador is just­ a small village boy who has much fear for Lance's­ persona and popularity (popularity comes also from the­ negative comments of jealous people)... Lance is a real­ warrior... if Contador was in his shoes on the cobbles,­ he would have lost a lotta time... Lance is fit and­ STRONG... he chases down whole groups of riders... as­ he did last year in that climb when Contador almost had­ a heart-attack from surprise when he suddenly seen­ Lance comfortablly coming after them. Please, people...­ like whoever you want, but dont talk @#$% about Lance­ for no reason, just to not like him, because everything­ that comes from the US should be hated (sigh)... oh,­ and Im from Europe.

I think that the duality between Contador and Armstrong­ has come late. It should have been perfect if contador­ was present during the Lance hay days dominance and Jan­ Ulrich rivalry. Imagine if these three were present­ between 1999 and 2005. That would have been the golden­ unforgettable age that professional cycling could have­ ever known. I think that all the BLA-BLA of the media­ to heat the nerves of the two stars lacks balance due­ to ''generations gap''. We cannot match­ à 25 or 30 to à 39 year old. Today Lance is a­ ''POULIDOR'' and should be respected­ for that. Winning the 2010 Tour de France is impossible­ for him that's for sure. So revert this rivalry­ to become between Andy Schleck, Contador, Cadel Evans,­ Bassoand BRAJKOVIC . They are still in the prime of­ life to render this event more exciting and­ suspensfull. Hey Lance, YOU DID IT YOUR WAY, SO FINISH­ IT IN YOUR WAY. Buckle up and drive safe. The mountain­ this year is higher and longer. Gear up an good luck to­ all.

Imopictor/Morocco

@jackhammer111 "no business to on the bus".­ Its a tradition, every winner do that in last 20 years.­ In 2005 if U not knowing that, AC is do brain surgery­ and save his life, after spend some time in coma, if he­ not done that surgery he could die in few years(U can­ find this on net).

Yesterday, is shown what people­ saying last 12 months, and we all see. The guy is made­ visit and give him presents, but Lance sad on his­ twiter "There's a foul smell in the bus all of­ a sudden." Is that a words from true sportman and­ legend? Hide in the bus?
Like i sad before, LA is­ disapoint me, sportman and legend not do that things.

Jackhammer,

Alberto Contador is playing mind games, he­ reminds RadioShack of who was the winner last year. Now­ the mountain stages are coming thick and fast,­ RadioShack should scared!
Watchout Lance!!

bobcha says, "I forgot to wright (sic) Contador on­ 27 year have 4 grand­ tours, Lance win 1st on 28­ age"

it is true. at age 25 contardor had won both­ the tour and the vuelta.

also true at age 25,­ Armstrong was diagnosed with stage three testicular­ cancer. The cancer spread to his lungs, abdomen and­ brain.

who knows how long he'd been sick.­

he's had that watch for almost a year. was he­ just waiting for the best "look at me i'm a­ nice guy and a great teammate" moment? such a­ great teammate that all seven from last year now ride­ for radioshack? it was a ridiculous gesture. he had not­ business on the bus. did he need a hug? the fight is on­ alberto. stay in your corner between rounds.

the­ watch was AC's lame attempt at gamesmanship. as was­ lance's limp leg reply.

with a questionable team,­ and questionable mind, he can still be beat. i never­ did hear why vino was pulling riders to the finish the­ other day with AC off the back.

this is NOT over.

@ black_portugal,
foda-se, sempre que comentas ciclismo­ só dizes merda! Podes não gostar do Armstrong, mas ao­ menos sê racional e reconhece o grande atleta que ele é­ em vez de estares sempre a denegri-lo.
Estás a passar­ uma imagem negativa dos portugueses! Pensa nisso...

Good point about the Renault team, Maxx, (surely your­ meant 1985, not 2005!) although the team rift there­ didn't really feature Lemond as was asserted by the­ OP. Still, I would have liked to seen a fair head to­ head race in 85.

Completley agree with you about­ the consequences of the hunting accident. It was­ shame for Greg and he could very well have been Lance­ before Lance.

Did anyone read the article or just what the last guy­ posted, nobody bad mouth anybody some of you people are­ on crack.

@chem452002 U R on that list (fotodelicto, thomas the­ tird burglar and­ black_portugal), not me

Powerforce, Lemond was never teammates with Fignon. ­ You are probably thinking of Bernard Hinault (but he­ was called "The Badger" not the barracuda). ­ He and Lemond actually got along pretty well, except­ for the final two weeks during the 1986 TDF. They­ actually went on vacations together. Don't think­ you'll see LA doing that with AC anytime soon.

We talking of Sport, aren't we? So relax and let­ the race talk.

I see all the usual blind racists ignorant idiots are­ writing in with all the usual hate. Commentors like­ fotodelicto, thomas the tird burglar and­ black_portugal. You guys should seek help.