Chiming in after a long time. I agree with Tigress. Contador had to secure the yellow jersey. Both Wiggins and Armstrong were a threat to him. Lance was happy to follow team orders as long is it was absolutely clear he was the undisputed team leader and that his jersey would have been defended. Contador could not count on that and needed to hedge against Armstrong in the time trial.

Quote Originally Posted by Trigress View Post
I think Contador was trying to grind the Schleck brothers to bits, and Klöden's breakdown was just an unfortunate side effect.

Contador is the Astana captain, he is free to do whatever he can and must in order to secure his yellow jersey. Much as I dislike Astana, I understand Contador perfectly well, it is he who has got a loose Armstrong on his deck. Kudos to Contador for riding offensively, the same to Carlos Sastre for trying and to the Schlecks who sadly weren't strong enough to lose Contador - the tour needs aggressive and offensive riders like this.