Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[Pantani Attacks]

He's getting better, just too fatigued to maintain it. No shame in that. He still might be good for the Alps.

 

[warmfuzzies]

Chapeau Contador! Followed wheels, then got dropped. There goes the 'getting better every day' narrative.

 

[VayaVayaVaya]

Re:

Depressing to see Piti go past Alberto today. Just doesn't have the level this year and I doubt he will improve. Think he should pursue a podium (3rd after Dawg and Nairo). It would make his season seem more like a succes (any other rider than Alberto would die for a season like that), especially considering that he hasn't had his 2014 level. Hopefully Nairo has what it takes in the alps.

Ouch that was depressing. Getting dropped by Froome and Quintana was bad enough. Valverde putting 20 seconds on him in what the last hundred meters of climbing + descent/flat sprint? That was hard to see.

 

[Simurgh]

Re:

Chapeau Contador! Followed wheels, then got dropped. There goes the 'getting better every day' narrative.

Well, what did ya expect? That he would attack and blow himself up? He rode ok today, at least got some time on TJ. Wait and see, in the Alps he will get better, especially if it rains

Valverde looks btw strong, I wonder if he will mess up (or being hit by bad luck) again this year?

 

[LaFlorecita]

Hope he goes for some long breakaways, hanging on to take 3rd shouldn't be the goal for a rider like him. If it rains he may be able to take a stage.

 

[warmfuzzies]

Re: Re:

Chapeau Contador! Followed wheels, then got dropped. There goes the 'getting better every day' narrative.

Well, what did ya expect? That he would attack and blow himself up? He rode ok today, at least got some time on TJ. Wait and see, in the Alps he will get better, especially if it rains

I expected Contador to lose time today. He hasn't the form to win the Tour. He hasn't the form to podium. His team needs to find a Tour leader. . .

 

[Red Rick]

On PSM he was cracked by Porte, today by Quintana, big difference.

He's less terrible than 2 years ago. He might actually be in shape to try and go all kamikaze on Sky's ass in the Alps

 

[VayaVayaVaya]

So who all has added warmfuzzies to the block list? I still think AC will get 3rd, by the way. Not the result most of us wanted, but still great.

 

[Simurgh]

Re: Re:

Chapeau Contador! Followed wheels, then got dropped. There goes the 'getting better every day' narrative.

Well, what did ya expect? That he would attack and blow himself up? He rode ok today, at least got some time on TJ. Wait and see, in the Alps he will get better, especially if it rains

I expected Contador to lose time today. He hasn't the form to win the Tour. He hasn't the form to podium. His team needs to find a Tour leader. . .

He clearly isn't the strongest, but Contador has proven that he is far more capable of doing long range attacks than his rivals, even when he isn't the best in the race. We have seen, that in rain he's riding better (because of the abscense of allergy), and I think he has a good shot in the Alps in more cold and rainy conditions.

 

[VayaVayaVaya]

Re: Re:

Chapeau Contador! Followed wheels, then got dropped. There goes the 'getting better every day' narrative.

Well, what did ya expect? That he would attack and blow himself up? He rode ok today, at least got some time on TJ. Wait and see, in the Alps he will get better, especially if it rains

I expected Contador to lose time today. He hasn't the form to win the Tour. He hasn't the form to podium. His team needs to find a Tour leader. . .

He clearly isn't the strongest, but Contador has proven that he is far more capable of doing long range attacks than his rivals, even when he isn't the best in the race. We have seen, that in rain he's riding better (because of the abscense of allergy), and I think he has a good shot in the Alps in more cold and rainy conditions.

He's definitely not falling out of the top 5. I think He will continue to lose time to Q and F in the Alpes but will overtake TVG and V for third. 1st, 1st, and 3rd in 3 consecutive GTs would not be terrible.

 

[Señor_Contador]

Re: Re:

His team needs to find a Tour leader. . .

Ya know what? I absolutely agree with your statement. I think it's time for Tinkof to put all their eggs in someone else's basket. Backing Alberto's wet dreams is proving to be a costly business.

Sagan could've won a couple of stages already.

 

[Matteo.]

Re:

Hope he goes for some long breakaways, hanging on to take 3rd shouldn't be the goal for a rider like him. If it rains he may be able to take a stage.

I hope so.
However i expected this result today. Obvious , i was happy if he could follow Froome but i'n not surprise. So now , f---k to podium , we want a crazy attack like 2011 and maybe a stage

 

[gregrowlerson]

AC is doing alright, and could be better in the alps. Hoping for an attack 50kms out from the finish on stage 18.

And his best this year has been pretty damn good....almost 2014ish. Did nobody watch that ITT at the Giro, or his calm and collected strength on the Motorola?

He even beat Froome in a high standard MTF in Spain (quality even though it was Feb).

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Hope he goes for some long breakaways, hanging on to take 3rd shouldn't be the goal for a rider like him. If it rains he may be able to take a stage.

I hope so.
However i expected this result today. Obvious , i was happy if he could follow Froome but i'n not surprise. So now , f---k to podium , we want a crazy attack like 2011 and maybe a stage

Exactly, I'd rather see a crazy attack and a stage win than a third place.

 

[Red Rick]

I'd rather see him get 4th then 3rd. Better still to go for insane attacks. No way I want to see 9-0-1

 

[Jelantik]

well, contador just being interviewed. .. He didn't sound that convincing. He said he feels better than yesterday and he could follow quintana attack but don't think he can follow all the way.. (well we saw he was dropped by Froome and Quintana) Today, Contador looked to be on the limit, even Valverde just left him to see his dust. I don't know how much he will improve or he will plateau as the fatigue sitting in. Out of the top 6, today besides Quintana, Valverde was really good and in fact so far he is good. TJ..not a big fan of him, but he should be off loaded out of top 5. Alps will be his big test. His in ability to attack, just play to his vulnerablity. Today isn't the high mountain yet. Now next step for Contador is Valverde and TJ.

 

[VayaVayaVaya]

Re: Re:

His team needs to find a Tour leader. . .

Ya know what? I absolutely agree with your statement. I think it's time for Tinkof to put all their eggs in someone else's basket. Backing Alberto's wet dreams is proving to be a costly business.

Sagan could've won a couple of stages already.

You people. Sagan always races the Tour this way. He babysat AC on the cobbles stage. That's it. And he's not a cobbles specialist the only cyclists who are arguably better stage races, even if you use ACs current, fatigued form, are Froome and Quintana.

 

[SeriousSam]

Contador beating Valverde to 3rd is still much more likely than winning a stage. The only way for Contador to win a stage is to go on a long solo attack that Sky and Movistar choose not to reel in. He can't go into a break and can't win from a group containing Froome and Quintana, possibly Valverde.

 

[warmfuzzies]

The Alps typically favor the 'diesel' riders over the lighter guys who can drop the hammer and gain 20 seconds in the 1st km of their attack. Quintana has demonstrated he is a great climber and in-form, BUT he's built to win on the REALLY steep, shorter climbs. 1-on-1, I think the battle between Froome and Quintana would be fun to watch in the Alps. With Sky's team involved (and the 3 minute advantage in the bank), it's a fairy tale to expect Quntana to catch Froome on the overall.

 

[Jelantik]

It's getting really tiresome to see this "Let's wait for the Alps and attack there" mentality shown by the chasing pack, AC included. It is next to impossible to take between 3-4 mins on Froome in the Alps. I just don't see it happening. AC it is somewhat understandable, as he presumably is using this excuse to recover a bit. But even he should know it's a goner. None of his attacks on the Alps in the previous years have really put more than a handful of seconds on the chasers, certainly not in the range of minutes, as is needed. Nairo what is he waiting for? Certainly not going to have the time and room to take 3 mins. These guys have left it too late. Only TJ has played it beautifully, he is going to get on the podium. Chapeau!

Also, the Alps are notorious for winds, when going both uphill and downhill. So more often than not, the attacks don't create too much of gaps. Usually the chasers are able to limit losses and bridge some.

can you elaborate on this? how does he play beautifully? He got his time mostly from ITT and TTT + crosswind. Then He has been just following wheel and expects other who keeps attacking blown up themselves (that's what he said in his nbc interview). Not there's a problem with that. Today, he was left in the dust due to his tactic of following wheels (since his unable to launch attack anyway). At least others is biding their time... coz sky is strong as a collective whole, and froome is superb. Contador himself? well, he is known for getting better on the 3rd week, but overhauling Froome just isn't going to happen. Quintana .. maybe. Froome was distance a bit and came back.

 

[sir fly]

He still can fight for the podium.
Hard to see him challenging Froome and Quintana.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

I'd rather see him get 4th then 3rd. Better still to go for insane attacks. No way I want to see 9-0-1

I agree. 9-0-0 and then 10-0-0 next year. And retire

And it may be selfish but I don't want him on the podium besides the Alien.

And I'd be 100000x happier with a stage and some epic attacks and a top 5 than just a 3rd place.

 

[arvc40]

Re:

well, contador just being interviewed. .. He didn't sound that convincing. He said he feels better than yesterday and he could follow quintana attack but don't think he can follow all the way.. (well we saw he was dropped by Froome and Quintana) Today, Contador looked to be on the limit, even Valverde just left him to see his dust. I don't know how much he will improve or he will plateau as the fatigue sitting in. Out of the top 6, today besides Quintana, Valverde was really good and in fact so far he is good. TJ..not a big fan of him, but he should be off loaded out of top 5. Alps will be his big test. His in ability to attack, just play to his vulnerablity. Today isn't the high mountain yet. Now next step for Contador is Valverde and TJ.

That interview was total *** !. Just riddles. He will no doubt sort his head out when the adrenaline has calmed down.

 

[rzombie1988]

It's getting really tiresome to see this "Let's wait for the Alps and attack there" mentality shown by the chasing pack, AC included. It is next to impossible to take between 3-4 mins on Froome in the Alps. I just don't see it happening. AC it is somewhat understandable, as he presumably is using this excuse to recover a bit. But even he should know it's a goner. None of his attacks on the Alps in the previous years have really put more than a handful of seconds on the chasers, certainly not in the range of minutes, as is needed. Nairo what is he waiting for? Certainly not going to have the time and room to take 3 mins. These guys have left it too late. Only TJ has played it beautifully, he is going to get on the podium. Chapeau!

Also, the Alps are notorious for winds, when going both uphill and downhill. So more often than not, the attacks don't create too much of gaps. Usually the chasers are able to limit losses and bridge some.

I've never seen the "wait until the last day to attack" method work besides Contador at the Vuelta a few years ago...and that was on a flat stage.

I just can't understand why Nibs/Nairo/Valverde/Whoever else just don't start going early each day. Froome can't chase people down everyday and if just one of them can crack him, they may all suddenly be in contention. They are doing nothing more than padding their stats and trying to make it seem like their 2nd and 3rd place finishes mean something.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

He still can fight for the podium.
Hard to see him challenging Froome and Quintana.

You seriously expect him to fight for the podium? He doesn't do that, he fights for the win or explodes in the process.