Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[IamIronMan]

Congratulations to Alberto, but especially after today, I have this weird feeling about this win. Clearly Landa was not allowed to race full on for the vast majority of the race, and when he had a chance today, Astana stepped in yet again to slow him down. They were so desperate to make Aru their leader, even though it's clear to me that Contador was better than Aru. Can we say the same for Landa though? Obviously Contador blew him away in the long TT, but every showdown between the two of them, Landa was by far the stronger climber. It won't matter in 20 years when people look over his career wins, but right now, I'm sure even he does not feel as ecstatic as he could. I'm sure he did not want to fade like this on the last stage, and have Landa be the one who cracked him.

At least he has another huge goal this year, and will quickly turn his attention to that. He will need an actual team though if he wants to contend with all the big names coming up.

 

[indianfanboy]

Re: Re:

9 GT's. Job done.

7 brother, check your sources.

I checked them and they say 9. He has won 3 Tours, 3 Giro's, 3 Vuelta's. There is only one Great One

The UCI doesn't approve and that's what matters. Man up.

UCI is *** they even supported Armstrong...all that matters is what people think how many he has won and we all know and have seen9 GT wins of his

 

[SeriousSam]

Re:

Contador joins the Badger as the only riders to win at least 2 of each GT.

Final podium excluding TTs:

Landa
Aru 0:01
Contador 0:52

And that's with Landa remaining a domestique to the very end.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Contador joins the Badger as the only riders to win at least 2 of each GT.

No

 

[WheelofGear]

Re:

I hope Tinkof finally listens to Alberto and gets some decent helpers....

Try to ask him that question on Twitter. He is seeing it and sometimes he responds.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

Contador joins the Badger as the only riders to win at least 2 of each GT. He's said this is his last Giro, so he will not achieve the 3 x 3, at least not officially.

Final podium excluding TTs:

Landa
Aru 0:01
Contador 0:52

Landa better learn how to tt if he wants to win a GT that isn't the Vuelta.

 

[IamIronMan]

Re:

Contador joins the Badger as the only riders to win at least 2 of each GT.

Final podium excluding TTs:

Landa
Aru 0:01
Contador 0:52

Come on though. Final standings minus two Landa stage wins = Contador still wins. Can't look at the race and exclude the TT. No one is doubting Landa was the strongest climber in the race, but are you going to tell me Aru was better at anything in this race, other than his mysterious and miraculous return to form in the last week?

 

[Electress]

Re: Re:

Good win by Contador, but still weaker than Landa. Landa's the best climber. Contador's the best all-rounder. Period.

Yup. Agreed. Landa is the strongest climber in the race. No doubt. But contador's form is enough to win the Giro, not stellar, but enough.

No need to respond to this, but I am sorry, grand tours are supposed to be hard, do think when Anquetil won his tours( I know I am going back) everyone was saying " but he wasn't the best climber". Jeez, Merckx, Hainault also lost in the Mountains at some point, but still won the grand tours they were participating during that time. You do forget, Contadors team was not the best in the mountains, he crashed, separated shoulders, got attacked while wearing Maglia Rosa. Lemond did say it best, a lesser mortal would have gone home.
Wow, he has a bad day, but he still won by over 2 minutes, 2 minutes.! In the past, for the most part, he did not win his tours by being solely the best climber. I have riding and watching for over 35 years, and this guy is the real deal, but I am just one person. Be happy, celebrate this guy while he is still riding.
Sorry for the rant.

Absolutely Amen to that. He makes it look so easy sometimes that I think expectations get waaaay too high. Mine included.

 

[No_Balls]

Re: Re:

It was neither a "crack" nor a "bonk". He tried to follow Landa, couldnt sustain, and a little later couldnt follow anyone. He was spent or worned out but recuperated later to at least keeping the damage under control - of course with a little help from the strange things going on in the front. I dont know wheter it is because that the form isnt quite there - or are irregural in this period of time - or spent because of earlier efforts.

I wont dig down in the ifs and buts surrounding the strategy of not betting on Landa. He won fair and square and that is a relief.

Now it is the Tour and naturally that adds the element of a more broader competition, which is good, unlike this Astana vs Contador showdown. Unless something radical happens in the Tinkoff camp a more cautiously approach needs to be taken in order to not go for the jersey too early. This Giro has shown that he cant fight them all alone, that he is vulnerable, all the time with hardly any backup in the mountains.

 

[ferryman]

Re: Re:

No need to respond to this, but I am sorry, grand tours are supposed to be hard, do think when Anquetil won his tours( I know I am going back) everyone was saying " but he wasn't the best climber". Jeez, Merckx, Hainault also lost in the Mountains at some point, but still won the grand tours they were participating during that time. You do forget, Contadors team was not the best in the mountains, he crashed, separated shoulders, got attacked while wearing Maglia Rosa. Lemond did say it best, a lesser mortal would have gone home.
Wow, he has a bad day, but he still won by over 2 minutes, 2 minutes.! In the past, for the most part, he did not win his tours by being solely the best climber. I have riding and watching for over 35 years, and this guy is the real deal, but I am just one person. Be happy, celebrate this guy while he is still riding.
Sorry for the rant.[/quote]

I'll respond and couldn't agree more with everything you say. And congratulations to Alberto on a hard fought and gutsy win. Remarkable rider with a remarkable GT record. But jeez does he need a team around him come July...

 

[indianfanboy]

In July the sky train will be back and when Froome attacks Nibali,Quintana and everyone else will be blown away and pray that Contador is in 2014 form and can follow Froome.

 

[Alcanelo]

Re: Re:

9 GT's. Job done.

7 brother, check your sources.

I checked them and they say 9. He has won 3 Tours, 3 Giro's, 3 Vuelta's. There is only one Great One

The UCI doesn't approve and that's what matters. Man up.

The fact you imply UCI are a credible source tells me all I need to know...better luck next time, AC of Pinto, 9 GT's deal with it

 

[casati]

Re: Re:

No need to respond to this, but I am sorry, grand tours are supposed to be hard, do think when Anquetil won his tours( I know I am going back) everyone was saying " but he wasn't the best climber". Jeez, Merckx, Hainault also lost in the Mountains at some point, but still won the grand tours they were participating during that time. You do forget, Contadors team was not the best in the mountains, he crashed, separated shoulders, got attacked while wearing Maglia Rosa. Lemond did say it best, a lesser mortal would have gone home.
Wow, he has a bad day, but he still won by over 2 minutes, 2 minutes.! In the past, for the most part, he did not win his tours by being solely the best climber. I have riding and watching for over 35 years, and this guy is the real deal, but I am just one person. Be happy, celebrate this guy while he is still riding.
Sorry for the rant.

I'll respond and couldn't agree more with everything you say. And congratulations to Alberto on a hard fought and gutsy win. Remarkable rider with a remarkable GT record. But jeez does he need a team around him come July...[/quote]
Yes, most definitely needs a better team, having to fend off 2 very strong climbers, more like 6, was at some point going to come back at him. But in the tour there will be multiple strong teams which may help his cause.
Today, though it looked like he either bonked or just did not have the legs, happens to everyone, even contador.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Congratulations Alberto! It could have been a horrible day today but he got lucky. He's now one step closer to the greatest of all time:

1. Merckx - 11 Grand Tours
2. Hinault - 10
3. Contador - 9
4. Anquetil - 8
5. Armstrong - 7
5. Coppi - 7
5. Indurain - 7

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Congratulations Alberto! It could have been a horrible day today but he got lucky. He's now one step closer to the greatest of all time:

1. Merckx - 11 Grand Tours
2. Hinault - 10
3. Contador - 9
4. Anquetil - 8
5. Armstrong - 7
5. Coppi - 7
5. Indurain - 7

And he's the only one with 3x3

Oh so proud of Alberto... ugh I almost lost it when I saw him pedalling squares thankfully he knew what he was doing and did not panic unlike me

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re:

Congratulations Alberto! It could have been a horrible day today but he got lucky. He's now one step closer to the greatest of all time:

1. Merckx - 11 Grand Tours
2. Hinault - 10
3. Contador - 9
4. Anquetil - 8
5. Armstrong - 7
5. Coppi - 7
5. Indurain - 7

Enormously impressive that he could actually pass Merckx within a few years, considering the competition today.

 

[Miburo]

So tour du sud now right?

Will be an awesome tour, i hope he'll be at 2014 level then it'll be a spectacle for sure.

 

[ray j willings]

To be honest until Bertie talks about today we are only guessing about his performance.
I really thought he looked good since the TT and was just doing only what he needed to do to conserve energy.
Today is a new day a new stage and IMO confirms my early view that Bertie is definitely not in good shape.
In this Giro he has lacked that evil kick of acceleration he had last year.
I'm hoping he is just managing is form so it peaks at the tour but I'm not convinced after todays showing.
I think his odds for a double just went downhill.
He has beaten Froome this year in a TT and a mountain stage but that was early days of the season and even then he did not look super sharp like early last year.
One thing even if Bertie goes into the tour and can't win he will try and blow the race apart if he can.
I fear that Bertie is on a downward slope which I know sounds crazy as his just about to win the GIro but that's the very high standard he has set, a legend of a rider who I hope today has been just riding smart.
Only time will tell.

 

[BlurryVII]

Re:

Well Contador won this Giro without being in a great form, but certainly good enough. Which we all wanted before it started, Contador not peaking here was the way to go.
And he won fair and square so nothing to complain about.

However, I don't know what to make of what happened today because that was... weird. That was pretty much AC from the 3rd week of the Tour 13', nothing more nothing less.

Hunger knock? Apparently not according to Alberto, he said he paid for the day after day efforts, meaning = The Giro is taking its toll before it's even over?

Now he won his 9th GT and I'm absolutely happy for him but with what happened today I have no idea anymore in what kind of form he'll be at the Tour. At this point for me, he can be at Tour 13' form as well as Tour 09' form. I'm completely lost.

 

[jmdirt]

Re:

Contador joins the Badger as the only riders to win at least 2 of each GT. He's said this is his last Giro, so he will not achieve the 3 x 3, at least not officially.

Final podium excluding TTs:

Landa
Aru 0:01
Contador 0:52

If you exclude certain/specific stages, you can create whatever GC you want.

 

[Miburo]

It's perfectly possible he's not anymore what he was in 2014 but it's equally likely that it was all planned for superpeak in tour 2015.

No way to tell, you'll know in 6 weeks. Until then wait and enjoy dauphine/suisse.

All we know for sure is that contador said before the giro he wasn't in the shape of tour 2014. So that's telling of wht the plan is.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Contador joins the Badger as the only riders to win at least 2 of each GT. He's said this is his last Giro, so he will not achieve the 3 x 3, at least not officially.

Final podium excluding TTs:

Landa
Aru 0:01
Contador 0:52

If you exclude certain/specific stages, you can create whatever GC you want.

Indeed

About Berto:
He looked very bad on Finestre but seemed better on Sestriere. He most likely had a bad day and a very difficult moment on Finestre. He looked "ok" not super on other stages, but he got dropped by Kruijswijk, Aru and Uran. It's not like those riders have been better than him the entire race. And it was clear, especially after the descent, that Alberto was just measuring his efforts, he probably knew that if he would go all out he would risk exploding completely.
All in all not a great stage for him and the fans, but he rode smartly and showed his experience. He looked much better in other stages so I doubt he is in terrible shape. Don't panic!

 

[ray j willings]

Re: Re:

Contador joins the Badger as the only riders to win at least 2 of each GT. He's said this is his last Giro, so he will not achieve the 3 x 3, at least not officially.

Final podium excluding TTs:

Landa
Aru 0:01
Contador 0:52

If you exclude certain/specific stages, you can create whatever GC you want.

I agree , these sort of stats are pointless. You could say if Bertie never hurt his shoulder or Bertie never had a mechanical etc etc ,,,,utter nonsense and IMO points to more Bertie bashing.

 

[BlurryVII]

Re:

Final podium excluding TTs:

Landa
Aru 0:01
Contador 0:52

What's the point of posting that apart from trying to undermine his win? Contador would've raced differently without TT and probably would've trained to be specifically in better climbing shape .

Landa showed today he couldn't sustain his effort after Finestre, and he got caught up, the same would've happened if had gone full out on Mortirolo, he'd probably been caught up by Kuiswijk and AC working efficiently together or at least wouldn't have been as strong up Aprica as he was after wheelshucking for the last 30 kms.

 

[ray j willings]

Re: Re:

Contador joins the Badger as the only riders to win at least 2 of each GT. He's said this is his last Giro, so he will not achieve the 3 x 3, at least not officially.

Final podium excluding TTs:

Landa
Aru 0:01
Contador 0:52

If you exclude certain/specific stages, you can create whatever GC you want.

Indeed


About Berto:
He looked very bad on Finestre but seemed better on Sestriere. He most likely had a bad day and a very difficult moment on Finestre. He looked "ok" not super on other stages, but he got dropped by Kruijswijk, Aru and Uran. It's not like those riders have been better than him the entire race. And it was clear, especially after the descent, that Alberto was just measuring his efforts, he probably knew that if he would go all out he would risk exploding completely.
All in all not a great stage for him and the fans, but he rode smartly and showed his experience. He looked much better in other stages so I doubt he is in terrible shape. Don't panic!

I need a more positive Bertie outlook. Your post has cheered me up.
Bertie will demolish all in the tour.