Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[Miburo]

Ok I got over it. But it sure looks bad, and even if he recovers and that's a big if, he still lost 47 sec

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

It was clear even before the start that the team had no faith in Alberto whatsoever. This is just salt in the wounds.
I hope he drops out, wins the Vuelta, burns his Tinkoff jersey in front of Oleg and rides off on a Trek bike.

So what has Tinkoff exactly done? They supported a way inferior rider for 21 days last year, this was due.

What did Movistar do last year? They backed the wrong horse as well. It happens

Yeah, thats surely very relevant to this discussion. You guys are amazing, you, LF and the others. Amazing.

You give criticise the team. I argue that the thing you criticise them for is quite common. I give an example.

You are maaaaad.
You can't really compare those two situations. Movistar definitely still supported Quintana over Valverde last year, while the situation at Tinkoff was way different.

You are pretty lol once again.

 

[Matteo.]

Re: Re:

For me it's over instead.He had probably already a level less than froome and quintana.
I do not see to retrieve both 47s in these poor conditions. it is evident that the fall was more serious than expected and it will take much time to recover
Now he can fight for the podium, the victory is definitely waned

I hope not. I'd rather he target the Vuelta.

absolutely.
for a guy who has won (on the road) 3 Tour 3 Tour 3 Vuelta, what do you do with a measly podium in the Tour?
he is Contador, not R.Porte or Aru or TJ.
The podium adds nothing to his legend,

 

[CheckMyPecs]

Guys, Contador has never abandoned a stage race with anything less than a chopped finger or a broken femur. Giving up now would be out of character for him.

 

[Matteo.]

Re:

Guys, Contador has never abandoned a stage race with anything less than a chopped finger or a broken femur. Giving up now would be out of character for him.

yep and in fact I am convinced that he will not go home(unfortunately)

 

[Tonton]

Let's all chill out, please.Thank you. I know that passions are flying high, but let's all remain courteous and sensitive. Thank you.

 

[mr. tibbs]

Re: Re:

I hope not. I'd rather he target the Vuelta.

Agree with you Tibbs. A podium wouldn't mean anything to him, his team and his fans.

But I definitely disagree about him being on a Trek next year. Any other manufacturer is preferable. (Except maybe Cervelo.)

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

You are maaaaad.
You can't really compare those two situations. Movistar definitely still supported Valverde over Quintana last year, while the situation at Tinkoff was way different.

You are pretty lol once again.

Because I think its totally deserved Sagan finally gets the support he deserves - what had it mattered to Contador? Had he lost 10, 15 seconds less? Nothing in the grand scheme of things, nothing.

Now, they have a stage and the yellow jersey. Contador crashed 2 times, he wasn't favoured in the first place, his chances was very slim.

 

[infeXio]

Re: Re:

You are maaaaad.
You can't really compare those two situations. Movistar definitely still supported Valverde over Quintana last year, while the situation at Tinkoff was way different.

You are pretty lol once again.

You're such a WUM.

Because I think its totally deserved Sagan finally gets the support he deserves - what had it mattered to Contador? Had he lost 10, 15 seconds less? Nothing in the grand scheme of things, nothing.

Now, they have a stage and the yellow jersey. Contador crashed 2 times, he wasn't favoured in the first place, his chances was very slim.

No, because your sole intention entering this thread forever remains arguing for nothing but the sake of arguing.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

You are maaaaad.
You can't really compare those two situations. Movistar definitely still supported Valverde over Quintana last year, while the situation at Tinkoff was way different.

You are pretty lol once again.

You're such a WUM.

Because I think its totally deserved Sagan finally gets the support he deserves - what had it mattered to Contador? Had he lost 10, 15 seconds less? Nothing in the grand scheme of things, nothing.

Now, they have a stage and the yellow jersey. Contador crashed 2 times, he wasn't favoured in the first place, his chances was very slim.

No, because your sole intention entering this thread forever remains arguing for nothing but the sake of arguing.

I will do the same in the future if that means debunking the same nonsense like today.

 

[HelloDolly]

Cycling is a very hard sport ...and it is survival of the fittest

Unfortunately before this race began Contador did not look on the same level as Froome and possibly Quintana

Yes he is a great champion but if you ride on then you have to be prepared to ride for lesser places when you are no longer at the top
Everyone who rides on beyond their peak knows this ..otherwise you retire

What has come to Contador will come to Froome soon when Quintana beats him and in turn to Quintana

 

[arvc40]

Time gap does not warrant giving in just yet. Thankfully Contador will be thinking the same.

 

[infeXio]

Re: Re:

You are maaaaad.
You can't really compare those two situations. Movistar definitely still supported Valverde over Quintana last year, while the situation at Tinkoff was way different.

You are pretty lol once again.

You're such a WUM.

Because I think its totally deserved Sagan finally gets the support he deserves - what had it mattered to Contador? Had he lost 10, 15 seconds less? Nothing in the grand scheme of things, nothing.

Now, they have a stage and the yellow jersey. Contador crashed 2 times, he wasn't favoured in the first place, his chances was very slim.

No, because your sole intention entering this thread forever remains arguing for nothing but the sake of arguing.

I will do the same in the future if that means debunking the same nonsense like today.

So attempting to wind people up by writing stuff like "you are maaaaaad" and - again - arguing for the sheer sake of arguing helps you debunk things? Right, ok then. That sure sounds worthwhile. As you were.

 

[buchanan]

I think it was up to him to show he could keep up with the big bunch of front guys being led by Kreuziger - with Sagan and all the others in tow. If Kreuziger wasn't at the front, it would have been someone else - and he still would have lost a lot of time.

The thing that really gets me is why the hell does he crash every year at the Tour de France? Just bad luck? Something else? This is his 4th successive Tour where's he's crashed on his own. To me it seems all those accidents were avoidable.

Personally I think he was only competing for 3rd anyway at this Tour, but it still would have been good to have him at full health and fitness battling Froome and Quintana and the others.

 

[Gigs_98]

I think people are a bit overreacting with this "leave the tour" stuff. Of course the situation is extremely bad and I'm also sad right now but I still see it very differently than many others here.
Yeah, Contador lost 47 seconds today, thats bad and you definitely shouldn't loose so much time in a tour when the mountains haven't even started yet. But 47 seconds sound more than it is. In the last 25 tdf editions (probably even more but I didn't look any further back) there was one single race which was decided by less than 47 seconds, and even races which today are seen as very close like 2011 or 2006 were decided by more. If he doesn't win the tdf, it's very unlikely it is because of the time loss of today. The reason why we should be worried is because he dropped on such an easy climb, but we have an excuse. He crashed, it's not like his shape is generally horrible (might also be the case but we don't know) but you guys are already talking about giving up. In the giro last year he also had a crash and a small injury and there was exactly the same discussion and the same people said he should abandon because he won't win the giro anyway. Now we should at least wait for stage 5 and if he loses minutes, we can assume the tour is lost he should maybe focus on the Vuelta instead. But maybe he can recover from his injury, since we still don't know what exactly is the problem, and I find it rather unlikely it still affects him as badly as today if there are no fractures, because if I understood everything correctly it was the pain which was the problem, and not that he couldn't strain his body.

 

[cellardoor]

Time gap does not warrant giving in just yet. Thankfully Contador will be thinking the same.

Finally...the voice of reason. It all depends on the exact nature of the injury which we can't possibly know. If it's the sort of thing that he'll ride off in a few days then if he had the form to begin with then he's still very much in it.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Its hard not to get a little personal when the person acts like Red Rick does towards me and uses Movistar as an comparison, pretty remarkable. Movistar still mainly supported Quintana while we all know Sagan was all on his own, often helping Contador out on stages he otherwise would've won.

 

[boasson]

If you really want to have a chance against this sky-team, Froome and Quintana than it's clear that all 8 men in the team have to do one thing: Give their a**** for Contador.

Majka is saving himself for stage wins in the 3rd week to get a nice new contract for next season. Sagan wants stage wins and the green jersey. Kreuziger, the number one helper for the mountains must emptying himself for Sagan at flat and hilly stages. And Gatto is in the team because of one reason: Sagan.

If you know, that your leader is on a bad day, you can't ride fullgas at the last hill to win the stage. And you can't grab the yellow jersey. Now you have to work the next days in the wind for nothing. This team is not strong enough to ride for two leaders. Everyone knows this. Only Oleg means that.

 

[rhubroma]

Re:

Its hard not to get a little personal when the person acts like Red Rick does towards me and uses Movistar as an comparison, pretty remarkable. Movistar still mainly supported Quintana while we all know Sagan was all on his own, often helping Contador out on stages he otherwise would've won.

What do you do when you have a multiple GT winner going for the win, support a circus act?

 

[arvc40]

I think people are a bit overreacting with this "leave the tour" stuff. Of course the situation is extremely bad and I'm also sad right now but I still see it very differently than many others here.
Yeah, Contador lost 47 seconds today, thats bad and you definitely shouldn't loose so much time in a tour when the mountains haven't even started yet. But 47 seconds sound more than it is. In the last 25 tdf editions (probably even more but I didn't look any further back) there was one single race which was decided by less than 47 seconds, and even races which today are seen as very close like 2011 or 2006 were decided by more. If he doesn't win the tdf, it's very unlikely it is because of the time loss of today. The reason why we should be worried is because he dropped on such an easy climb, but we have an excuse. He crashed, it's not like his shape is generally horrible (might also be the case but we don't know) but you guys are already talking about giving up. In the giro last year he also had a crash and a small injury and there was exactly the same discussion and the same people said he should abandon because he won't win the giro anyway. Now we should at least wait for stage 5 and if he loses minutes, we can assume the tour is lost he should maybe focus on the Vuelta instead. But maybe he can recover from his injury, since we still don't know what exactly is the problem, and I find it rather unlikely it still affects him as badly as today if there are no fractures, because if I understood everything correctly it was the pain which was the problem, and not that he couldn't strain his body.

A positive person, you will go far.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

I hope not. I'd rather he target the Vuelta.

Agree with you Tibbs. A podium wouldn't mean anything to him, his team and his fans.

But I definitely disagree about him being on a Trek next year. Any other manufacturer is preferable. (Except maybe Cervelo.)

Oh I don't want that, I want him at Lampre or Bardiani, but I think it's pretty much confirmed he'll sign for Trek.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

Its hard not to get a little personal when the person acts like Red Rick does towards me and uses Movistar as an comparison, pretty remarkable. Movistar still mainly supported Quintana while we all know Sagan was all on his own, often helping Contador out on stages he otherwise would've won.

What do you do when you have a multiple GT winner going for the win, support a circus act?

I'd still devote at least 1 to the best rider in the world, especially after Contador rode a super hard Giro. I mean, I know this is easy to say in hindsight, but once he was 5th in 2011, wasn't it obvious it wouldn't be able to win last year unless numerous persons crashed out? At least it was after Huy, on stage 3. They could definitely have done something different at that point IMO.

 

[rhubroma]

Re: Re:

Its hard not to get a little personal when the person acts like Red Rick does towards me and uses Movistar as an comparison, pretty remarkable. Movistar still mainly supported Quintana while we all know Sagan was all on his own, often helping Contador out on stages he otherwise would've won.

What do you do when you have a multiple GT winner going for the win, support a circus act?

I'd still devote at least 1 to the best rider in the world, especially after Contador rode a super hard Giro. I mean, I know this is easy to say in hindsight, but once he was 5th in 2011, wasn't it obvious it wouldn't be able to win last year unless numerous persons crashed out? At least it was after Huy, on stage 3. They could definitely have done something different at that point IMO.

If his 5th in 2011 was any indication, then there was not 2014 (alas).

 

[Big Doopie]

Re:

Contador has been absent the last 2 years.

actually since 2009.

no stage victories.

no day in yellow.

not even on the final podium.

 

[Arredondo]

For the best GT rider of his generation, it's pretty painfull to see his last Tour win was in 2010.

Hope he can recover. But for winning the Tour, a miracle has to happen.