2013 Tour of Oman (11th-16th February), 2.HC

[peloton]

I just don't understand why everyone's saying "it's February ffs" and things like that, yes Alberto will improve but so will Froome. So in the end not much will chance. And I'm trying to have a normal discussion but then people start with the "stop being hysterical" "do we have to endure this for 5 months" crap. Just stop treating me like I'm mentally ***.

Just a friendly advise from a fellow Contador fan, I understand that today was a surprise, but try not to get too upset, please.
You've known all along Froome will be his biggest opponent come Tour (barring crashes etc), so no shame losing to him.

Anyway, good to see Evans back in good form too, the season looks very interesting.

 

[HiCadence]

Vuelta 2012 says hi.

Yep real impressive given he had fresh legs and everyone else as had a long hard season behind them.

 

[Carols]

Having seen the two summaries, that are up on youtube, i have to say.......damn.

There will be some epic action out there. Frome looked freaky, haha.
Jees, it's febuary.

Yeah it is amazing how he looks all done in and then 5 seconds later attacks...freaky indeed.....I can't figure it out!!! Guy looks left for dead wobbling around, pedaling squares and then there he is again, scratches head. Guy is a Hard Man!!! And so well spoken. I like him

They all looked like they were hurting at various points in time. LaFlo Don't Overreact, but damn Alberto suffered big time!

Purito looked as if he'd drop over at the finish.

They all laid it out on the road for us....damn I love this sport!!!

 

[Panda Claws]

Here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj9mFgJIbFk

Lol that's even got Sporza as a source.

 

[LaFlorecita]

You base yourself on one stage in february to come to the conclusion the race in july is decided.

I'm not calling you *** but you're throwing a lot of bait.

No, I'm basing myself on several races from August to February. I'm not saying it's now certain he won't win, a lot can happen but I'm not impressed by his performances so far.

When was the last time Andy finished a race? When was the last time he stood on a winners podium?

They are Not At All alike, thank goodness!

Lol good point!

 

[jens_attacks]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj9mFgJIbFk

nice attack by froomey at 0;42

alberto will improve a lot until the tour and i'm absolutely sure he will reach his best ever level. but again i still think it will be very hard to beat chris.

anyway there will be some great battles this year that's for sure. alberto will attack him even tomorrow i think lol.

we'll know better in tirreno how things are

 

[The Hitch]

Exactly,it was not AC at his best in last year's Vuelta but he still found enough.With good mountain doms/super doms like Saxo now have plus Riis tactical accumen,Froome winning the Tour is not a foregone conclusion.People are going overboard about today's stage,the top boys today probably had different levels of condition,at different points in their early season preparations for bigger races to come.

The thing is Contador usually has a very high base rate. It may be months from the Tour but time after time after time he has won these kinds of races. and whatsmore for once he wasnt talking himself down but claimed to have "good sensations"

Froome on the other hand is the guy who goes 0 to hero just before a gt begins.

So for Froome to beat Contador definately sends the alarm bells ringing.

Not the end of the world of course. There are other scenarios. Maybe Contador is just here for the pay and the sun and wouldnt have even bothered otherwise. Maybe he is trying to save himself for a few goals. Maybe he plans on doing things differently this year with the train. He has sucked worse before in races (eg Criterium International)

Or maybe Froome simply is now a better climber than Contador.

I do take heart from the fact though that Evans beat Contador and Nibali was close behind. Because that suggests it may have been more Contador sucking than Froome improving (and its a lot easier to deal with the former than the latter).

 

[LaFlorecita]

It's one day on one climb. You remember jaca or java last year in the vuelta?

Don't base yourself on one stage. This is Contador. Have some more respect for this guy. And you're a fan...

It's shameful that fans like you exist. It really is. Or you go crazy when he wins or you say he isn't going to do anything anymore when he lose 1 freaking mountain stage

"Have some more respect for this guy" pfff.... tell that to someone else please

 

[airstream]

Contador deserves way more credit than Froome. Winning 7 or 5 GT's gives you that right.

Who won more GT's affects on the result of the stage in no way. They are climbers of comparable level. Very likely, they are very close at it. Contador is an attacker, Froome too for me at least. Giving Contador the unconditional advantage in advance just because of more quantity of won GT's is a fan preference, but ok.

Besides it's obvious Contador blew himself and went too early, watch the clips.

It is a part of climbing. Everyone who attacks pays for this periodically. There is no racing without that.

But i won't lie, i was hoping for more. I think that's normal.

I agree, but no one can be by far stronger on any decisive stage. There a cycling GT superelite over there.

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

The thing is Contador usually has a very high base rate. It may be months from the Tour but time after time after time he has won these kinds of races. and whatsmore for once he wasnt talking himself down but claimed to have "good sensations"

Froome on the other hand is the guy who goes 0 to hero just before a gt begins.

So for Froome to beat Contador definately sends the alarm bells ringing.

Not the end of the world of course. There are other scenarios. Maybe Contador is just here for the pay and the sun and wouldnt have even bothered otherwise. Maybe he is trying to save himself for a few goals. Maybe he plans on doing things differently this year with the train. He has sucked worse before in races (eg Criterium International)

Or maybe Froome simply is now a better climber than Contador.

I do take heart from the fact though that Evans beat Contador and Nibali was close behind. Because that suggests it may have been more Contador sucking than Froome improving (and its a lot easier to deal with the former than the latter).

And do not forget that JRod still won this race. So it is not only Froome that is better than AC

 

[peloton]

Yep real impressive given he had fresh legs and everyone else as had a long hard season behind them.

In case you didn't know, racing is what the riders need to get their form to top level (see Andy Schleck). So winning a GT after a 6 month hiatus was no small task.
Froome has no excuses if he doesn't win the Tour this year.

 

[Carols]

The thing is Contador usually has a very high base rate. It may be months from the Tour but time after time after time he has won these kinds of races. and whatsmore for once he wasnt talking himself down but claimed to have "good sensations"

Very high level of competition here. We saw all the likely GC guys (sans Wiggo and maybe Valverde) trading punches.

So for Froome to beat Contador definately sends the alarm bells ringing.

It will motivate Alberto

Or maybe Froome simply is now a better climber than Contador.

Maybe, but we have a long way to go......1 day, 1 mountain in February doesn't tell the whole story. There is much of this tale still to come.

As we all know a cyclist at the top is destined to fall, it happens to all of them and the turning point is cold and brutal. I've witnessed it many times in my life, Merckx, Hinault, LeMond, Indurain...it will happen to Alberto too.

But I didn't see that today. Today I saw a man who will have to face a fierce competitor on the rise, but not the ugly turning point. Let the best man ultimately win!

 

[The Hitch]

Very high level of competition here. We saw all the likely GC guys (sans Wiggo and maybe Valverde) trading punches.

Remember 2011 Catalunya.As good a race as any that year. Contador attacked on the mtf with 7 to go, and they never saw him again. And it wasnt becasue they let him go early

Or speaking of JRod, he was there for Milano Torino. And in better form than Contador no less. the finish there was similar to today yet the outcome very different.

And do not forget that JRod still won this race. So it is not only Froome that is better than AC

i do see j rod as a threat in the tour.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Remember 2011 Catalunya.As good a race as any that year. Contador attacked on the mtf with 7 to go, and they never saw him again. And it wasnt becasue they let him go early

Or speaking of JRod, he was there for Milano Torino. And in better form than Contador no less. the finish there was similar to today yet the outcome very different.
i do see j rod as a threat in the tour.

So how would you explain Alberto's performance?

 

[Miburo]

"Have some more respect for this guy" pfff.... tell that to someone else please

I've no idea who you talking about

 

[coinneach]

So how would you explain Alberto's performance?

Surely he just took too much out of himself yesterday?

He can't help himself from attacking, but he doesn't always attack wisely.
I'd have said the same about Froome before, but he's looking wiser this season (and that's without Jullich in the car for him, too)

 

[The Hitch]

So how would you explain Alberto's performance?

dont have enough information to give anything but a guess, but that guess would be - he came here for the money.

 

[Miburo]

I agree, but no one can be by far stronger on any decisive stage. There a cycling GT superelite over there.

Well Contador proved that it was possible in '09 for example, except for dauphine.

Does anyone have any idea how steep these 2 hills are at the end of tomorrow's race?

 

[LaFlorecita]

I've no idea who you talking about

Well anyone but me would do

 

[airstream]

Well Contador proved that it was possible in '09 for example, except for dauphine.

Does anyone have any idea how steep these 2 hills are at the end of tomorrow's race?

If something proved once became an axiom, it wouldn't have been sport.

 

[Miburo]

dont have enough information to give anything but a guess, but that guess would be - he came here for the money.

Might be partly the reason but i don't think it's the main.

Checking out Froome, good weather and such will also play in i'm assuming.

Promoting the team will also play in obviously, i'm sure the team wanted him in this race.

But money or not Contador always goes ftw, sadly enough he lost today.

But you know what happens in the next stage when Contador loses time in the previous one That's something even airstream can't deny lol

 

[Carols]

Remember 2011 Catalunya.As good a race as any that year. Contador attacked on the mtf with 7 to go, and they never saw him again. And it wasnt becasue they let him go early

Catalunya is mid March not mid Feb Let's see how he does in a month!

i do see j rod as a threat in the tour.

So do I, he was knocking on the GT door all last year. At some point he will open that door! I don't think it'll be for a win at le Tour, but he could podium!

 

[Angliru]

It's one day on one climb. You remember jaca or java last year in the vuelta?

Don't base yourself on one stage. This is Contador. Have some more respect for this guy. And you're a fan...

It's shameful that fans like you exist. It really is. Or you go crazy when he wins or you say he isn't going to do anything anymore when he lose 1 freaking mountain stage

Be kind. With LaFlo, I think, there is a deeper emotional bond than what the rest of the Contador fans have here. Certainly she has other riders that she follows and maybe roots for but Contador is her home team so-to-speak. Imagine the passion that some of these soccer fans in Europe have for their teams and I'd say that level of commitment is comparable to LaFlo's.

I'd compare it to my almost lifelong (since I can remember seeing my first game) emotional connection with University of Michigan football and basketball. In the sporting side of my emotions the ups and downs of virtually any other teams and sports figures aren't in the same galaxy as the effect that a U of M win or loss has on me, at least immediately during and after the event . I'm over it shortly thereafter but in that short period, I'm not a happy person.

Contador, for me, is fairly close to that same emotional attachment, because of my love for the Spanish cyclists and his way of racing that harkens back to the old days of the sport that I've read so much about when some of the stars of the sport were aggressive and tenacious, willing to risk all for the win and often seemed to enjoy entertaining the fans at the same time.

 

[Lexman]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj9mFgJIbFk

nice attack by froomey at 0;42

Indeed very impressive the way Froome rockets away, the presentator says he just arrived too late to catch JRod, we'll see more tomorrow morning at Eurosport ;-)

 

[Carols]

Be kind. With LaFlo, I think, there is a deeper emotional bond than what the rest of the Contador fans have here. Certainly she has other riders that she follows and maybe roots for but Contador is her home team so-to-speak. Imagine the passion that some of these soccer fans in Europe have for their teams and I'd say that level of commitment is comparable to LaFlo's.

I'd compare it to my almost lifelong (since I can remember seeing my first game) emotional connection with University of Michigan football and basketball. In the sporting side of my emotions the ups and downs of virtually any other teams and sports figures aren't in the same galaxy as the effect that a U of M win or loss has on me, at least immediately during and after the event . I'm over it shortly thereafter but in that short period, I'm not a happy person.

Contador, for me, is fairly close to that same emotional attachment, because of my love for the Spanish cyclists and his way of racing that harkens back to the old days of the sport that I've read so much about when some of the stars of the sport were aggressive and tenacious, willing to risk all for the win and often seemed to enjoy entertaining the fans at the same time.

I understand the feeling, I experienced it with Pantani......the heights and the depths of despair. This morning I shed a few tears over a man I'd never even seen in person.

But it is Cycling I adore above all else! And cycling will outlive any of our designated favorites, thank goodness.