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Can't see Contador doing anything significant tomorrow.
The video showing Thursday's stage is telling he was off the pace for, at least, 2 chain teeth. That's a level below the leaders in fitness.
No one will let him go, and everybody will want to beat him. The opportunity to do that doesn't come across often.
The video showing Thursday's stage is telling he was off the pace for, at least, 2 chain teeth. That's a level below the leaders in fitness.
No one will let him go, and everybody will want to beat him. The opportunity to do that doesn't come across often.
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It's nigh impossible, he would have to go thermonuclear. It would be amazing!Gigs_98 said:I have the feeling that if he somehow manages to win the gc the hype will reach a level that has never been discovered before
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I was just thinking - when was the last time Contador really dropped anybody of significance on a climb?
Vuleta 2014? Or first race of 2015 with Froome maybe?
He really needs to be smarter about how to use his team. It's like he have them working for him all day and in the final he always got isolated, just like Giro 2015. He could have used a dom to close those gaps yesterday. He's not good enough to ride away from everybody at will anymore.
In my opinion he have not adapted totally to his new competitors, or his dropping level. He needs to use his team smarter and not take full responsibility for all the stages all the time. All the other teams know he'll do that, so they just sit back and save energy to beat him later on.
And why the hell do he feel obligated to close down all those gaps??? He did it in the Giro 2015 too. And make the race harder? Why not save energy for one final attack in a stage where you can't gain more than 5-10 seconds anyway.
Vuleta 2014? Or first race of 2015 with Froome maybe?
He really needs to be smarter about how to use his team. It's like he have them working for him all day and in the final he always got isolated, just like Giro 2015. He could have used a dom to close those gaps yesterday. He's not good enough to ride away from everybody at will anymore.
In my opinion he have not adapted totally to his new competitors, or his dropping level. He needs to use his team smarter and not take full responsibility for all the stages all the time. All the other teams know he'll do that, so they just sit back and save energy to beat him later on.
And why the hell do he feel obligated to close down all those gaps??? He did it in the Giro 2015 too. And make the race harder? Why not save energy for one final attack in a stage where you can't gain more than 5-10 seconds anyway.
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Why did he close the gaps, training maybe. When is the last time he dropped anybody of significance - Giro probably. It really depends what you call significant.
It's not like he's been unable to win races since a few years. He has a new strategy which is to attack in the final km or so which works really well. He won't take minutes anymore - unless he pulls a rabbit out of his hat like in Tirreno or Dauphiné 2014 - but this new strategy uses his great acceleration to great effect. He gets a gap and can keep it to the finish allowing him to take 15 to 20 seconds plus possible bonus seconds. It's better than attacking halfway up the hill to then get caught again 2 km later and not gain time at all.
It's not like he's been unable to win races since a few years. He has a new strategy which is to attack in the final km or so which works really well. He won't take minutes anymore - unless he pulls a rabbit out of his hat like in Tirreno or Dauphiné 2014 - but this new strategy uses his great acceleration to great effect. He gets a gap and can keep it to the finish allowing him to take 15 to 20 seconds plus possible bonus seconds. It's better than attacking halfway up the hill to then get caught again 2 km later and not gain time at all.
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Re: Re:
Often it is not the message I disagree with but the way you convey that messageMiburo said:When do you disagree with me fleur? i'm quite a reasonable person
Carols said:
To be fair Aru was not riding well in that period of the Giro, so I dont really consider that a great achievement. Aru suddenly became better in the days after that.
Contador was only the 2nd strongest climber in that race, and I even think that Aru was stronger that Contador on some days too. Before Porte broke mentally and crashed too, he also followed Contador pretty easily in the first tests. (Though i'm sure that he would have been dropped later in the race).
Don't get me wrong - I just think that some people on here is having a hard time accepting that Contador isn't several levels below his competition anymore. It's natural, he's 33 now and he have been on top since 2007.
He have to convince me in the spring that he can compete with Froome in the Tour. I'm not saying he can't, but i'm pretty sure that Froome is gonna be the same level as last year, so Contador have to win convincingly in P-N. It's only a one week spring race, so it doesn't have to be with minutes, but he needs to show that he can drop 2nd tier GC guys on the mountains again.
These young guys are getting better, and he's in decline. No question about it, but it's just how's the level between them this year?
Other than that - he needs to race smarter. Don't take full control of all the races, because all the races are not his to loose anymore. He already won them all.
I also disagree a little bit with LaFlo's post about him using his great acceleration. To be fair it's not really that great anymore. It's not bad, but when he accelerate the other riders don't really have a hard time following him anymore like they did before. He now need longer mulitpe climbs, so he can win with stamina rather than dropping people with an attack.
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Re:
It depends on his shape. If he's in bad shape, he could easily get beaten by Aru or Izagirre for example. I could see Thomas beat him as well as he's clearly in much better shape. Don't think it should definitely be a comfortable win.dacooley said:
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