AC 5 minutes slower than Fabian?? Last year faster??

[santacruz]

The ITT, AC is 5 minutes slower, last year he is faster?? what the heck! someone please explain!

 

[hrotha]

Wind.

did you even watch the stage

 

[roundabout]

Losing 1.50 to Menchov and gaining only 30 seconds on Schleck is more telling.

 

[santacruz]

Where do you get your goggles that let you see the wind?

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Where do you get your goggles that let you see the wind?

Same place you get the blinders that prevent you from seeing the flags blowing.

 

[Hugh Januss]

The ITT, AC is 5 minutes slower, last year he is faster?? what the heck! someone please explain!

As was explained countless times beginning right after last years TT the only part of the time trial that Contador was faster that Cancellara on was the climb. This year, no climb, no faster.
Reading is an awesome skill to have.

 

[Big Doopie]

contador definitely misses the hog's special prep. he is clearly a talented rider (as he has won year round) but his loss of dominance in TTs and his need to be way more conservative riding shows something was missing from last year.

 

[richwagmn]

contador definitely misses the hog's special prep. he is clearly a talented rider (as he has won year round) but his loss of dominance in TTs and his need to be way more conservative riding shows something was missing from last year.

I was thinking the same. Strange to see a rider go from domination to sort of contending.

 

[mr.biggles]

contador definitely misses the hog's special prep. he is clearly a talented rider (as he has won year round) but his loss of dominance in TTs and his need to be way more conservative riding shows something was missing from last year.

Give Contador the exact same form as he had this year but remove Andy Schleck, and all anyone would be talking about is how much better Contador was in the mountains than anyone in the world and how much that is clearly proof he's juiced.

 

[roundabout]

If we remove Schleck Contador would have been left without a wheel to suck in the mountains.

 

[mastersracer]

Give Contador the exact same form as he had this year but remove Andy Schleck, and all anyone would be talking about is how much better Contador was in the mountains than anyone in the world and how much that is clearly proof he's juiced.

not if you look at power estimates; http://www.sportsscientists.com/2010/07/power-from-tourmalet-6wkg-anyone.html

 

[Tom T.]

The wind was clearly the difference as the last part of the field experienced huge gaps to the first guys. Other decent TT guys like Levi, Klodi and others were just swept away by giant margins. Can't make too many conclusions based on this TT.

 

[David Suro]

It is also important to consider the difficulty of the week for Contador compared to the difficulty of the week for Cancellara. Sure, they pedaled over the same roads, but Contador was in a duel with Schleck while Cancellara had the chance to sit up and soft pedal at times. Cancellara still acted as a great domestique for Schleck and rode very hard at times, but his week of racing was not as difficult as Contador's. Hence, he entered the ITT a little more rested. Add to that the fact that there was less wind when he rode and the heat was not as great when he rode.

Also,

Contador knew he only had to beat one man. The third and fourth place riders were far enough back not to be a major concern. Contador knew all of the time splits and was able to ride a little more conservatively in both effort and 'risk taking' and still ensure the overall victory.

 

[khardung la]

Give Contador the exact same form as he had this year but remove Andy Schleck, and all anyone would be talking about is how much better Contador was in the mountains than anyone in the world and how much that is clearly proof he's juiced.

+1000. Could not say it better

 

[khardung la]

not if you look at power estimates; http://www.sportsscientists.com/2010/07/power-from-tourmalet-6wkg-anyone.html

Well these data in the image to me imply that Contador has pretty much kept his performance stable the last years. Probably Andy has just got closer.

 

[Comeback 2011]

Well these data in the image to me imply that Contador has pretty much kept his performance stable the last years. Probably Andy has just got closer.

It doesn't include the Verbier where AC broke the power record last year.

He not only did he beat FC in the ITT but he did it into a head wind that only effected the later riders. Quite incredible.

Contrary to what the fanboys claim, the climb was not that significant a factor either. The top end of the TT was not filled with climbers. AC also came very close to FC in the prologue.

I think we can see why there was so much tensions in the team last year. LA was stuck having to post his numbers online and AC clearly took advantage of that.

 

[Comeback 2011]

I think he soft peddled a lot last year whilst this year he was on the limit. So the power data is skewed by that.

 

[ttrider]

It doesn't include the Verbier where AC broke the power record last year.

He not only did he beat FC in the ITT but he did it into a head wind that only effected the later riders. Quite incredible.

Contrary to what the fanboys claim, the climb was not that significant a factor either. The top end of the TT was not filled with climbers. AC also came very close to FC in the prologue.

I think we can see why there was so much tensions in the team last year. LA was stuck having to post his numbers online and AC clearly took advantage of that.

This is totally wrong, the prologue had a categorized climb in it and riders such as wiggins and kloeden also did very well

I actually believe FC that contador got drafting help in the tt from the video it is clear and he also pulled out from FC majorly on the climb

Fact is the Verbier calculations posted by Lemond were wrong and would exceed anything else in that chart, further proof they were wrong

However Michele Ferrari seems to disagree with that chart by quite a lot quoting 6.4 for the last 9km of the tourmalet and 6.2 when the duo were together on the madeleine, furhtermore the vast majority of favorites on Ax3 achieved 6.2 (top 6)

 

[131313]

It doesn't include the Verbier where AC broke the power record last year.

really, what power record is that?

 

[ttrider]

Furthermore since 2007 Contador is very consistent in terms of ability from all calculations

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

This all makes me wonder what would happen if the 2011 Tour is like some of the ones Indurain won, with around 200km total TT distance, as opposed to the 50-65 total we're seeing these days...

Of course, one could wonder what would happen if we had a few of the 250km mountain stages that take over 7 hours to go over five col's and finish on an HC...

 

[Dunedain]

As was explained countless times beginning right after last years TT the only part of the time trial that Contador was faster that Cancellara on was the climb. This year, no climb, no faster.
Reading is an awesome skill to have.

Thinking is an awesome skill too. Yes, Contador was not only "no faster" - but in fact quite a bit slower. Contador being 5 minutes slower over 50 K is not sufficiently explained by the lack of a Cat 3 climb and some wind. The more plausible theory is that this tour is cleaner - the climbers were slower in the flat TT and the big guys were better.

 

[xmoonx]

not if you look at power estimates; http://www.sportsscientists.com/2010/07/power-from-tourmalet-6wkg-anyone.html

"Ceteris Paribus" What a bunch of crap in the real world; power estimates are tools NOT absolutes. There are an infinite amount of reasons why or why not 'A' did better on a climb than 'B'. At best you'll get a range of how someone might perform.

 

[Hugh Januss]

Thinking is an awesome skill too. Yes, Contador was not only "no faster" - but in fact quite a bit slower. Contador being 5 minutes slower over 50 K is not sufficiently explained by the lack of a Cat 3 climb and some wind. The more plausible theory is that this tour is cleaner - the climbers were slower in the flat TT and the big guys were better.

In fact the splits from last years TT clearly showed that Contador was faster than Cancellara on the climb but gradually lost time to him both before and after the climb. Cancellara rode faster except on the climb, where Contador was able to gain enough time to beat him. This years course had no terrain that was favorable to Contador, that fact coupled with the difference in wind is certainly enough explanation for the different results.
If it makes you feel better to believe some other explanation, go ahead be my guest.

 

[hrotha]

Thinking is an awesome skill too. Yes, Contador was not only "no faster" - but in fact quite a bit slower. Contador being 5 minutes slower over 50 K is not sufficiently explained by the lack of a Cat 3 climb and some wind. The more plausible theory is that this tour is cleaner - the climbers were slower in the flat TT and the big guys were better.

It wasn't just "some wind", unless you think every GC guy losing 5-7 minutes is normal.