Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[Scarponi]

Re: Re:

Comparing 2011, he was worse. Back then he really exploded the race in the Alps. But this Tour, he wasn't even able to really put in a significant attack. His riding the last days was painfull to see really

Still, in 2011 he finished behind Frandy, Cuddle and Titi, now behind Froome, Quintana, Valverde, Nibali

I think the difference was in 2011 there was no pacing by any team or anyone. Constant pushing and throwing which imo is harder. There was too much pacing and one mountain attacks in this no matter the opposition

 

[Scarponi]

Re:

I am sorry for florecilla becouse he answer me that the only good result was victory in le Tour,k despite he won le Tour. 5th at 10 minutes is not the best result but it is no so bad after wining Giro.

He losed time with froome in Huy and he has losed today, always as usual in him, good at the begining, al later fading away a little.

He was always as a similar level in the Giro as I predicted and he was at a similar level in le Tour as well, it is not a question if he peak one week or another becouse he was in il Giro, but he has not that spark as he said. Looking at the others rider that were in il Giro, any other rider was here to win le Tour with a team working for him, but although Urán started well, he faded, and although today Hesjedal was third and Geniez very well, riders of the Giro were good just some days, Kangert, Kruisjwick,... but Contador was the only one that keep a good level all the Tour.
Congrats for him... if he think he can win le Tour nowadays, he has next year to demostrate it without any escuse.

We will see if Nibali try Giro and Tour in the next years...I dont rule out that.

Why do i like you slightly now

 

[rick james]

Re:

On to next year, I don't see any reason for Contador to be beaten while in top form . Quintana is a great climber, great stamina and consistency over 3 weeks but he is not quite on the mutant level, I mean he is still slightly below Froome when he is fresh and in top condition and Contador in top form as well.

Froome's issue is his inconsistency, he won the Tour in one stage, on all the others he appeared pretty average or even weak like today. If He tried a double attempt, he would completely sink. Contador is a metronome, if he is in top form, you know he'll perform at a high level on every single stage.

I'm confident.

Well, thats a lie.

 

[hulkhogansknees]

Pleased to hear we might receive the blessing of being able to watch this great champion race for two more years.
Next year will be a clean slate after riding three straight GT's and being competitive in all of them. And I expect great things.
The big question for me is if Contador can hit the mythical 2014-shape again. But honestly, other than being older, I can't see what should prevent him from doing that.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Oh sod off Taxus..... yes we ALL know you want this to be Alberto's best level.... BUT it isn't ..... build a bridge and get the hell over it.

And I am not a "he", god knows how many times I've told you that already

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Pleased to hear we might receive the blessing of being able to watch this great champion race for two more years.
Next year will be a clean slate after riding three straight GT's and being competitive in all of them. And I expect great things.
The big question for me is if Contador can hit the mythical 2014-shape again. But honestly, other than being older, I can't see what should prevent him from doing that.

I agree! Vamos Alberto, you're the best and you WILL show it next year

 

[BlurryVII]

Re: Re:

On to next year, I don't see any reason for Contador to be beaten while in top form . Quintana is a great climber, great stamina and consistency over 3 weeks but he is not quite on the mutant level, I mean he is still slightly below Froome when he is fresh and in top condition and Contador in top form as well.

Froome's issue is his inconsistency, he won the Tour in one stage, on all the others he appeared pretty average or even weak like today. If He tried a double attempt, he would completely sink. Contador is a metronome, if he is in top form, you know he'll perform at a high level on every single stage.

I'm confident.

Well, thats a lie.

It's not, he only put time into Quintana on la Pierre saint martin.

Yeah, took a bit of time on the TTT and stage 2 echelons. He didn't deserve that, it was Saxo who broke the peloton, Sky didn't even pull once to help increase the gap.

Without that 1.28 gap, Quintana could've won the Tour, he fell short for 1.12.

 

[Squirbos_19]

Well done Contador, he gave it a shot but just wasn't good enough. 1st at Giro and 5th at the Tour is pretty good, he'll even just 5th at the Tour is a good result. I know Contador has won so much that 5th place is bad for him but really it's still a good result.

Well know if he can win the Tour in March next year.

 

[luckyboy]

Winning two Grand Tours in a row and then finishing fifth behind four guys who came to the Tour fresh is pretty great.


Contador Notebook ‏@Contador_Notebk 35m35 minutes ago
Contador has told OndaCero that he's not sure that he will retire in 2016.

Hopefully this is true and he can try for Giro/Vuelta the year after.

 

[Old&slow]

Contador should be very happy with this Tour. It is arguably the best performance of his career. Yes, he won two tours but in those he won by barely beating third tier riders in Rasmussen, Leipheimer, Schleck and that 38 year old who had not ridden in 4 years. None of those riders would have stood a chance of finishing in the top 10 in this years tour. Rather, Contador's 2011, 2013 and 2015 Tour is his consistent standard. When he rides against the best riders who are in peak form he is a 2nd to 3rd tier rider. Yes, he can win a Vuelta or Giro against inferior competition or out of shape riders. But he is not nor ever has been a Tour De France contending rider. Rather, he is the most over hyped and over rated rider in the history of cycling. But, Kudo's to him for finishing within 10 minutes and beating his peers in Mollema, Gesink, Barguil, etc.

 

[BlurryVII]

Re:

Contador should be very happy with this Tour. It is arguably the best performance of his career. Yes, he won two tours but in those he won by barely beating third tier riders in Rasmussen, Leipheimer, Schleck and that 38 year old who had not ridden in 4 years. None of those riders would have stood a chance of finishing in the top 10 in this years tour. Rather, Contador's 2011, 2013 and 2015 Tour is his consistent standard. When he rides against the best riders who are in peak form he is a 2nd to 3rd tier rider. Yes, he can win a Vuelta or Giro against inferior competition or out of shape riders. But he is not nor ever has been a Tour De France contending rider. Rather, he is the most over hyped and over rated rider in the history of cycling. But, Kudo's to him for finishing within 10 minutes and beating his peers in Mollema, Gesink, Barguil, etc.

What the heck did I just read ?

 

[Scarponi]

Re:

Contador should be very happy with this Tour. It is arguably the best performance of his career. Yes, he won two tours but in those he won by barely beating third tier riders in Rasmussen, Leipheimer, Schleck and that 38 year old who had not ridden in 4 years. None of those riders would have stood a chance of finishing in the top 10 in this years tour. Rather, Contador's 2011, 2013 and 2015 Tour is his consistent standard. When he rides against the best riders who are in peak form he is a 2nd to 3rd tier rider. Yes, he can win a Vuelta or Giro against inferior competition or out of shape riders. But he is not nor ever has been a Tour De France contending rider. Rather, he is the most over hyped and over rated rider in the history of cycling. But, Kudo's to him for finishing within 10 minutes and beating his peers in Mollema, Gesink, Barguil, etc.

Then why has no one else in his era won more than 3 GTs?

Im a huge Cadel fan and if he chose the Giro and Veulta over the Tour for 8 years I still think he would have been capped at 3-4 max GTs

Who else is even close troll?

 

[Carols]

Why bother giving this guy an audience? It is what he wants, just ignore him

 

[Miburo]

With Contador it's always the same, the first sign will show how his entire GT will go. The mur in this case.

And of course he won't retire next year He loves the competition too much.

Let the people write him off, like they always do. Won the last 2 GT's but he's on the retour apperently. Next year i expect him to go nuclear with the same program as in 2014.

And let's hope he doesn't crash in the tour and then he can show why he's the best rider of this generation.

I'm still not over the fact that he crashed in the tour of 2014, look at that face. Not breathing

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Winning two Grand Tours in a row and then finishing fifth behind four guys who came to the Tour fresh is pretty great.


Contador Notebook ‏@Contador_Notebk 35m35 minutes ago
Contador has told OndaCero that he's not sure that he will retire in 2016.

Hopefully this is true and he can try for Giro/Vuelta the year after.

Indeed. For him, it's a slightly disappointing result, but objectively it's still quite great.

 

[TheYouyou7]

Re:

With Contador it's always the same, the first sign will show how his entire GT will go. The mur in this case.

And of course he won't retire next year He loves the competition too much.

Let the people write him off, like they always do. Won the last 2 GT's but he's on the retour apperently. Next year i expect him to go nuclear with the same program as in 2014.

And let's hope he doesn't crash in the tour and then he can show why he's the best rider of this generation.

I'm still not over the fact that he crashed in the tour of 2014, look at that face. Not breathing

If only...

 

[rick james]

Re: Re:

On to next year, I don't see any reason for Contador to be beaten while in top form . Quintana is a great climber, great stamina and consistency over 3 weeks but he is not quite on the mutant level, I mean he is still slightly below Froome when he is fresh and in top condition and Contador in top form as well.

Froome's issue is his inconsistency, he won the Tour in one stage, on all the others he appeared pretty average or even weak like today. If He tried a double attempt, he would completely sink. Contador is a metronome, if he is in top form, you know he'll perform at a high level on every single stage.

I'm confident.

Well, thats a lie.

It's not, he only put time into Quintana on la Pierre saint martin.

Yeah, took a bit of time on the TTT and stage 2 echelons. He didn't deserve that, it was Saxo who broke the peloton, Sky didn't even pull once to help increase the gap.

Without that 1.28 gap, Quintana could've won the Tour, he fell short for 1.12.

Another lie.

 

[BlurryVII]

Re: Re:

Another lie.

ah, well I didn't know you were blind, sorry.

 

[Squirbos_19]

Re: Re:

Winning two Grand Tours in a row and then finishing fifth behind four guys who came to the Tour fresh is pretty great.


Contador Notebook ‏@Contador_Notebk 35m35 minutes ago
Contador has told OndaCero that he's not sure that he will retire in 2016.

Hopefully this is true and he can try for Giro/Vuelta the year after.

Indeed. For him, it's a slightly disappointing result, but objectively it's still quite great.

Isn't that why we all love him when 1-1-5 in consecutive grand tours isn't good enough, that's the making of a true champion.

 

[fungusbear]

Re:

On to next year, I don't see any reason for Contador to be beaten while in top form . Quintana is a great climber, great stamina and consistency over 3 weeks but he is not quite on the mutant level, I mean he is still slightly below Froome when he is fresh and in top condition and Contador in top form as well.

Froome's issue is his inconsistency, he won the Tour in one stage, on all the others he appeared pretty average or even weak like today. If He tried a double attempt, he would completely sink. Contador is a metronome, if he is in top form, you know he'll perform at a high level on every single stage.

I'm confident.

Froome is not inconsistent. He won the tour on PSM, yes, but Quintana has only been stronger than Froome on two stages. Quintana was very lucky that BMC did not help set the pace on stage 2, and even luckier that the cobbles were dry/not that hard, he barely held on. Plus, there was no proper TT this year, and we all saw how strong Froome was in the TTT.
Next year we are in for (hopefully) a real treat with a freshand top form Contador, Froome and Quintana in the tour. If I was a betting man I would put my money on Contador.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

On to next year, I don't see any reason for Contador to be beaten while in top form . Quintana is a great climber, great stamina and consistency over 3 weeks but he is not quite on the mutant level, I mean he is still slightly below Froome when he is fresh and in top condition and Contador in top form as well.

Froome's issue is his inconsistency, he won the Tour in one stage, on all the others he appeared pretty average or even weak like today. If He tried a double attempt, he would completely sink. Contador is a metronome, if he is in top form, you know he'll perform at a high level on every single stage.

I'm confident.

Froome is not inconsistent. He won the tour on PSM, yes, but Quintana has only been stronger than Froome on two stages. Quintana was very lucky that BMC did not help set the pace on stage 2, and even luckier that the cobbles were dry/not that hard, he barely held on. Plus, there was no proper TT this year, and we all saw how strong Froome was in the TTT.
Next year we are in for (hopefully) a real treat with a freshand top form Contador, Froome and Quintana in the tour. If I was a betting man I would put my money on Contador.

I would too. I bet the odds are worth a bet at the moment.

 

[fungusbear]

Re: Re:

On to next year, I don't see any reason for Contador to be beaten while in top form . Quintana is a great climber, great stamina and consistency over 3 weeks but he is not quite on the mutant level, I mean he is still slightly below Froome when he is fresh and in top condition and Contador in top form as well.

Froome's issue is his inconsistency, he won the Tour in one stage, on all the others he appeared pretty average or even weak like today. If He tried a double attempt, he would completely sink. Contador is a metronome, if he is in top form, you know he'll perform at a high level on every single stage.

I'm confident.

Froome is not inconsistent. He won the tour on PSM, yes, but Quintana has only been stronger than Froome on two stages. Quintana was very lucky that BMC did not help set the pace on stage 2, and even luckier that the cobbles were dry/not that hard, he barely held on. Plus, there was no proper TT this year, and we all saw how strong Froome was in the TTT.
Next year we are in for (hopefully) a real treat with a freshand top form Contador, Froome and Quintana in the tour. If I was a betting man I would put my money on Contador.

I would too. I bet the odds are worth a bet at the moment.

Yeah probably- especially in my country where Froome gets even shorter odds due to the number of Brits betting on him I checked one British bookie today and Simon Yates was the 6th favourite to win the Tour (admittedly at like 250/1 odds)

 

[BlurryVII]

What he said today, very interesting

"Next year, we will completely change the plan, we'll focus entirely on the Tour and come with different ambitions. I would like to do the same season as last year, compete on all the early season stage races, at maximum level, with intensity, then race the Tour and the Olympic Games. I believe the route is hard and could possibly suit me . Then we'll see. It'll be harder not to retire, it will possibly be the moment to call it a day".

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

What he said today, very interesting

"Next year, we will completely change the plan, we'll focus entirely on the Tour and come with different ambitions. I would like to do the same season as last year, compete on all the early season stage races, at maximum level, with intensity, then race the Tour and the Olympic Games. I believe the route is hard and could possibly suit me . Then we'll see. It'll be harder not to retire, it will possibly be the moment to call it a day".

Yay! Go for it Alberto!!!!!

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Contador never did much in this Tour in the end. I think he mentally gave up somewhere during the 3rd week. He did do the one attack at the beginning of yesterdays stage.. but truelly. Mentally he was done.

Hope he can focus on the Tour for 1 more time and have his legs from 2014