Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[Sciocco]

Re: Re:

He has a chance on Sunday, I hope he goes for it. Tinkoff can try to blow the race up a bit on the earlier circuits then he can go on the final one. Doesn't need the stage win, just a gap and maybe 2nd or 3rd.

I stand by my earlier (pre-PN) prediction, he'll win one of the three stage races, the TdF, and maybe something later in the season. 54km of ITT in the Tour is nice for Contador, I really think he can go well there and of course he'll ride well elsewhere. A Tour can be won without being the best climber on every mountain. I wish more of the Tour profiles were released on procyclingstats...

one of whcih three - do you mean three spring ones? He's scheduled for Dauphine too.

I meant of Paris-Nice, Catalunya, and Pais Vasco. Better luck and he had PN, oh well. Catalunya he has a chance, PV should go well. I don't foresee him winning Dauphine, but I guess you never know for sure.

 

[Jakub]

Re: Re:

He has a chance on Sunday, I hope he goes for it. Tinkoff can try to blow the race up a bit on the earlier circuits then he can go on the final one. Doesn't need the stage win, just a gap and maybe 2nd or 3rd.

I stand by my earlier (pre-PN) prediction, he'll win one of the three stage races, the TdF, and maybe something later in the season. 54km of ITT in the Tour is nice for Contador, I really think he can go well there and of course he'll ride well elsewhere. A Tour can be won without being the best climber on every mountain. I wish more of the Tour profiles were released on procyclingstats...

one of whcih three - do you mean three spring ones? He's scheduled for Dauphine too.

I meant of Paris-Nice, Catalunya, and Pais Vasco. Better luck and he had PN, oh well. Catalunya he has a chance, PV should go well. I don't foresee him winning Dauphine, but I guess you never know for sure.

I see, you are sceptical about Dauphine. I would like him to win it, he was so close in 2014.

 

[fantomas]

How the *** can you even debate whether Contador or Froome is the greater? Froome has been competing at top level for what, 3,4 years, while Contador has been a contender in at least one GT per year for nine years. Furthermore, in all those years he's been a contender for the top spot in almost every major one-week mountain race.

There's one reason and one reason only for why Froome after two GT wins is being lauded as one of the greats, and that is Contador. Had Froome not been competing against Contador, noone - apart from maýbe some British newcomers to pro cycling - would even begin to consider him as one of cycling's great.

Don't get me wrong. Froome is a very strong GT rider, but he is nowhere near Contador in terms of being one of the greats. They have duelled on equal terms once, La Vuelta in 2014, and we all know how that went.

Bertie is no doubt no rising star, and he may very well not be the strongest GT rider anymore, but he is still, if history were to be written right now, miles above Froome.

 

[cantpedal]

Re:

How the **** can you even debate whether Contador or Froome is the greater? Froome has been competing at top level for what, 3,4 years, while Contador has been a contender in at least one GT per year for nine years. Furthermore, in all those years he's been a contender for the top spot in almost every major one-week mountain race.

There's one reason and one reason only for why Froome after two GT wins is being lauded as one of the greats, and that is Contador. Had Froome not been competing against Contador, noone - apart from maýbe some British newcomers to pro cycling - would even begin to consider him as one of cycling's great.

Don't get me wrong. Froome is a very strong GT rider, but he is nowhere near Contador in terms of being one of the greats. They have duelled on equal terms once, La Vuelta in 2014, and we all know how that went.

Bertie is no doubt no rising star, and he may very well not be the strongest GT rider anymore, but he is still, if history were to be written right now, miles above Froome.

can only argue with 1 point that they were on equal terms in the 2014 Vuelta.. Bertie's been known to wander from the truth when talking about injuries and form ....no way of knowing how "equal" they were. This is just as big as the myth of his "super" form in 2014. He had much better shows of form earlier in his career. We'll need 5+ years to pass before we can truly begin to compare them. until then there is no comparison. I like Froome but I think his window of time is to small to let him catch up

 

[fantomas]

Re: Re:

How the **** can you even debate whether Contador or Froome is the greater? Froome has been competing at top level for what, 3,4 years, while Contador has been a contender in at least one GT per year for nine years. Furthermore, in all those years he's been a contender for the top spot in almost every major one-week mountain race.

There's one reason and one reason only for why Froome after two GT wins is being lauded as one of the greats, and that is Contador. Had Froome not been competing against Contador, noone - apart from maýbe some British newcomers to pro cycling - would even begin to consider him as one of cycling's great.

Don't get me wrong. Froome is a very strong GT rider, but he is nowhere near Contador in terms of being one of the greats. They have duelled on equal terms once, La Vuelta in 2014, and we all know how that went.

Bertie is no doubt no rising star, and he may very well not be the strongest GT rider anymore, but he is still, if history were to be written right now, miles above Froome.

can only argue with 1 point that they were on equal terms in the 2014 Vuelta.. Bertie's been known to wander from the truth when talking about injuries and form ....no way of knowing how "equal" they were. This is just as big as the myth of his "super" form in 2014. He had much better shows of form earlier in his career. We'll need 5+ years to pass before we can truly begin to compare them. until then there is no comparison. I like Froome but I think his window of time is to small to let him catch up

We can surely agree Contador didn't crash and broke his tibia at the TdF knowing he'd go to La Vuelta and beat Froome, right? So by any measure we are able to know of, they were on equal terms. Otherwise we'd have to question most any athelte's win ever

 

[lenric]

Froome won Contador in 2013's Tour. Just because Contador didn't show up in form it doesn't mean a damn thing. It was his job to show up, he *** up his preparation.
Regarding 2014, probably Froome was on par in le Tour. However, it's a logical fallacy to deduce that, because of that, they would be on equal form in la Vuelta too. Different preparation, different schedule and different body types.
3 months from now we'll be able to see if Contador can beat Froome in le Tour for the first time. Let's just hope that none of them crashes.

 

[cantpedal]

Re: Re:

How the **** can you even debate whether Contador or Froome is the greater? Froome has been competing at top level for what, 3,4 years, while Contador has been a contender in at least one GT per year for nine years. Furthermore, in all those years he's been a contender for the top spot in almost every major one-week mountain race.

There's one reason and one reason only for why Froome after two GT wins is being lauded as one of the greats, and that is Contador. Had Froome not been competing against Contador, noone - apart from maýbe some British newcomers to pro cycling - would even begin to consider him as one of cycling's great.

Don't get me wrong. Froome is a very strong GT rider, but he is nowhere near Contador in terms of being one of the greats. They have duelled on equal terms once, La Vuelta in 2014, and we all know how that went.

Bertie is no doubt no rising star, and he may very well not be the strongest GT rider anymore, but he is still, if history were to be written right now, miles above Froome.

can only argue with 1 point that they were on equal terms in the 2014 Vuelta.. Bertie's been known to wander from the truth when talking about injuries and form ....no way of knowing how "equal" they were. This is just as big as the myth of his "super" form in 2014. He had much better shows of form earlier in his career. We'll need 5+ years to pass before we can truly begin to compare them. until then there is no comparison. I like Froome but I think his window of time is to small to let him catch up

We can surely agree Contador didn't crash and broke his tibia at the TdF knowing he'd go to La Vuelta and beat Froome, right? So by any measure we are able to know of, they were on equal terms. Otherwise we'd have to question most any athelte's win ever

Never said he didn't break it just said was maybe made to look worse than it was...

there were pics in this forum of him out training 3 or 4 weeks after the break

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that your sure though this I a forum where people look at a pic of some rider and declare him ready to win all three grand tours or not worthy of starting another race

 

[fantomas]

Re: Re:

How the **** can you even debate whether Contador or Froome is the greater? Froome has been competing at top level for what, 3,4 years, while Contador has been a contender in at least one GT per year for nine years. Furthermore, in all those years he's been a contender for the top spot in almost every major one-week mountain race.

There's one reason and one reason only for why Froome after two GT wins is being lauded as one of the greats, and that is Contador. Had Froome not been competing against Contador, noone - apart from maýbe some British newcomers to pro cycling - would even begin to consider him as one of cycling's great.

Don't get me wrong. Froome is a very strong GT rider, but he is nowhere near Contador in terms of being one of the greats. They have duelled on equal terms once, La Vuelta in 2014, and we all know how that went.

Bertie is no doubt no rising star, and he may very well not be the strongest GT rider anymore, but he is still, if history were to be written right now, miles above Froome.

can only argue with 1 point that they were on equal terms in the 2014 Vuelta.. Bertie's been known to wander from the truth when talking about injuries and form ....no way of knowing how "equal" they were. This is just as big as the myth of his "super" form in 2014. He had much better shows of form earlier in his career. We'll need 5+ years to pass before we can truly begin to compare them. until then there is no comparison. I like Froome but I think his window of time is to small to let him catch up

We can surely agree Contador didn't crash and broke his tibia at the TdF knowing he'd go to La Vuelta and beat Froome, right? So by any measure we are able to know of, they were on equal terms. Otherwise we'd have to question most any athelte's win ever

Never said he didn't break it just said was maybe made to look worse than it was...

there were pics in this forum of him out training 3 or 4 weeks after the break

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that your sure though this I a forum where people look at a pic of some rider and declare him ready to win all three grand tours or not worthy of starting another race

He's a pro cyclist. Overcoming pain is part of he job.

 

[cantpedal]

Re: Re:

How the **** can you even debate whether Contador or Froome is the greater? Froome has been competing at top level for what, 3,4 years, while Contador has been a contender in at least one GT per year for nine years. Furthermore, in all those years he's been a contender for the top spot in almost every major one-week mountain race.

There's one reason and one reason only for why Froome after two GT wins is being lauded as one of the greats, and that is Contador. Had Froome not been competing against Contador, noone - apart from maýbe some British newcomers to pro cycling - would even begin to consider him as one of cycling's great.

Don't get me wrong. Froome is a very strong GT rider, but he is nowhere near Contador in terms of being one of the greats. They have duelled on equal terms once, La Vuelta in 2014, and we all know how that went.

Bertie is no doubt no rising star, and he may very well not be the strongest GT rider anymore, but he is still, if history were to be written right now, miles above Froome.

can only argue with 1 point that they were on equal terms in the 2014 Vuelta.. Bertie's been known to wander from the truth when talking about injuries and form ....no way of knowing how "equal" they were. This is just as big as the myth of his "super" form in 2014. He had much better shows of form earlier in his career. We'll need 5+ years to pass before we can truly begin to compare them. until then there is no comparison. I like Froome but I think his window of time is to small to let him catch up

We can surely agree Contador didn't crash and broke his tibia at the TdF knowing he'd go to La Vuelta and beat Froome, right? So by any measure we are able to know of, they were on equal terms. Otherwise we'd have to question most any athelte's win ever

Never said he didn't break it just said was maybe made to look worse than it was...

there were pics in this forum of him out training 3 or 4 weeks after the break

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that your sure though this I a forum where people look at a pic of some rider and declare him ready to win all three grand tours or not worthy of starting another race

He's a pro cyclist. Overcoming pain is part of he job.

and now part of mine

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

He has a chance on Sunday, I hope he goes for it. Tinkoff can try to blow the race up a bit on the earlier circuits then he can go on the final one. Doesn't need the stage win, just a gap and maybe 2nd or 3rd.

I stand by my earlier (pre-PN) prediction, he'll win one of the three stage races, the TdF, and maybe something later in the season. 54km of ITT in the Tour is nice for Contador, I really think he can go well there and of course he'll ride well elsewhere. A Tour can be won without being the best climber on every mountain. I wish more of the Tour profiles were released on procyclingstats...

Tinkoff does not have the manpower to blow up the race. It would be very surprising if Alberto could wrestle this out of Movistar's hands, but you never know.
So frustrating that Richie snuck just in front of Alberto to take those 4 bonus seconds. Otherwise Alberto would have been just 3 seconds behind and anything could still happen.
I don't know if he can win Pais Vasco.
Normally it's a race that suits him well, but his TTing has been pretty bad so far, and there are many riders in the race that can push him on the climbs. Of course I hope he can win - all those near-misses won't do much for his morale - but it is going to be difficult.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

How the **** can you even debate whether Contador or Froome is the greater? Froome has been competing at top level for what, 3,4 years, while Contador has been a contender in at least one GT per year for nine years. Furthermore, in all those years he's been a contender for the top spot in almost every major one-week mountain race.

There's one reason and one reason only for why Froome after two GT wins is being lauded as one of the greats, and that is Contador. Had Froome not been competing against Contador, noone - apart from maýbe some British newcomers to pro cycling - would even begin to consider him as one of cycling's great.

Don't get me wrong. Froome is a very strong GT rider, but he is nowhere near Contador in terms of being one of the greats. They have duelled on equal terms once, La Vuelta in 2014, and we all know how that went.

Bertie is no doubt no rising star, and he may very well not be the strongest GT rider anymore, but he is still, if history were to be written right now, miles above Froome.

Wow, great post

 

[dacooley]

can you call out at least one forum member who claimed about froome being somewhere nearby with contador regarding greatness and historical significancy in cycling? the talk is about it's not unreasonable to reckon froome a stronger gc rider on the grounds of a few last seasons.

 

[CheckMyPecs]

Re: Re:

I don't know if he can win Pais Vasco.

I think he will. Looking at the PV start list I don't see anyone in the same league as Contador, TBH.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

I don't know if he can win Pais Vasco.

I think he will. Looking at the PV start list I don't see anyone in the same league as Contador, TBH.

I saw no one in the same league on the Algarve, Paris-Nice and Catalunya startlists yet he got beaten in all 3 races.

 

[buchanan]

Re: Re:

How the **** can you even debate whether Contador or Froome is the greater? Froome has been competing at top level for what, 3,4 years, while Contador has been a contender in at least one GT per year for nine years. Furthermore, in all those years he's been a contender for the top spot in almost every major one-week mountain race.

There's one reason and one reason only for why Froome after two GT wins is being lauded as one of the greats, and that is Contador. Had Froome not been competing against Contador, noone - apart from maýbe some British newcomers to pro cycling - would even begin to consider him as one of cycling's great.

Don't get me wrong. Froome is a very strong GT rider, but he is nowhere near Contador in terms of being one of the greats. They have duelled on equal terms once, La Vuelta in 2014, and we all know how that went.

Bertie is no doubt no rising star, and he may very well not be the strongest GT rider anymore, but he is still, if history were to be written right now, miles above Froome.

Wow, great post

Not actually a great post at all. Very one eyed post.
"They have duelled on equal terms once, La Vuelta in 2014, and we all know how that went".
LOL.
In reality they competed on equal terms at the 2013 Tour - and Froome smashed him. I love how some Contador "fans" just quietly forget that season like it never happened. I am a big Alberto supporter but I'm glad I can still be objective about him. One could so easily argue Froome wasn't in peak condition at the 2014 Vuelta. After all he had recently broken his hand, which would have affected his preparation. Apparently he was using that Vuelta to get a Grand Tour in his legs for the following season, but then half way through found he was actually in contention to win it.

 

[Matteo.]

Re: Re:

I don't know if he can win Pais Vasco.

I think he will. Looking at the PV start list I don't see anyone in the same league as Contador, TBH.

I saw no one in the same league on the Algarve, Paris-Nice and Catalunya startlists yet he got beaten in all 3 races.

 

[CheckMyPecs]

Re:

They have duelled on equal terms once, La Vuelta in 2014, and we all know how that went.

2013 Tour?

 

[HelloDolly]

Re: Re:

I don't know if he can win Pais Vasco.

I think he will. Looking at the PV start list I don't see anyone in the same league as Contador, TBH.

Quintana , Landa, Henao, Aru, Pinot, etc ....

This thread is like going into the Twilight zone....same people having the same arguments over and over again...

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

This thread is like going into the Twilight zone....same people having the same arguments over and over again...

Yes, no one forces you to enter the thread.

 

[CheckMyPecs]

Re: Re:

I don't know if he can win Pais Vasco.

I think he will. Looking at the PV start list I don't see anyone in the same league as Contador, TBH.

Quintana , Landa, Henao, Aru, Pinot, etc ....

This thread is like going into the Twilight zone....same people having the same arguments over and over again...

Didn't see Quintana on the start list. My bad. The rest are nowhere as good as Contador, at least on paper.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Not actually a great post at all. Very one eyed post.
"They have duelled on equal terms once, La Vuelta in 2014, and we all know how that went".
LOL.
In reality they competed on equal terms at the 2013 Tour - and Froome smashed him. I love how some Contador "fans" just quietly forget that season like it never happened. I am a big Alberto supporter but I'm glad I can still be objective about him. One could so easily argue Froome wasn't in peak condition at the 2014 Vuelta. After all he had recently broken his hand, which would have affected his preparation. Apparently he was using that Vuelta to get a Grand Tour in his legs for the following season, but then half way through found he was actually in contention to win it.

In what universe were they in equal shape in 2013
In 2014 they both crashed out of the Tour and both suffered an injury, both then prepared for the Vuelta. Very equal. (I won't go into detail about the crashes and injuries because then we could only conclude Contador was perhaps even less prepared and the Sky fans would lose their minds)

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re: Re:

How the **** can you even debate whether Contador or Froome is the greater? Froome has been competing at top level for what, 3,4 years, while Contador has been a contender in at least one GT per year for nine years. Furthermore, in all those years he's been a contender for the top spot in almost every major one-week mountain race.

There's one reason and one reason only for why Froome after two GT wins is being lauded as one of the greats, and that is Contador. Had Froome not been competing against Contador, noone - apart from maýbe some British newcomers to pro cycling - would even begin to consider him as one of cycling's great.

Don't get me wrong. Froome is a very strong GT rider, but he is nowhere near Contador in terms of being one of the greats. They have duelled on equal terms once, La Vuelta in 2014, and we all know how that went.

Bertie is no doubt no rising star, and he may very well not be the strongest GT rider anymore, but he is still, if history were to be written right now, miles above Froome.

Wow, great post

Not actually a great post at all. Very one eyed post.
"They have duelled on equal terms once, La Vuelta in 2014, and we all know how that went".
LOL.
In reality they competed on equal terms at the 2013 Tour - and Froome smashed him. I love how some Contador "fans" just quietly forget that season like it never happened. I am a big Alberto supporter but I'm glad I can still be objective about him. One could so easily argue Froome wasn't in peak condition at the 2014 Vuelta. After all he had recently broken his hand, which would have affected his preparation. Apparently he was using that Vuelta to get a Grand Tour in his legs for the following season, but then half way through found he was actually in contention to win it.

I agree that ofcourse Alberto and Froome was on "equal terms" in 2013. The same was the case in 2014 - both before and after the tour.
For instance, there is no way that the 2013 version of Contador could have followed Froome's 1 min-accelerations on the Col du béal in Dauphine 14'.

Still, the other points from fantomas post are valid. Had Froome not been up against the greatest GT rider since Hinault in his two victories, surely his victories would not be as significant.

 

[buchanan]

Re: Re:

Not actually a great post at all. Very one eyed post.
"They have duelled on equal terms once, La Vuelta in 2014, and we all know how that went".
LOL.
In reality they competed on equal terms at the 2013 Tour - and Froome smashed him. I love how some Contador "fans" just quietly forget that season like it never happened. I am a big Alberto supporter but I'm glad I can still be objective about him. One could so easily argue Froome wasn't in peak condition at the 2014 Vuelta. After all he had recently broken his hand, which would have affected his preparation. Apparently he was using that Vuelta to get a Grand Tour in his legs for the following season, but then half way through found he was actually in contention to win it.

In what universe were they in equal shape in 2013
In 2014 they both crashed out of the Tour and both suffered an injury, both then prepared for the Vuelta. Very equal. (I won't go into detail about the crashes and injuries because then we could only conclude Contador was perhaps even less prepared and the Sky fans would lose their minds)

I said they competed on equal terms. ie. Both riders were going for the same major goal of the season (Tour de France) and both were injury free. Obviously as it happened Froome's shape was much better than Contador's, else he wouldn't have beaten Alberto so easily. But does that mean we cannot count that 2013 season when making comparisons? That's just ridiculous.

 

[Ramon Koran]

It is nonsense to say they were on equal terms in vuelta 2014 because a: they both had different injuries we don't know who recovered best people speculate that Contador recovered best but we'll never know for sure.
B: Contador fans ignore 2013 and insist on 2014 because Contador 2013 was not top shape. You could argue though that froome 2014 was not top shape either. At the end of the day we can only compare each other's seasons that is it. So Contador is better overall but froome has been better for last 4-5 seasons

 

[dacooley]

Re: Re:

Not actually a great post at all. Very one eyed post.
"They have duelled on equal terms once, La Vuelta in 2014, and we all know how that went".
LOL.
In reality they competed on equal terms at the 2013 Tour - and Froome smashed him. I love how some Contador "fans" just quietly forget that season like it never happened. I am a big Alberto supporter but I'm glad I can still be objective about him. One could so easily argue Froome wasn't in peak condition at the 2014 Vuelta. After all he had recently broken his hand, which would have affected his preparation. Apparently he was using that Vuelta to get a Grand Tour in his legs for the following season, but then half way through found he was actually in contention to win it.

In what universe were they in equal shape in 2013
In 2014 they both crashed out of the Tour and both suffered an injury, both then prepared for the Vuelta. Very equal. (I won't go into detail about the crashes and injuries because then we could only conclude Contador was perhaps even less prepared and the Sky fans would lose their minds)

I said they competed on equal terms. ie. Both riders were going for the same major goal of the season (Tour de France) and both were injury free. Obviously as it happened Froome's shape was much better than Contador's, else he wouldn't have beaten Alberto so easily. But does that mean we cannot count that 2013 season when making comparisons? That's just ridiculous.

we are actively using both 2013 and 2014 to make comparions as in both seasons they were on completely equal grounds.