Was it unsporting?

When Andy Schleck lost his chain yesterday, Alberto Contador took advantage of the situation to gain some time on his opponent.

In an interview after the race, Contador said that he didn’t know that Schleck had problems with his chain.  I’m not sure that I would believe that. Contador is in constant contact with his team via radio and his team would have seen the problem on TV so I am sure he would have been aware of the situation.

In any case, how far does this sort of unwritten rule apply? When Armstrong crashed three times in an earlier stage, nobody thought to stop and let him catch up and in F1, if a driver has mechanical problems, then the rest of the teams just carry on. Why should it be different in cycling.

Anyway, Contador has made a public apology and Shleck has accepted it so that is an end to the matter. Let’s get back on with the race. THere was a lot of climbing today, tomorrow is a rest day and then they return to the Col de Tourmalet where Shleck says he can make a stamp on the general classification. We shall see.