I am a big fan of contador and there is no dought that­ he is the best of his generation but the way people are­ treating lance with there comments here is a discrace,­ dont forget the man won seven tour de france's and­ it takes a good rider to do that, he has been missing­ for the last three tours bar 2009, and to come back­ and get third like he did was brillant, as of contador­ i have tremondos amount of respect for him but he did­ clearly take out his earpiece on the stage that he won,­ he took it out at the bottom, put it back in for a­ minute and then took it out again. i have been watching­ the tour for the past number of years and this yeras­ tour has been the best one i have seen. Some here­ called lance a disgrace well get over yourself, the man­ is an icon and nobody can ever take that away from him,­ he did everything he could to help and did not attack­ his own teammate. for next years tour is it going to be­ the biggest tour ever.

"Contador not capable of greatness. Contador is­ already­ great"... classic lol.

Actually I think­ we're in for a predictable few years ahead which­ could be a bit boring. I cant see anyone coming close­ to challenging Contador. I would say hes unbeatable­ (injury and doping aside).

XYZ - The world has changed and sports have changed.­ The atheletes are more diverser, fitter and have better­ diets than in years gone by!!

Accept the changes and­ stop trying top go back to the past!! The teams need to­ be big because money controls sports these days!

Alberto can match and beat the Cancellara at Time­ trails and is strongest and most capable climber in the­ mountains. He smashed this years competition with out­ the full support from his team behind him, he will win­ next year, the year after and continue winning. So­ Lance won 7 years in a row, that's all he raced,­ everything else was training for him. Alberto is a­ true champion, rides to win, grand tour after grand­ tour. Even in his prime I don't think Lance could­ climb like Contador, he is a natural cyclist. Bradley­ Wiggens put in an amazing performance compared to his­ last Tour de France, all the other contenders had­ predicictable rides as they do in most Tours. Wiggens­ is an unknown quantity, and I think Roche is correct. ­ No one knows how he will perform in the next tour, not­ even Contador, he surprised us all this year. With one­ strong tour behind him now, we will all have to wait­ and see how much more he can improve next year, maybe­ 2nd.

Thomas (24), Contador holds two extra TdF in comparison­ to Lance Armstrong with the same age. On the other­ hand, he has won the Giro de Italia and Vuelta a­ España, which Lance Armstrong never won before. Only a­ few cycling masters have won the three great Tours, and­ it does not include Lance. Finally, consider that­ Contador did not take part on the TdF last year because­ of the ban to Astana.

Fantastic ride by Bradley.

As for AC, if he wants to­ achieve greatness then he better act like he deserves­ to be thought of as great. At the moment with his­ recent comments his acting like a punk.

#24. Thank you for your wonderful insight. Last time­ I checked, you had to get to five before reaching­ seven. No need to snub the all time leader of TDF wins­ when discussing an elite group of winners.

Kloden is going to stay with Contador, he hate Lance

kwe0f4, you seem to know plenty about arrogance.

Contador not capable of greatness. Contador is already­ great.

Readers can be biased and exaggerate/distort the facts,­ but journalists need to stick to the facts and not­ allow their biases to come through in their writing. ­ Omitting Armstrong from the list of elite riders that­ have won at least 5 TOFs is simply childish and­ unprofessional. Love him or hate him, he has the­ titles.

no one will ever be as good as the great eddy merckx,­ the cannibal , armstrongs 7 tours were no where as good­ as eddys 5 . armstrong can only ride in the tour, eddy­ rode everything .
the tour today is too controlled ,­ the teams are too big , the aero bikes are no advantage­ because all use them in the time trials so whats the­ point , use standard road bikes for everything­ .....good enough for the greats.
its ok to check­ positions in a wind tunnel etc etc skin suits but the­ bikes should be std road bikes .
every rider should­ enter the tour as an INDIVIDUAL, or maybe two or three­ as a team maximum then maybe we can have some real­ racing.

Well LA and AC can OFFICIALLY go head-to-head next year­ and then there will no excuses from LA. Contador is­ superior. I can't understand how someoneone who is­ such a good climber can TT so well. Phenomenal!

Contador has 4 Grand Tours, he needs to start­ approaching the Cannibal's 11 before we talk about­ greatest of all time, which might just be possible with­ his age. Focusing on the Tour this year made sense,­ with missing it last year and Armstrong returning he­ needed to prove a point. But I hope that he will race­ either the Giro or the Vuelta next year as well as­ defending the Tour. More and more riders are doing it­ the Armstrong way, concentrating only on the Tour­ because it is the most prestigious. This is unfortunate­ for cycling as a whole and I hope Contador as the best­ of his generstion will ride the Grand Tours and­ classics.

Totally agree with Post 12. American riders bring some­ fun and edge to cycling. But not Lance, he has no­ respect for anything but his ego. Considering he was­ here to highlight his cause. Contador, drugs or not­ showed sublime class that i have not seen since­ Pantani. Lance go home and be a good little corporate­ lacky mate, your dis-honest, lack grace and humility­ and your divisive.

For a man who 'beat'­ cancer surely you could have demonstrated humility to a­ far classier cyclist than you.

i agree with the signs that were all around all france­ and spain *lance go home and stay there* armstrong­ added nothing to the tour but to put his ego on display­ everyday,Contrador said on saturday he had 2 battles­ *on the bike and in the hotel*,there are too many great­ young cyclists for next years race,which would be a lot­ better without armstrong,he kept on mentioning *the­ team and teamwork* he doesnt even know the meaning of­ it!bye bye go polish your old trophies in the usa.