Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Nah...
No one wanted to chase him immediately.
He's not where he should be regarding the form.

OK Sir fly can you please leave now.

 

[LaFlorecita]

On the second video (I would guess 800m to the finish), Bertie is 28" ahead of Pinot, and BTW only 20" ahead at the finish line . He's said to have attacked after 500m in the climb, so he created a big gap very quickly. That's impressive. Let's not get too high, like most of you went too low after stage 2. You're not Philadelphia Eagles' fans, are you? . And I called his win, me the '15 TdF bust . Let's see how Bertie builds up, what kind of ITT performances he can produce. So far, if I were a fan of his, I'd feel cautiously optimistic...he's got pop, "giclette", if he was too old, that's the first thing he'd lose. Props to Alberto.

This

 

[Hugo Koblet]

I think it's true that Froome tends to "fade" in the third week. However, I think the premise is wrong as I think it's a wrong way to look at it. The consensus for the last many years has been that you have to peak for the third week to win the Tour, but Froome has shown that that's not true. He peaks for the first two weeks and then "fades" in the third which has been more than enough to win the Tour. Froome has been able to hold his peak for two weeks whereas the other contenders only have been able to peak for one week.

I think that Contador can beat Froome in the third week. The question is if it's enough? I have my doubts but I also have my hopes

 

[Jakub]

Sorry to spoil the party, but didn't Bertie fade in the third week in both Giro and TdF last year too?

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Sorry to spoil the party, but didn't Bertie fade in the third week in both Giro and TdF last year too?

Not really. At the Giro he was just terrible on stage 20, and at the TDF he was bad throughout.

 

[Kwibus]

Re:

I think it's true that Froome tends to "fade" in the third week. However, I think the premise is wrong as I think it's a wrong way to look at it. The consensus for the last many years has been that you have to peak for the third week to win the Tour, but Froome has shown that that's not true. He peaks for the first two weeks and then "fades" in the third which has been more than enough to win the Tour. Froome has been able to hold his peak for two weeks whereas the other contenders only have been able to peak for one week.

I think that Contador can beat Froome in the third week. The question is if it's enough? I have my doubts but I also have my hopes

The thing with Froome peaking in the first weeks is that he blows everyone away in the first MTF giving a huge mental blow to everyone. You saw it last year.... He hurt everyone in the first week where everyone thought he would suffer and then he made a KO on PSM the first MTF. I mean everyone knew by then Froome won the TdF, which was false btw. The other riders were all scared during the next days in the mountains to lose time again and it wasnt until the Alps that Quintana noticed that he actually was able to gain time. By then it was too late.

 

[Kwibus]

Re:

Sorry to spoil the party, but didn't Bertie fade in the third week in both Giro and TdF last year too?

I agree that last year Contador wasnt very good during the last week. Hell I think he wasnt good enough to challenge a good Froome, but maybe he deliberately didnt super peak for the Giro with the TdF in mind, but Astana killed the Giro by racing incredibly hard.

Ofcourse Contador wasnt good in TdF, but that's because of the Giro.

In the past Contador did fine over 3 weeks. Allthough I remember Contador being completely wrecked during the final TT of 2010.

 

[rhubroma]

These points are moot. You can't judge last year as an indication of AC's real level. That's all that counts. Hopefully this year all the contendors will be at their peak performance and may the best man win. We still haven't gotten that yet. For what it's worth, I read today that Hinault said Quintana should have won last year's Tour.

 

[dacooley]

Re:

These points are moot. You can't judge last year as an indication of AC's real level. That's all that counts. Hopefully this year all the contendors will be at their peak performance and may the best man win. We still haven't gotten that yet. For what it's worth, I read today that Hinault said Quintana should have won last year's Tour.

that's the case, but the likelihood of the season when we can see 3-4 top guns on their best real level is 0,0. it's all about relative strength and relative weakness.

 

[Angliru]

Re: Re:

Short video on the climb yesterday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArZRAZVCoqU

i guees Uran might started the attack then Contador attacked him.

here's the video if you want to see el pistolero on his salsa dance attack;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZRgQnl1BDk

here's how far he was compare to the others:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwdipGczhpA

The time gap at the place of shooting is bigger than at the finish line.

Thats pretty Contador-esque, his attacks are vicious, but he then fades a little.

Nah...
No one wanted to chase him immediately.
He's not where he should be regarding the form.

So where should he be, form-wise, in late February?

 

[Angliru]

Re: Re:

The best Contador can definitely match Froome, i don't think he can create as big gaps as Froome going full ***.

But he can hold on and in the last week of a GT, it's been shown Froome drops in shape. The tour of last year has proven that theory.

lets keep repeating this as if its true. in about half of his GTs (since becoming a contender) froome has weakened in the last week, but still probably been top 3. in the other half he has been very strong.

Even his former chief domestique has stated as much since his departure from Sky.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

So where should he be, form-wise, in late February?

Clearly a performance on par with his 2014 April form isn't good enough!
Seriously, I'd rather trust ammattipyoraily and jens on this subject and they were amazed by his performance.

 

[sir fly]

Re: Re:

@Angliru
Shoulder to shoulder with Benoot.

 

[Jspear]

Following his 2014 season, he will win PN.

 

[trevim]

Wait until Froome is under pressure in the 3rd week of the Tour before drawing any conclusions on his supposed fading away.

 

[Jspear]

Re:

Wait until Froome is under pressure in the 3rd week of the Tour before drawing any conclusions on his supposed fading away.

I've seen him under pressure. He just continues to ride at his own pace starring at his stem. Fortunately for him that works most of the time.

 

[Miburo]

Without Astana going full *** in the giro Contador would have easily podium'd the tour, he wouldn't have won it though, no way.

 

[Carols]

On the second video (I would guess 800m to the finish), Bertie is 28" ahead of Pinot, and BTW only 20" ahead at the finish line . He's said to have attacked after 500m in the climb, so he created a big gap very quickly. That's impressive. Let's not get too high, like most of you went too low after stage 2. You're not Philadelphia Eagles' fans, are you? . And I called his win, me the '15 TdF bust . Let's see how Bertie builds up, what kind of ITT performances he can produce. So far, if I were a fan of his, I'd feel cautiously optimistic...he's got pop, "giclette", if he was too old, that's the first thing he'd lose. Props to Alberto.

This

This gives me hope . He still has the pop!

 

[Carols]

Re:

Without Astana going full *** in the giro Contador would have easily podium'd the tour, he wouldn't have won it though, no way.

Somehow I find myself agreeing with Miburo, at least partially. An uncommon occurrence

 

[Angliru]

Re: Re:

@Angliru
Shoulder to shoulder with Benoot.

...and you're just going to ignore Contador's performance on the final stage? I'm going to guess Benoot was working for Gallopin on that final stage otherwise I would ask where was he then? I'm sure your comeback will be along the lines that no one chased Contador because he was no threat to the overall but I'm sure there were multiple riders that coveted the stage win that simply couldn't follow his move.

 

[LaFlorecita]

I thought it was obvious that each rider is only as good as their worst performance which is why I am of the opinion Froome was a 3rd rate gruppetto rider last season.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

Without Astana going full *** in the giro Contador would have easily podium'd the tour, he wouldn't have won it though, no way.

Somehow I find myself agreeing with Miburo, at least partially. An uncommon occurrence

I think thats unfair to Valverde. Yes, the chances would have increased, but lets not forget he also lost 2 minutes on Pra Loup after a mechanical or whatever, it would have been hard to get the podium spot regardless.

 

[Carols]

Re: Re:

Without Astana going full *** in the giro Contador would have easily podium'd the tour, he wouldn't have won it though, no way.

Somehow I find myself agreeing with Miburo, at least partially. An uncommon occurrence

I think thats unfair to Valverde. Yes, the chances would have increased, but lets not forget he also lost 2 minutes on Pra Loup after a mechanical or whatever, it would have been hard to get the podium spot regardless.

As much as I love Bala he Very Rarely finishes in front of Alberto in a GT.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

Without Astana going full *** in the giro Contador would have easily podium'd the tour, he wouldn't have won it though, no way.

Somehow I find myself agreeing with Miburo, at least partially. An uncommon occurrence

I think thats unfair to Valverde. Yes, the chances would have increased, but lets not forget he also lost 2 minutes on Pra Loup after a mechanical or whatever, it would have been hard to get the podium spot regardless.

As much as I love Bala he Very Rarely finishes in front of Alberto in a GT.

So Astana not going full *** translates to + 5 minutes on Valverde? I simply don't buy that. Contador wasn't scary by any means last year, he was out climbed time and time again by Landa and was a shell of himself in the Tour - not only because of Astana, but because of the decision to ride the Giro as a whole. And it wasn't only Astana, TInkoff and Contador were also ready to up the pace when they didn't necessarily needed to.

I think its a ridiculous statement that Contador 'easily' would have podium'ed. No way.

 

[Carols]

Re: Re:

Without Astana going full *** in the giro Contador would have easily podium'd the tour, he wouldn't have won it though, no way.

Somehow I find myself agreeing with Miburo, at least partially. An uncommon occurrence

I think thats unfair to Valverde. Yes, the chances would have increased, but lets not forget he also lost 2 minutes on Pra Loup after a mechanical or whatever, it would have been hard to get the podium spot regardless.

As much as I love Bala he Very Rarely finishes in front of Alberto in a GT.

So Astana not going full *** translates to + 5 minutes on Valverde? I simply don't buy that. Contador wasn't scary by any means last year, he was out climbed time and time again by Landa and was a shell of himself in the Tour - not only because of Astana, but because of the decision to ride the Giro as a whole. And it wasn't only Astana, TInkoff and Contador were also ready to up the pace when they didn't necessarily needed to.

I think its a ridiculous statement that Contador 'easily' would have podium'ed. No way.

Well I'm certainly not going to argue with you. Opinions differ, it is okay .