Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[mr. tibbs]

Re:

I may get depressed if I continue reading this thread. C'mon guys

The desperate drama of CN's forum in the first week of the Tour.

We all want there to be a big story to discuss, so we focus myopically on things like pictures of a rider grimacing during a hard effort while cornering on cobblestones.

 

[Jspear]

Re:

I may get depressed if I continue reading this thread. C'mon guys

Don't worry. Any 'issues' he seems to be having are all fake. He is playing mind games, relaxing his opponents. Once the mountains come he will take a minute on everyone on every mtf.

 

[Electress]

Re:

This tour isn't over at all. Froome's team doesn't look as good imo. Porte certainly looks meh.

There's nibali, contador and quintana. I rate all of them as champions meaning they won't go for anything less than 1st. And this tour suits them, there are also many descends. And i wanna see froome riding away from them cause imo i doubt he can if they're 100%.

We'll see, and i also think his team won't be that good in the TTT compared to the other teams of the big 4.

I agree on this. I've not been overwhelmed by Sky…where were they all today, for example? And on stage 2, only two made the cut and Stannard was pretty beaten. I'm not sure they have the same train they have in previous years. Unless they are keeping the powder dry…but that's kind of what I thought about the Giro, and turned out they were MIA there.

Plus, we all saw how exhausting it is riding against two contenders in the Giro.

 

[damian13ster]

I think it has more to do with the fact that they brought 6 climbers. We will see though. Porte and Konig better step up their game for TTT.
Will be interesting but I don't think there is enough evidence to judge Sky's strength yet looking at the makeup of their team. Plus they (or Chris himself) kept Froome out of trouble perfectly so far.

 

[Tonton]

Re:

I may get depressed if I continue reading this thread. C'mon guys

So here I am to save the day . Contador is struggling, yes, but still very much in it. And after the cobbles, he fares much better than most predicted in the GC picture: he has a gap on Quintana (expected) and on Nibali (really not expected). Let alone the usual troublemakers, i.e. Valverde. Froome is the issue. The course will take its toll sooner or later. Who will be fresher week 3?

 

[perico]

Re: Re:

I remind you that he broke his leg on a wet descent

On a straight road. It had nothing to do with his descending skills. Nevertheless, skilled descenders and bikehandlers can still crash, due to bad luck or to the occasional human error on their part. Doesn't make them any less skilled.

i know that Hrotha, just don't get the double standards in bike handling between Alberto and Froome

I'm not a Froome basher, but Contador is one of the 2-3 best descenders in the business (of guys with GC aspirations). He has shown that multiple times with downhill attacks. Froome is not as bad as people make him out to be, but he's not on Pistolero's level there.

 

[ILovecycling]

Re:

I think it has more to do with the fact that they brought 6 climbers. We will see though. Porte and Konig better step up their game for TTT.
Will be interesting but I don't think there is enough evidence to judge Sky's strength yet looking at the makeup of their team. Plus they (or Chris himself) kept Froome out of trouble perfectly so far.

yep, I expect a lot form them but in themountains whre they should be a lot better than Astana (and Im not even talking about Saxo, BUT I smell a great form from Kreuziger and Majka )

 

[Pantani Attacks]

Majka is going to be major in this Tour win bid. If he is in great form, Contador has a big advantage over the rest.

 

[perico]

I don't get what people are overly nervous about. I was very impressed today. He was right in the thick of the action and rode the last twenty k with a wheel rubbing his brake. Is he peaking yet? No, but he looked very strong today. Yesterday was enough to cause some angst, but it looked as though he took a wrong line when he was going into the red and paid for it with a few seconds. It was a mistake, not a sign of poor form.

 

[damian13ster]

Re:

Majka is going to be major in this Tour win bid. If he is in great form, Contador has a big advantage over the rest.

Can't really confirm it, but the live feed from the stage today mentioned that Majka is riding with an injury. Not sure if he will be much help, depends on how he recovers

 

[ninjadriver]

Re:

Majka is going to be major in this Tour win bid. If he is in great form, Contador has a big advantage over the rest.

I believe Majka got dropped pretty badly today (stage 4, Tuesday, July 7th). I had thought going in that Majka not only would help Contador, but that he would challenge for the KOM and possibly shoot for a high GC finish. We'll see...

 

[Miburo]

Re: Re:

Majka is going to be major in this Tour win bid. If he is in great form, Contador has a big advantage over the rest.

I believe Majka got dropped pretty badly today (stage 4, Tuesday, July 7th). I had thought going in that Majka not only would help Contador, but that he would challenge for the KOM and possibly shoot for a high GC finish. We'll see...

Nope he did the same last year. Majka is good, very good. He's just ordered to drop to avoid crashes and save energy. He's useless in these kinda stages for Contador.

 

[peloton]

Re:

I don't get what people are overly nervous about. I was very impressed today. He was right in the thick of the action and rode the last twenty k with a wheel rubbing his brake. Is he peaking yet? No, but he looked very strong today. Yesterday was enough to cause some angst, but it looked as though he took a wrong line when he was going into the red and paid for it with a few seconds. It was a mistake, not a sign of poor form.

Completely agree. and as maybe was posted before, yesterday Riis said it was 'stupid seconds to lose, but he'll be much better in the long climbs'. How good we'll see.
Fingers crossed for no crashes (to anyone)

 

[Ramon Koran]

Lets face it, this is 2011 all over again, only a miracle could get Contador on the podium, talking about him winning it is ludicrous.

 

[damian13ster]

Re: Re:

Majka is going to be major in this Tour win bid. If he is in great form, Contador has a big advantage over the rest.

I believe Majka got dropped pretty badly today (stage 4, Tuesday, July 7th). I had thought going in that Majka not only would help Contador, but that he would challenge for the KOM and possibly shoot for a high GC finish. We'll see...

Nope he did the same last year. Majka is good, very good. He's just ordered to drop to avoid crashes and save energy. He's useless in these kinda stages for Contador.

Are you sure about that? I honestly thought before Tour that he will try not to lose time in first week. And if there is some truth in comments about injury then things don't look good. Of course it is also possible that he wants to peak for 3rd week, then ride Tour de Pologne and target Vuelta

 

[Miburo]

It's very clearly he's losing time on purpose, he's almost never on the front and spent himself on the hill before the mur on monday. He wouldn't do that if he had GC ambitions.

Kreuziger btw looks really good too. Contador has a great team, he just needs to be great too now.

 

[ninjadriver]

Re:

Bertie is definitely struggling. I hate to say it but yesterday Froome proved he his stronger in this race.
Unless Bertie gets some serious form I think he will be dropped in the mountains by Froome ,TJ, and Quintana etc.
He looks tired riding on the flat.
I really hope Bertie comes into form and it is early day's.

I think Contador already is cooked. I haven't seen him as weak and flat as I saw him on the Mur de Huy since the 2011 Tour de France, when Contador also was riding the TDF after riding the Giro.

As soon as Froome attacked and when the grade went way up, Contador realized he had no legs, and actually sat down, something he never does when he's flying. The excuses about the Mur de Huy being a short, steep climb, and that Alberto prefers long climbs, is baloney. He's a terrific sharp grade climber, I remember him toying with the field on the Monte Zoncolan in 2011. He's an incredible everywhere climber, arguably the best ever (I still love Ricco as my #1, I think Landa will prove to be amazing, Pantani is legendary).

It's Froome vs. Nibali, since Quintana clearly needs to work on his all-around and bike handling abilities and his tactics, and I don't think Tejay can hang on the huge climbs.

Personally, I'm very disappointed at the poor showings so far of Bardet and Pinot, both of whom came in on good-looking and presumably good form. But my greatest hope at this point is that Contador abandons, goes home to rest and re-train, and then attacks the Vuelta, but he must abandon very soon for my Spanish recipe to work.

 

[peloton]

Re:

It's very clearly he's losing time on purpose, he's almost never on the front and spent himself on the hill before the mur on monday. He wouldn't do that if he had GC ambitions.

Are you serious? Hope you are joking

 

[peloton]

Re: Re:

Bertie is definitely struggling. I hate to say it but yesterday Froome proved he his stronger in this race.
Unless Bertie gets some serious form I think he will be dropped in the mountains by Froome ,TJ, and Quintana etc.
He looks tired riding on the flat.
I really hope Bertie comes into form and it is early day's.

I think Contador already is cooked. I haven't seen him as weak and flat as I saw him on the Mur de Huy since the 2011 Tour de France, when Contador also was riding the TDF after riding the Giro.

As soon as Froome attacked and when the grade went way up, Contador realized he had no legs, and actually sat down, something he never does when he's flying. The excuses about the Mur de Huy being a short, steep climb, and that Alberto prefers long climbs, is baloney. He's a terrific sharp grade climber, I remember him toying with the field on the Monte Zoncolan in 2011. He's an incredible everywhere climber, arguably the best ever (I still love Ricco as my #1, I think Landa will prove to be amazing, Pantani is legendary).

You are comparing Huy to Zoncolan?

 

[ninjadriver]

Re: Re:

Bertie is definitely struggling. I hate to say it but yesterday Froome proved he his stronger in this race.
Unless Bertie gets some serious form I think he will be dropped in the mountains by Froome ,TJ, and Quintana etc.
He looks tired riding on the flat.
I really hope Bertie comes into form and it is early day's.

I think Contador already is cooked. I haven't seen him as weak and flat as I saw him on the Mur de Huy since the 2011 Tour de France, when Contador also was riding the TDF after riding the Giro.

As soon as Froome attacked and when the grade went way up, Contador realized he had no legs, and actually sat down, something he never does when he's flying. The excuses about the Mur de Huy being a short, steep climb, and that Alberto prefers long climbs, is baloney. He's a terrific sharp grade climber, I remember him toying with the field on the Monte Zoncolan in 2011. He's an incredible everywhere climber, arguably the best ever (I still love Ricco as my #1, I think Landa will prove to be amazing, Pantani is legendary).

You are comparing Huy to Zoncolan?

In that both have huge grade, on which Contador is terrific. Froome would never be able to drop Contador on the Zoncolan, or L'Angliru, or Mortirolo, or Huy, or any 100 meter stretch of the foregoing, were Contador on form and not Giro-exhausted.

 

[Miburo]

Re: Re:

It's very clearly he's losing time on purpose, he's almost never on the front and spent himself on the hill before the mur on monday. He wouldn't do that if he had GC ambitions.

Are you serious? Hope you are joking

That is hard to believe? Look at the stages, he's always at the back, relaxed. Before you ridicule my comments, watch all the stages again and then come back to me

 

[BlurryVII]

Re: Re:

In that both have huge grade, on which Contador is terrific. Froome would never be able to drop Contador on the Zoncolan, or L'Angliru, or Mortirolo, or Huy, or any 100 meter stretch of the foregoing, were Contador on form and not Giro-exhausted.

I think you just could've used as examples Mende (Paris nice 07' - PN 10' and Tour 10' ), Alto de Gaintza (Pais vasco 2014 ) or even Huy FW 2010 .

But let's wait and see what happens on Mur de bretagne .

 

[perico]

Re: Re:

Bertie is definitely struggling. I hate to say it but yesterday Froome proved he his stronger in this race.
Unless Bertie gets some serious form I think he will be dropped in the mountains by Froome ,TJ, and Quintana etc.
He looks tired riding on the flat.
I really hope Bertie comes into form and it is early day's.

I think Contador already is cooked. I haven't seen him as weak and flat as I saw him on the Mur de Huy since the 2011 Tour de France, when Contador also was riding the TDF after riding the Giro.

As soon as Froome attacked and when the grade went way up, Contador realized he had no legs, and actually sat down, something he never does when he's flying. The excuses about the Mur de Huy being a short, steep climb, and that Alberto prefers long climbs, is baloney. He's a terrific sharp grade climber, I remember him toying with the field on the Monte Zoncolan in 2011. He's an incredible everywhere climber, arguably the best ever (I still love Ricco as my #1, I think Landa will prove to be amazing, Pantani is legendary).

You are comparing Huy to Zoncolan?

In that both have huge grade, on which Contador is terrific. Froome would never be able to drop Contador on the Zoncolan, or L'Angliru, or Mortirolo, or Huy, or any 100 meter stretch of the foregoing, were Contador on form and not Giro-exhausted.

He took the wrong line at his limit. He overlooked himself. Neither Nibali nor Quintana even attempted to follow Froome and Purito. Had Contador not he would likely have put time into both. Froome is flying right now, but we're Contador weaker than the others, he would not have been able to finish in the main group on a bum wheel today. He looked very strong up until that point.

I'm not saying he is going to beat Froome right now, who is peaking, but neither Nibali nor Quintana have shown to be stronger than AC thus far. I also think the Giro was a dumb idea and could cost him the Tour, and that he underestimates what another victory would do for his legacy. However even without Bjarn, DeJongh, Yates, and Julich are the best in the business and would know what Alberto is capable of. He's still 2nd of the big four with over a minute on Nibali and Nairo. He's in better shape than 2013, when he couldn't win a race if he had been the only one lining up.

 

[ninjadriver]

Re: Re:

Bertie is definitely struggling. I hate to say it but yesterday Froome proved he his stronger in this race.
Unless Bertie gets some serious form I think he will be dropped in the mountains by Froome ,TJ, and Quintana etc.
He looks tired riding on the flat.
I really hope Bertie comes into form and it is early day's.

I think Contador already is cooked. I haven't seen him as weak and flat as I saw him on the Mur de Huy since the 2011 Tour de France, when Contador also was riding the TDF after riding the Giro.

As soon as Froome attacked and when the grade went way up, Contador realized he had no legs, and actually sat down, something he never does when he's flying. The excuses about the Mur de Huy being a short, steep climb, and that Alberto prefers long climbs, is baloney. He's a terrific sharp grade climber, I remember him toying with the field on the Monte Zoncolan in 2011. He's an incredible everywhere climber, arguably the best ever (I still love Ricco as my #1, I think Landa will prove to be amazing, Pantani is legendary).

You are comparing Huy to Zoncolan?

In that both have huge grade, on which Contador is terrific. Froome would never be able to drop Contador on the Zoncolan, or L'Angliru, or Mortirolo, or Huy, or any 100 meter stretch of the foregoing, were Contador on form and not Giro-exhausted.

He took the wrong line at his limit. He overlooked himself. Neither Nibali nor Quintana even attempted to follow Froome and Purito. Had Contador not he would likely have put time into both. Froome is flying right now, but we're Contador weaker than the others, he would not have been able to finish in the main group on a bum wheel today. He looked very strong up until that point.

I'm not saying he is going to beat Froome right now, who is peaking, but neither Nibali nor Quintana have shown to be stronger than AC thus far. I also think the Giro was a dumb idea and could cost him the Tour, and that he underestimates what another victory would do for his legacy. However even without Bjarn, DeJongh, Yates, and Julich are the best in the business and would know what Alberto is capable of. He's still 2nd of the big four with over a minute on Nibali and Nairo. He's in better shape than 2013, when he couldn't win a race if he had been the only one lining up.

Thanks for your comments, perico, and I hope you're right that Contador is in better shape than 2013, but I'd bet big Euros that he's cooked and will fade badly in the coming weeks. His Giro will cost him the Tour, as it did in 2011, but would you rather he went for the Giro/Vuelta double, against weaker fields at slower paces, netting him 2 more Grand Tour victories (my recommendation from last year), or skip the Giro and Vuelta, and just do the Tour vs. Froome/Nibali/Quintana/Bardet/Pinot/Valverde, at top peleton speed??? I'm big on Grand Tour victories, more so than just TDF victories, or especially TDF 2nd place finishes.

 

[Jspear]

Re:

Lets face it, this is 2011 all over again, only a miracle could get Contador on the podium, talking about him winning it is ludicrous.

Well at this point in the 2011 Tour he was already doing worse than he is now.