2012 Vuelta. The Return of the King.

[Machu Picchu]

Because they don't know what the Giro is.

Giro? they make helmets but TEAM SKY use Kask so I don't see what your point is....

 

[afpm90]

Movistar team for Vuelta:

Juanjo Cobo
Beñat Intxausti
Fran Ventoso
Pablo Lastras
Jonathan Castroviejo
Javi Moreno
Nairo Quintana

+ 2 from these riders:

Valverde
David Arroyo
José Joaquín Rojas
Marzio Bruseghin

http://www.biciciclismo.com/cas/site/noticias-ficha.asp?id=53827

 

[Angliru]

If Wiggins has only had a good season what do you call an excellent season ? Wiggins win was a dominant one. Contador is the best grand tour rider at the moment I agree but I find it strange that during his periods of suspension he still gets hyped more than anyone else. It will be very interesting to see whether Contador is his former dominating self in next year's Tour. Lots of people don't sound too convinced.

I'm excited about his return but I don't anticipate the Contador of the 2011 Giro, that wouldn't be realistic considering his time away from competition. Still though I believe he'll be able to hold his own and build his form for the final week. I don't think anyone will have that decided of an advantage over him considering many will be coming from the Tour and others weren't on his level anyway. The riders that will initially give him trouble in the mountains are likely to be Quintana, Purito and Anton because they will be well rested and have been preparing specifically for the Vuelta. Froome is a question mark for me. We don't know if he can hold his Tour form for the 3 weeks of the Vuelta. If he can his future is going to be more bright and prosperous than even most are thinking at the present based on his 2012 Tour and 2011 Vuelta performances. His winning the Vuelta after his Tour 2nd place would have to create quite a dilemma for Sky in that they would feel the need to arrive at the 2013 Tour with dual-captains or even Froome as leader and Wiggins as his super-domestique.

 

[Publicus]

If Wiggins has only had a good season what do you call an excellent season ? Wiggins win was a dominant one. Contador is the best grand tour rider at the moment I agree but I find it strange that during his periods of suspension he still gets hyped more than anyone else. It will be very interesting to see whether Contador is his former dominating self in next year's Tour. Lots of people don't sound too convinced.

You know he was suspended for basically 6 months right? I could understand your trepidation if he had been suspended for an actual two years, but he wasn't. 18 months he actually rode races and his results were pretty dam good by any metric (including 1 TdF victory, a DOMINATE Giro victory and a very respectable 5th place in the '11 TdF). I don't think it is unreasonable that after shaking out the cobwebs at Eneco and possibly San Sebastian that he dominates the Vuelta.

The other part about Contador and the hype is his absence, even for this relatively short period of time, makes it clear just how much excitement he brings to a race. The combination of an injured Andy Schleck, a pouting Frank Schleck and a suspended Alberto Contador produced a very boring (IMHO) Tour de France. Yes Wiggins dominated on a course very favorable to him, but he wasn't even the strongest man on his team. I'm not taking anything away from Wiggins' victory, he still has done something Andy Schleck has yet to do (win a GT on the road) and, at the moment, makes him one of the top GT riders in the world. I'm just noting that it wasn't very exciting (no panache!)--but then neither did Indurain during his reign.

 

[movingtarget]

Why so serious? I obviously wasn't. Maybe I'm getting too serious now as well though...
I'm a Contador fan since I've started watching cycling all year long(not just the TdF), which is since the Giro 2010. Before that I didn't like him, but now that I consider myself a passionate cycling fan I can't but love Contador.
Attractive offensive rider that treats every race with respect. He won't show up just to ride along. Allthough I'm really curious if he will show himself in the Eneco Tour. That race doesn't suit him at all.

I have nothing against Wiggins. He won the TdF and totally deserved it, but it certainly wasn't attractive.

Fair enough. Yes the Eneco Tour is a worry. The roads I mean. I am not sure whether he will do an Andy and use it as training and maybe try for a stage win. For him and Riis it is all about the Vuelta. I wonder whether Riis is chasing more riders for Saxo as I remember Contador stating that his team needed to be strengthened. The alternative is that Contador will be so frustrated by his time out of competition that he will be very aggressive. You are right though, the race is not one he would usually ride and does not suit his strengths.

 

[Kwibus]

Fair enough. Yes the Eneco Tour is a worry. The roads I mean. I am not sure whether he will do an Andy and use it as training and maybe try for a stage win. For him and Riis it is all about the Vuelta. I wonder whether Riis is chasing more riders for Saxo as I remember Contador stating that his team needed to be strengthened. The alternative is that Contador will be so frustrated by his time out of competition that he will be very aggressive. You are right though, the race is not one he would usually ride and does not suit his strengths.

There is a TT which he will most likely ride as fast as possible, but I actually hope he tries to stay out of trouble most of the time. Or he should attack, safest place to be

Since Tinkoff joined Saxo there will be plenty of money. I'm sure Riis will bring in some strong riders.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Because they don't know what the Giro is.

Lol! Hilarious!

Obviously it didn't help, as the suspension won't have helped either, psychologically, physically and preparation wise, as we have to assume it was justified. Besides there have been quicker than expected declines in the past, Fignon comes to mind, so I'm a bit surprised that everyone expects Bertie to come back and smash the competition as if we were back in 2009...

Yeah Berto is gonna decline just as he reaches his peak.

 

[LaFlorecita]

12 days to his return...

On day 13th all his haters will sit like

and the fanboys/girls like

enjoying the display of Albertos superiority

Aw lol

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

There is a TT which he will most likely ride as fast as possible, but I actually hope he tries to stay out of trouble most of the time. Or he should attack, safest place to be

Since Tinkoff joined Saxo there will be plenty of money. I'm sure Riis will bring in some strong riders.

aye if he shows us his normal tt capabilities (except 2010) we can be pretty sure how his form is.

 

[El Pistolero]

Eneco Tour is all flat by the way.

 

[Panda Claws]

Eneco Tour is all flat by the way.

Wasn't there a stage that finished on top of the 'Muur van Geraardsbergen'?

 

[Froome19]

Eneco Tour is all flat by the way.

This is Contador we are talking about

 

[cycladianpirate]

Goodness me!

My remission, but I've only taken the trouble to study the Vuelta parcours in the last couple of hours.

You couldn't make it up! You really could not. Viva Espagna! Viva Alberto! Viva Rafa! Viva Barcelona FC!

It really is no wonder that Spain's economy is down the pan......Bubbles "pop".

 

[Sylvester]

Goodness me!

My remission, but I've only taken the trouble to study the Vuelta parcours in the last couple of hours.

You couldn't make it up! You really could not. Viva Espagna! Viva Alberto! Viva Rafa! Viva Barcelona FC!

It really is no wonder that Spain's economy is down the pan......Bubbles "pop".

Goodness me!

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

this again? every time you say that some1 asks you if you think the 2011 giro and the crashes on the first week of the tour had nothing to do with contador's performance, yet you always ignore those questions.

i wonder why

It is legitimate to use that level of performance as a reference. It is not the same thing as saying he will perform at that level for the same reasons.

 

[LaFlorecita]

http://www.johanbruyneel.com/blog/article/2012-tour-de-france-blog-4-closing-thoughts-looking-ahead

Andy won't ride la vuelta.

 

[cineteq]

Andy won't ride la vuelta.

You must be so disappointed...

 

[Machu Picchu]

http://www.johanbruyneel.com/blog/article/2012-tour-de-france-blog-4-closing-thoughts-looking-ahead

Andy won't ride la vuelta.

You must be so disappointed...

Well I am, a little, it's no doubt the right decision as his form must be nonexistent but it’s a shame that he won’t grace a GT this year and it would have been good to see him reunited with Contador again.

 

[hrotha]

Well I am, a little, it's no doubt the right decision as his form must be nonexistent but it’s a shame that he won’t grace a GT this year and it would have been good to see him reunited with Contador again.

I don't think it's the right decision. His form would be nonexistent, but he'd be building up for 2013. It's not like he can ride himself into form at the other races in his schedule either.

 

[Machu Picchu]

I don't think it's the right decision. His form would be nonexistent, but he'd be building up for 2013. It's not like he can ride himself into form at the other races in his schedule either.

This would be true maybe of another rider but with Andy he’d probably just labourer his way through several stages before quitting and bringing further criticism upon himself.

 

[iZnoGouD]

"As of today, our Vuelta team will be led by Maxime Monfort and Tiago Machado. "

Machado much better than Andy hehe

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Machado..he's been good in early season but disappointing elsewhere and also outshone and outclased by Costa

 

[jyhjyh]

"As of today, our Vuelta team will be led by Maxime Monfort and Tiago Machado. "

Interesting to see how far Montfort will go in the GC as a leader.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Interesting to see how far Montfort will go in the GC as a leader.

Why? He tried it last year in a much easier Vuelta, and whilst 6th in the GC, that was mainly due to the ITT. He faltered in many mountain stages.

Not that that's bad. He's just fairly limited uphill. And with this many mountainous stages I can't see Montfort do a repeat of that 6th place.

 

[jyhjyh]

Thanks, I didn't remember that