Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[ray j willings]

First off forget the words rhubroma, he his just trying to wind you up ,,,don't bite.

Get things in perspective and in reality.
Bertie in shape has beaten the best in a GT including Froome and looking at Berties 2014 pre tour form he would certainly have won that tour.

Froome was great today but there was no real competition so he looks better. Think back to "that stage" of the Dauphine and if Bertie was in that form he would have followed Froome's his ass all the way to the top and gone by him [ elbows in ] and over 3 weeks in top form would be to strong for Froome like he was in the Vuelta ,,,,,,If Porte go's past Quintana [ shockingly bad today] then you know that the standard of competition is poor. Its 2013 again ,,nothing else and is no way a discredit to Bertie who has just rode and won the Giro and beat Quintana in a small stage race.

On a cautious note Bertie has not been in top form this year and the question is will he have the desire and the physicality to get back to top form...time will tell.

But get some perspective and don't let the Bertie haters wind you up...ignore them.

 

[BlurryVII]

First off forget the words rhubroma, he his just trying to wind you up ,,,don't bite.

Get things in perspective and in reality.
Bertie in shape has beaten the best in a GT including Froome and looking at Berties 2014 pre tour form he would certainly have won that tour.

Froome was great today but there was no real competition so he looks better. Think back to "that stage" of the Dauphine and if Bertie was in that form he would have followed Froome's his ass all the way to the top and gone by him [ elbows in ] and over 3 weeks in top form would be to strong for Froome like he was in the Vuelta ,,,,,,If Porte go's past Quintana [ shockingly bad today] then you know that the standard of competition is poor. Its 2013 again ,,nothing else and is no way a discredit to Bertie who has just rode and won the Giro and beat Quintana in a small stage race.

On a cautious note Bertie has not been in top form this year and the question is will he have the desire and the physicality to get back to top form...time will tell.

But get some perspective and don't let the Bertie haters wind you up...ignore them.

Good post. My thoughts exactly.

 

[rhubroma]

First off forget the words rhubroma, he his just trying to wind you up ,,,don't bite.

Get things in perspective and in reality.
Bertie in shape has beaten the best in a GT including Froome and looking at Berties 2014 pre tour form he would certainly have won that tour.

Froome was great today but there was no real competition so he looks better. Think back to "that stage" of the Dauphine and if Bertie was in that form he would have followed Froome's his ass all the way to the top and gone by him [ elbows in ] and over 3 weeks in top form would be to strong for Froome like he was in the Vuelta ,,,,,,If Porte go's past Quintana [ shockingly bad today] then you know that the standard of competition is poor. Its 2013 again ,,nothing else and is no way a discredit to Bertie who has just rode and won the Giro and beat Quintana in a small stage race.

On a cautious note Bertie has not been in top form this year and the question is will he have the desire and the physicality to get back to top form...time will tell.

But get some perspective and don't let the Bertie haters wind you up...ignore them.

Nope, I'm just being honest. What Froome did today was outrageous. Don't like seeing Sky do this and I certainly don't like seeing Contador being clobbered.

This is why I've been saying how could Contador have shown up with this condition? In a certain sense, did he not know what to expect? Does he not care about his status?

In life there are many more things to care about (think Basso - and I'm just talking cycling here, which we are all passionate about), as I'm sure, but as a champion he's got a reputation. I'd have rather seen him show up at his very best and loose, than to not even be in the race at this point in his career.

 

[leon993]

Re: Re:

No, he won't retire without winning the Tour one more time, he said it. He will only retire after winning the Tour, at the top of his game, so to speak at the top of the podium in Paris.

There's no way he will go to the Giro next year again. Plus we know very well, he has the physical ability to beat everyone at the Tour when focusing 100% for it, no double.

It is too risky.
There is no guarantee he will have a perfect preparation and will arrive in absolute top shape. Besides, he might crash out. And he is getting older.
Forget about the Tour, Alberto, please.

I'm quite sure Contador has lot's of ideas to take minutes back. But Tinkoff has clear mind. He will say ok - we go for your plan 1-2 days. So if you wan't to take time back this is your window. More days will mean missing green jerseys and/or stagewins. So either Contador packs it in, or goes for something tomorrow with team support.

 

[Metabolol]

Re: Re:

Giro - Vuelta next year is a realistic target.
he is getting older , Froome is in his best years of career and Quinta at 26 y.o. is getting stronger.
it's quite simple.
if he targets Tour next year , i fear he will be destroy again

Is Quintana really getting stronger? I think we have seen what his peak level will be for the rest of his career. I wouldn't be surprised if both Zakarin and Landa outclimb him in the coming years.

Good , you also centered an important point.
It's true , in effect it's from 2013 that Quintana is not so impressive. Of course , in 2014 Giro i expected more but i want to wait last week of Tour to do some ratings 'cause i believe he will improve on Alpes

I think in case he improves in the last week it will be due to Froome fading not because he achieves a higher level. But personally I don't think Froome will fade this time. I think Froome and Quintana might be very close on a couple of stages but I think that will be more because Froome and Sky will probably ride abit more defensively in week 3. At that point I expect Froome to have a big lead already. Honestly, I don't see Quintana gaining any time at all on Froome. I was hoping Quintana could but after today's show I don't think so.

 

[sir fly]

According to Olga, they'll try it again next year.

 

[cellardoor]

Re: Re:

No, he won't retire without winning the Tour one more time, he said it. He will only retire after winning the Tour, at the top of his game, so to speak at the top of the podium in Paris.

There's no way he will go to the Giro next year again. Plus we know very well, he has the physical ability to beat everyone at the Tour when focusing 100% for it, no double.

It is too risky.
There is no guarantee he will have a perfect preparation and will arrive in absolute top shape. Besides, he might crash out. And he is getting older.
Forget about the Tour, Alberto, please.

I'm quite sure Contador has lot's of ideas to take minutes back. But Tinkoff has clear mind. He will say ok - we go for your plan 1-2 days. So if you wan't to take time back this is your window. More days will mean missing green jerseys and/or stagewins. So either Contador packs it in, or goes for something tomorrow with team support.

You've got to have the form to try something audacious though. We saw in 2011 that even a well executed plan won't come to anything if the form is way off. I think Contador will be cut loose to race his race and he always has guys like Navarro to rely on if he wants to try a long range attack

 

[Son of Amsterhammer]

Bertie isn't trying anything on. He may as well retire from the race. This will just be 11 days of pain now. A real shame. I personally don't think he could do anything about this Froome. Not at this stage of his career.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

I think the crashes all year took something out of him. You can't win the double when you crash more during a year than any Dutch rider

Something is clearly missing and i fear it is in the head. I remember a interview before this Tour where he mentioned all the things he had to sacrifice for this double: dinners with friends, birthdays, partys and all this. I didnt want to read in too much about that but neither could i remember when he started to see and talk about racing and winning as "sacrifices".

If it is all in the head then there are simply not much you can do. Next thing you'll know you sit in the gruppetto, talks about "breathing problems" and gets even more demoralized.

I'm worried.

Yes, he's been going on about it since he announced he'd retire at the end of 2016. But even before that, as far back as 2010, he was talking about retiring early.

Edit: here's an interview from February in which he talks about it
http://www.abc.es/deportes/20150222/abci-entrevista-alberto-contador-201502212236.html

 

[jens_attacks]

i'm coming back as team sky fanboy apparently..................

the war is coming.


vamos!
tourmalet attack imminent

 

[Miburo]

Re:

i'm coming back as team sky fanboy apparently..................

the war is coming.


vamos!
tourmalet attack imminent

Sky is too good jens, dont give the fans false hope

 

[Poursuivant]

Re:

Well you have to concede that was ridiculously impressive, I'd like to see some data VAM etc, say compared to Riis on Hautacam, not that I'm insinuating anything.

It wasn't remotely close to Riis up Hautacam, in fact it was 6.09 w/kg, the exact same as Nibali up Hautacam.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

i'm coming back as team sky fanboy apparently..................

the war is coming.


vamos!
tourmalet attack imminent

I would love for him to say "*** it" and go for it, but as Blurry noted on twitter, he'd likely be reeled in within 10 seconds which would be sad to watch. He just hasn't got the shape to try anything crazy, and there's too little time left for him to ride into that sort of shape.

 

[Poursuivant]

I think some of you are being hard on him. There's no way likes of Gallopin would easily outclimb AC usually, simply the only reason he is this bad, is because of the Giro. And it was such a tough Giro for him, with an absolutely pisspoor team, remember how isolated he was on Stage 20? He had far too many days like that, for it to not make an impact.

 

[damian13ster]

Re: Re:

Was saying that since mid-Giro. It was painfully obvious that Contador is weak this season. Unfortunately Tinkoff already wasted half of the Tour because they couldn't accept the truth even if it punched them in the face.
Hopefully TS boys are able to salvage this Tour and get couple of stage wins + green. Majka is also far enough in GC to try and win couple MTFs and maybe go for Polka dot (although I think Froome will get that one as well as yellow if he doesn't crash, and I was dissapointed to see Rafal drop quite early today).

Btw, thanks for laughing at me when I said that Tour will be over by stage 11 (barring crashes).....

Seriously, why do you hate Contador so much? Is it because he is in the way of Majka's success?

I dont hate the guy, but it was obvious he is not in shape this season.
Why do you think I hate him even though I was right about him all along?
And yes, he does stand in a way of Tinkoff's success in this Tour. How can you deny that?

Sorry, idiot statement, standing in the way of tinkoff success, who else would you put up there after he has proven his worth, multiple grand tours etc.
Perhaps you should analyze this ridiculous stage and what Froome did, but you cannot keep it in this section of the forum. But I will it at that.

Again have to bold my own response because you seemed to ignore some parts of it. I am not saying that other rider should be a leader and Contador should be a domestique for him. I am saying that Sagan wasted energies working for him, without that he could easily have couple of stages to his (and his team's) name at this point. And no, today's stage was not to be won by breakaway, that's why I agree with Florecita and hope that Tinkoff lets guys go after stages so that more opportunities for stage wins (such as Sagan on cobbles) are not given away because team went all in for off-shape Contador.

 

[sacrifice&hardwork]

RAINNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!! He needs rain cause he doesn't like the heat and today it was definitely an influence on his performance which made it worse with his lack of form

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

I think some of you are being hard on him. There's no way likes of Gallopin would easily outclimb AC usually, simply the only reason he is this bad, is because of the Giro. And it was such a tough Giro for him, with an absolutely pisspoor team, remember how isolated he was on Stage 20? He had far too many days like that, for it to not make an impact.

I think it's a mix of Giro fatigue, poor shape all year and not in peak shape.

 

[leon993]

Re: Re:

I'm quite sure Contador has lot's of ideas to take minutes back. But Tinkoff has clear mind. He will say ok - we go for your plan 1-2 days. So if you wan't to take time back this is your window. More days will mean missing green jerseys and/or stagewins. So either Contador packs it in, or goes for something tomorrow with team support.[/quote]

You've got to have the form to try something audacious though. We saw in 2011 that even a well executed plan won't come to anything if the form is way off. I think Contador will be cut loose to race his race and he always has guys like Navarro to rely on if he wants to try a long range attack [/quote]

Yes, this is the other possibility, that he says no - i am lone wolf for the rest of tour. He probably will. I hope he will. Gaining support where he goes. That would be epic and super cool.

 

[ILovecycling]

Never give up Alberto. its your only Giro-Tour double attempt.VAMOS!

 

[sacrifice&hardwork]

Seriously damian13ster, Sagan knew before the Tour started that he wasn't going to get any support and that it was all in for Alberto. And regardless of what happened today, Kreuziger form doesn't even compare to the one he had back in 2013. Majka form last year was way better than this years. Bennati has been sick. Tossatto is tired from the Giro. Rogers has been suffering from his crash. Sagan has been in stellar shape (the first week) but he'll start to get tired. And Basso is no longer here. Quite frankly the whole thing is falling apart for the team.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Never give up Alberto. its your only Giro-Tour double attempt.VAMOS!

...

 

[ILovecycling]

Re: Re:

I think some of you are being hard on him. There's no way likes of Gallopin would easily outclimb AC usually, simply the only reason he is this bad, is because of the Giro. And it was such a tough Giro for him, with an absolutely pisspoor team, remember how isolated he was on Stage 20? He had far too many days like that, for it to not make an impact.

I think it's a mix of Giro fatigue, poor shape all year and not in peak shape.

Subscribed.

 

[warmfuzzies]

Contador's place in cycling history is marred by the fact he won more Vueltas than TdFs or Giros. His company in this category includes super domestiques (R Heras) as well as those who were close to, but not quite TdF winners (Tony Rominger, Denis Menchov, Alex Zulle, Jose Manuel Fuente, and Gustaff Deloor). To be amongst the greatest of all time, Contador would need to win more Tours than Giros or Vueltas. I tell you, if he went with Hoveround and Ensure as sponsors, he'd have another 3-5 shots at the Tour. . .

 

[Brod710]

Re:

Contador's place in cycling history is marred by the fact he won more Vueltas than TdFs or Giros. His company in this category includes super domestiques (R Heras) as well as those who were close to, but not quite TdF winners (Tony Rominger, Denis Menchov, Alex Zulle, Jose Manuel Fuente, and Gustaff Deloor). To be amongst the greatest of all time, Contador would need to win more Tours than Giros or Vueltas. I tell you, if he went with Hoveround and Ensure as sponsors, he'd have another 3-5 shots at the Tour. . .

Nobody cares if the number of GT wins is that high and you are a multiple Tour winner.

 

[BlurryVII]

Even in route du sud, he was decent actually, out of the saddle, not full out and such. Which makes me think his form is actually sinking.

I don't know what the hell he has done since then, taking it easy in Livigno all the way to Route du sud was a good choice IMO, he obviously needed to rest.
But from that point, De Jongh and Alberto completely lost their gamble by playing the recovery card all the way to the Tour, it was too much, you can see he's all messed up since the start of the Tour while he was looking relatively good in Route du sud.

He should've worked he ass off from the momentum that race gave him, with some intense training. They just let off wayyy too much, at his age it's not good. He needs intense training to keep himself in form.

If it was stilll young AC, he would probably be able to be good without training too much but it doesn't work here. His body is gonna take forever before getting back up in form.