Alberto Contador is set to win the Tour de France 2010 just 39 seconds ahead of Andy Schleck. One can indeed assume that nothing else is going to happen in tomorrow's last stage to Paris, except the usual pranks.
In your wildest dreams, you cannot figure out such a dramatic scenario: Contador wins with exactly those 39 seconds he stole from Andy Schleck in the 15th stage, when he attacked Schleck who had a mechanical incident. An attack in those circumstances is a no-no in the peloton's ethics code.
Then Contador lied a little bit about not knowing of the incident.
Then he apologized, saying he should not have done it.
Then he obviously held back on the Tourmalet to leave the stage victory to Schleck. Some read chivalry into that, some read guilt into that, which in the circumstance is all the same: chivalry induced by guilt. Germans call it "Wiedergutmachung."
The Gods of the Mountains were very malicious: they had Schleck and Contador in a tie. Today's time trial result speaks the final Truth, and it is one of those dramas about the Tour. It denies the moral confirmation to the champion Contador as it favors Schleck: he lost the Tour by exactly the amount of seconds stolen by Contador.
Contador really doesn't "win" the Tour: he fails to clear that doubt by failing to get at least one second more than the 39 seconds he stole in the 15th stage. It is certainly not a clear win. In some way, abusing the code of honor comes back to haunt Contador. Just a little. Who will remember this year's 15th stage comes 2011?
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