Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[BlurryVII]

Re: Re:

Overcompensation could be positive for him, being sick during the TdF is by far more difficult, TVG knows that.

What do you mean by overcompensation?

He should be putting the finishing touches to his preparation right now, so I'm worried he'll miss just that last bit to be competitive.

Sport is also a question of luck, if Alberto is sick now it's not bad either, his immune system may be better after this.

Yeah, that's true, it may mean there's less chance he gets ill during the Tour, but if his form isn't where it needs to be because of this illness, it doesn't really matter.

, not in peak shape because rode a giro, some dirt in a knee. You guys are absolutely hilarious

Those are legitimate reasons / excuses, what's your problem with it?

Who's the last rider to have won the Tour after winning the Giro?

Some dirt in the knee? Are you ignorant?

As for the rest, we aren't making excuses for the upcoming Tour, we are just discussing his preperation and what's happening with him, he still missed the nationals, I think it's worth talking about it.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Lol it was just "some dirt in his knee"

 

[damian13ster]

Re: Re:

I said before the 2015 season even started that he will ride Giro against weak competition just to have an excuse for another failure at the Tour. I was right all along. He is a quality rider. Doesn't need a bunch of people here trying to come up with random reason such as sniffles for why his preparation might not be ideal and why he is most likely going to be crushed by cyclists that are simply better than him

 

[BlurryVII]

Re: Re:

I said before the 2015 season even started that he will ride Giro against weak competition just to have an excuse for another failure at the Tour. I was right all along. He is a quality rider. Doesn't need a bunch of people here trying to come up with random reason such as sniffles for why his preparation might not be ideal and why he is most likely going to be crushed by cyclists that are simply better than him

Yeah, you were right all along, absolute genius. It actually makes total sense for a rider like Contador to find an excuse because he's afraid to go at the Tour 2015 on fair ground after dominating everyone in 2014. That is brilliant thinking.

But he wasn't afraid to do it in 2014, after the 2013 fiasco. Why's that, huh?
What happened in 2014 for him to think he would never be able to beat Froome or Quintana at the Tour?

You didn't answer the question, who's the last rider to have tried and won both Giro and Tour?

The rest is just wishful thinking, the Tour hasn't started yet.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

I said before the 2015 season even started that he will ride Giro against weak competition just to have an excuse for another failure at the Tour. I was right all along. He is a quality rider. Doesn't need a bunch of people here trying to come up with random reason such as sniffles for why his preparation might not be ideal and why he is most likely going to be crushed by cyclists that are simply better than him

So after beating Froome in the 2014 Vuelta he suddenly realised that the latter was just stronger than him?

The now, after getting wrdcked at the Tour in 2015, he suddenly decides he can win the Tour whilst could've gone to the Giro and win by minutes and minutes.

Or maybe a quality poster doesnt need logic when he's after other things than a consctructive discussion

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

I said before the 2015 season even started that he will ride Giro against weak competition just to have an excuse for another failure at the Tour. I was right all along. He is a quality rider. Doesn't need a bunch of people here trying to come up with random reason such as sniffles for why his preparation might not be ideal and why he is most likely going to be crushed by cyclists that are simply better than him

So after beating Froome in the 2014 Vuelta he suddenly realised that the latter was just stronger than him?

The now, after getting wrdcked at the Tour in 2015, he suddenly decides he can win the Tour whilst could've gone to the Giro and win by minutes and minutes.

Or maybe a quality poster doesnt need logic when he's after other things than a consctructive discussion

 

[BlurryVII]

Oh I forgot, what about your beloved Nibali? I mean, he got thrashed last year on equal ground at the Tour, why did he go to the Giro this year against twice worse competition than last year?

Strangely enough, I didn't see any comment of you mentioning he did that to have an excuse for the Tour?

 

[Miburo]

Damian back at it again. How is your boy majka doing? Was he training in may? Didn't see the guy anywhere then

You really should stop thinking that Contador is holding back Majka and thus hating on Contador the whole time. It's not pretty.

 

[Jakub]

Re:

Fleur acts like contador is a 10 year old kid who can't think for himself, same with the nationality of his teammates.

"Oh no he has teammates who are from the east, contador will feel so sad during the tour, please don't do it, alberto needs southern riders"

"Contador just screwed up his olympic selection"

The guy won 9 GT's and survived Armstrong.

He'll be fine and he sure as hell don't need you questioning every decision he or his team made and how it's apperently made by a 10 year old

Fleur is a impulsive emotional girl - and there is absolutely nothing wrong about it. On contrary I like it and her reactions and I am not alone. What I don't like that much is when someone constantly point out what others say wrong or so. (Apologies for doing that right now ) your comments and analysis are often brilliant, I don't understand why you have to poison them with such unnecessary personal attacks.

Uff

 

[Miburo]

It wasn't meant personal, i just don't like it that people think Contador is a mentally disabled guy who doesn't know what he's doing. That's all.

 

[Jakub]

Re:

It wasn't meant personal, i just don't like it that people think Contador is a mentally disabled guy who doesn't know what he's doing. That's all.

Well to start a comment with "Fleur acts like..." and not to mean it personally....is....interesting

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

I said before the 2015 season even started that he will ride Giro against weak competition just to have an excuse for another failure at the Tour. I was right all along. He is a quality rider. Doesn't need a bunch of people here trying to come up with random reason such as sniffles for why his preparation might not be ideal and why he is most likely going to be crushed by cyclists that are simply better than him

So after beating Froome in the 2014 Vuelta he suddenly realised that the latter was just stronger than him?

The now, after getting wrdcked at the Tour in 2015, he suddenly decides he can win the Tour whilst could've gone to the Giro and win by minutes and minutes.

Or maybe a quality poster doesnt need logic when he's after other things than a consctructive discussion

Good post, when you look at the context this argument "Contador rode the Giro to have an excuse for the Tour" doesn't make much sense.

 

[Miburo]

Contador rode 12(13 if you count tour '14) GT's (since 2007)

He won 9 of those 12 GT's.

In the tour of 2011 and 2015 he rode the giro (and won it). That's the excuse which is the most legitimate that you can have for not performing in the tour unless you crash out (sickness often can't be proven so you never know)

And in the tour of 2013 he was just terrible, no one was trying to find excuses.

So wtf are you talking about my boy Damian? Where are the bs excuses people have here? xD

Actually pretty damn insane that he won 9 of the 13 GT's (including tour "05) he finished

 

[Jspear]

Re: Re:

I said before the 2015 season even started that he will ride Giro against weak competition just to have an excuse for another failure at the Tour. I was right all along. He is a quality rider. Doesn't need a bunch of people here trying to come up with random reason such as sniffles for why his preparation might not be ideal and why he is most likely going to be crushed by cyclists that are simply better than him

You must have quickly forgotten what happened in 2014. The real reason why AC did the Giro in 2015 was because of how strong he was in 2014. He realized that if he could win a gt after injuring himself, that he might be able to do the double. We now know it was to much, but his thinking was actually the opposite of your "prediction." He was so strong that he figured he'd give it a go....something Froome hasn't even been willing to do yet.

 

[Sciocco]

Regarding the olympic talk, I am more interested in seeing Contador go for the ITT than the RR. It supposed to be pretty hilly, right? He could snag a medal if it's hilly enough.

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re:

Regarding the olympic talk, I am more interested in seeing Contador go for the ITT than the RR. It supposed to be pretty hilly, right? He could snag a medal if it's hilly enough.

Dumoulin Froome Dennis Martin Kiriyenka and possibly Cancellara should be able to beat Contador comfortably. It's hilly but not mountainous.

 

[Miburo]

Contador can beat Dennis and Kyrienka. He would have beat Kyirenka in the giro ITT if not for changed circumstances.

Granted that was after 2 weeks of racing but on the other hand this parcours is harder.

 

[damian13ster]

Re: Re:

I said before the 2015 season even started that he will ride Giro against weak competition just to have an excuse for another failure at the Tour. I was right all along. He is a quality rider. Doesn't need a bunch of people here trying to come up with random reason such as sniffles for why his preparation might not be ideal and why he is most likely going to be crushed by cyclists that are simply better than him

You must have quickly forgotten what happened in 2014. The real reason why AC did the Giro in 2015 was because of how strong he was in 2014. He realized that if he could win a gt after injuring himself, that he might be able to do the double. We now know it was to much, but his thinking was actually the opposite of your "prediction." He was so strong that he figured he'd give it a go....something Froome hasn't even been willing to do yet.

Come on now. Vuelta wasn't a huge show of strength over Froome. ITT was great, rest was wheelsucking. And that was over Froome having an absolutely nightmare of a season. Even the gaps to Rodriguez/Valverde werent impressive. Yes, Giro 2015 was an excuse in case of poor performance in the Tour. He knows he is weaker than Froome and didn't want to have another season without GT success in two of the biggest stage races in the world (none among top guns targets Vuelta, it is an aftermath to Giro/Tour). If not for Giro 2015 against weak competition Contador wouldn't have won any of Giro/Tour since 2012, that's why he went for Giro against guys that were not the strongest riders even in their own team. And Nibali is doing exactly the same. He is not strong enough to win with Froome and Quintana on this course. He was in 2014 with cobbles on the route and over 2:30min advantage he got off of them so he targeted the Tour that year, but didn't target it in this one.

 

[lenric]

Re: Re:

I said before the 2015 season even started that he will ride Giro against weak competition just to have an excuse for another failure at the Tour. I was right all along. He is a quality rider. Doesn't need a bunch of people here trying to come up with random reason such as sniffles for why his preparation might not be ideal and why he is most likely going to be crushed by cyclists that are simply better than him

So after beating Froome in the 2014 Vuelta he suddenly realised that the latter was just stronger than him?

The now, after getting wrdcked at the Tour in 2015, he suddenly decides he can win the Tour whilst could've gone to the Giro and win by minutes and minutes.

Or maybe a quality poster doesnt need logic when he's after other things than a consctructive discussion

Whether his opinion is idiotic or not, for a moderator you have a remarkable ability to respect opinions opposite to yours. Way to go.


Damian13ster, I agree with you that he wasn't that much stronger than Froome in that Vuelta. However, his peak in 2014 was really good. I can recall his Tirreno Adriatico attack was something that made me remember of his great days.
Maybe he realized that, with lots of luck (mainly Froome crashing out), he could do the double. Problem is, he gambled. Astana was very strong and he was never capable of doing the double.

 

[ILovecycling]

Lol its pointless to have a conversation with damianster


Hey,what do you think damianster,will quintana use some red flag situation to drop Froome in the 3rd week?

 

[Jspear]

Re: Re:

I said before the 2015 season even started that he will ride Giro against weak competition just to have an excuse for another failure at the Tour. I was right all along. He is a quality rider. Doesn't need a bunch of people here trying to come up with random reason such as sniffles for why his preparation might not be ideal and why he is most likely going to be crushed by cyclists that are simply better than him

You must have quickly forgotten what happened in 2014. The real reason why AC did the Giro in 2015 was because of how strong he was in 2014. He realized that if he could win a gt after injuring himself, that he might be able to do the double. We now know it was to much, but his thinking was actually the opposite of your "prediction." He was so strong that he figured he'd give it a go....something Froome hasn't even been willing to do yet.

Come on now. Vuelta wasn't a huge show of strength over Froome. ITT was great, rest was wheelsucking. And that was over Froome having an absolutely nightmare of a season. Even the gaps to Rodriguez/Valverde werent impressive. Yes, Giro 2015 was an excuse in case of poor performance in the Tour. He knows he is weaker than Froome and didn't want to have another season without GT success in two of the biggest stage races in the world (none among top guns targets Vuelta, it is an aftermath to Giro/Tour). If not for Giro 2015 against weak competition Contador wouldn't have won any of Giro/Tour since 2012, that's why he went for Giro against guys that were not the strongest riders even in their own team. And Nibali is doing exactly the same. He is not strong enough to win with Froome and Quintana on this course. He was in 2014 with cobbles on the route and over 2:30min advantage he got off of them so he targeted the Tour that year, but didn't target it in this one.

So you think.

It's not about how much stronger he was than Froome in the 2014 Vuelta. The point was he beat him and everyone else after having a leg injury. It gave him hope in the double.

AC has won all three gt's multiple times. He wanted a bigger challenge. After 2014 (which was a great season despite crashing out of the Tour) it's no surprise that he wanted to go for the double. You call it fear because it fits your story line, but there's no evidence that he went out of fear.

 

[Kwibus]

I don't having a different opinion with others, but let's just ignore damian, because what he's saying is simply ridiculous. It's not worth any replies at all.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Regarding the olympic talk, I am more interested in seeing Contador go for the ITT than the RR. It supposed to be pretty hilly, right? He could snag a medal if it's hilly enough.

Yeah, he definitely has better chance at a medal in the ITT. On paper, there are several stronger TTers, but it is just 2 weeks after the TDF so he should still be in good shape, and it's slightly hilly, so it's not impossible.

 

[DFA123]

Re:

Yea sure Spain is gonna reject Contador from the Olympics, got another good joke? LMAO

I don't think he is guaranteed at all; he's fighting for one place I think.

Valverde and Rodriguez are nailed on - they've been the heart of the Spanish team for over a decade and will both definitely go if fit. Ion Izagirre is also very likely as TT champion and a very skillful and loyal domestique. Then there will definitely be one rouleur and second TTist - probably either Castroviejo or Luis Leon Sanchez.

So the last spot could be a wildcard, in which Contador or Landa would be favourites, depending on who looks to have form. Or they could choose another climbing domestique - thinking that two leaders is enough. That would probably be Moreno or Samu Sanchez, but could also be Landa I guess - maybe even Rojas now he is national champion.

I think if he looks in good form and is prepared to do the time trial Contador will probably get the go ahead, but it's far from guaranteed from what I've heard. He's not especially popular in the Spanish federation, considering how much he has shunned their teams and championships in recent years.

 

[BlurryVII]

Re: Re:

I said before the 2015 season even started that he will ride Giro against weak competition just to have an excuse for another failure at the Tour. I was right all along. He is a quality rider. Doesn't need a bunch of people here trying to come up with random reason such as sniffles for why his preparation might not be ideal and why he is most likely going to be crushed by cyclists that are simply better than him

You must have quickly forgotten what happened in 2014. The real reason why AC did the Giro in 2015 was because of how strong he was in 2014. He realized that if he could win a gt after injuring himself, that he might be able to do the double. We now know it was to much, but his thinking was actually the opposite of your "prediction." He was so strong that he figured he'd give it a go....something Froome hasn't even been willing to do yet.

Come on now. Vuelta wasn't a huge show of strength over Froome. ITT was great, rest was wheelsucking. And that was over Froome having an absolutely nightmare of a season. Even the gaps to Rodriguez/Valverde werent impressive. Yes, Giro 2015 was an excuse in case of poor performance in the Tour. He knows he is weaker than Froome and didn't want to have another season without GT success in two of the biggest stage races in the world (none among top guns targets Vuelta, it is an aftermath to Giro/Tour). If not for Giro 2015 against weak competition Contador wouldn't have won any of Giro/Tour since 2012, that's why he went for Giro against guys that were not the strongest riders even in their own team. And Nibali is doing exactly the same. He is not strong enough to win with Froome and Quintana on this course. He was in 2014 with cobbles on the route and over 2:30min advantage he got off of them so he targeted the Tour that year, but didn't target it in this one.

Froome had a nightmare of a season, poor guy
Contador got worse at the Tour .

But... seriously you didn't enlighten us to prove your reasoning, why did he only go for the Tour in 2014 if he knows he's weaker and doesn't want a season without GT ?

And what about this year? Like here, right in front of your eyes, what's happening in a week ?

If Contador would announce now that he can't take part in the Tour because of a major physical problem, you're that kind of snake that would start barking he was planning that all season and was only targetting the Vuelta from the beginning LOL