I couldn’t disagree more.

Contador is a great rider, probably one the best to come along in years.  The way the he can excelerate up a hill, then do again and again is almost magical.  In the years to come, Contador will most certainly find himself in the yellow jersey many more times.  He is a superstar for sure.  But the true leader of Astana is Lance Armstrong.  Not because he deserves it, although 7 wins of the Tour should make him the clear leader, but because he’s earned the respect of his fellow riders and he knows how to lead.  If Contador wins, it will be because of the tactical ability of Lance.  As the different teams jockeyed for position today, hoping to set things up for their prospective finishers, Lance was right up front with the other Astana riders helping keep tempo and attack when the time was right.  Even at the last 10 km it was still not clear whether Lance or Contador was going to attack to take the win.  When Contador surged up the, Lance did not chase, but held the tempo that kept others in the peleton from chasing Contador.  Knowing how good Lance is on the hills, it looked as though Lance was holding back to help Contador the win.  Lance has been contentious and brash in the past, but certainly had the talent to back it up.  The older Lance has learned the art of discretion and is a little wiser before shooting his mouth off – all signs of a good leader – but he also knows that sometimes you have to think of the team first.  That is true leadership.

Sometimes opportunities fall at our feet. Sometimes we have to work until they appear. Either way, when they show themselves, strike decisively to maximize your chance of success.

In this years Tour de France, we have seen some pretty amazing examples of seizing opportunities when they show themselves.  On Friday the Australian born German Heinrich Haussler pulled off an amazing stage win that shows a great example of how to act descisively when an opportunity presents itself.  Known mainly as an up and coming sprinter, Haussler latched on to a breakaway group in a grueling climb in near freezing temperatures.  By the time they reached the summit, the group had fractured and he found himself with one other rider, Sylvain Chavanel.  But it was on the way down that  Haussler seized the opportunity to win the day.  Descending like a man possesed, by the time he reached the bottom of the longest climb of the day, Haussler’s bike handling skills and sheer verve helped him put such a distance between himself and all the other riders that, barring a crash, he was virtually guaranteed a spot on the podium.  Chavanel on the other hand, was extremely cautious, was afraid to descend at the speed it would take to keep up with Haussler, and seemed to lose his form and barely hung onto fourth place.  Overcome with emotion, Haussler crossed the finish line with a stage win that will go down as one of the best in the history of the tour.

Now don’t get me wrong, Chavanel is a great rider and I would love to be as good as he is.  There had been talk that he might be the first French hopeful for winning the tour in almost 30 years.  But after that stage, I’d put my money on the German.  Ja wohl!