Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[bob.a.feet]

Any chance of Alberto doing any one-day races, like Milano-Torino, this year?

 

[Carols]

Re:

I'm spanish so I'd love seeing him here home at the Vuelta, Yet I don't think he should abandon whatsoever. One day he goes rogue and destroys everyone mercilessly including Froome and Quintana - it will have been worth it to me.

By the way Eurosport claims Alberto told Kreuziger to ride for himself, because he's unsure after the crashes. All these days critizicing Kreuziger when we should instead give credit to AC's good will. :razz:

That just happened after yesterday's stage. Many don't know it yet so are still bashing Roman. But he had free rein to ride away today.

 

[The Hitch]

My vote is for Bertie to go home.

Live to fight another day. Go for the Vuelta. And after that, repeat the ONLY TDF process that you did in 2014, 2016, and will hopefully not forever regret not doing in 2015

 

[jilbiker]

Alberto said the race will not be decided till the 3rd week. Its still about who is strongest in that 3rd week. I think the GC guys are also watching that 3rd wk and no one wants to peak this week. Quintana I felt let Froome get away with it today, choose your battles. Bertie has time to recover, I am not giving up on this. Actually without the crash issues, I actually get the feeling Bertie would have misfired this week.

 

[lenric]

Tomorrow he will bleed time. To think he can gain 4/5 minutes to all the GC guys in front of him in the last half of the Tour... it's pretty lunatic... Unless he's considering riding for 3rd place. And that is not the Contador I know.

 

[LaFlorecita]

My vote is for Bertie to go home.

Live to fight another day. Go for the Vuelta. And after that, repeat the ONLY TDF process that you did in 2014, 2016, and will hopefully not forever regret not doing in 2015

I hope you realize it's not as simple as "repeat what you did in 2014".

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Tomorrow he will bleed time. To think he can gain 4/5 minutes to all the GC guys in front of him in the last half of the Tour... it's pretty lunatic... Unless he's considering riding for 3rd place. And that is not the Contador I know.

Agree. It's completely ridiculous. Of course he won't gain 5 or more minutes on all other gc favorites in the final week.
It's pretty simple: even without the crashes and time loss, he would have had a tough fight on his hands to win. And now he should achieve the same result after getting injured and losing several minutes?! Never going to happen.

 

[Matteo.]

Alberto said he waits the rest day and then decide what to do .

But what can he do ? If he does not want to retire and as the polka-dot jersey is goal of Rafall , he can only point to the stages . But to do this is to go off the charts because they i do not see him defeating quintana or froome in a head to head

 

[portugal11]

Contador leave le tour please. He will loose 3 minutes or more tomorrow

 

[Carols]

Re:

Alberto said he waits the rest day and then decide what to do .

But what can he do ? If he does not want to retire and as the polka-dot jersey is goal of Rafall , he can only point to the stages . But to do this is to go off the charts because they i do not see him defeating quintana or froome in a head to head

Lose 20 minutes so he can go in the BOD and win the stage that's how. Plus win the stage 18 TT .

 

[portugal11]

Re: Re:

Alberto said he waits the rest day and then decide what to do .

But what can he do ? If he does not want to retire and as the polka-dot jersey is goal of Rafall , he can only point to the stages . But to do this is to go off the charts because they i do not see him defeating quintana or froome in a head to head

Lose 20 minutes so he can go in the BOD and win the stage that's how. Plus win the stage 18 TT .

Heyyyy, THIS IS CONTADOR!!! He doesn't fight for stage wins. He is at least top5 in every race he enters

 

[rhubroma]

Cycling has changed, there is no rest for the weary. If a captain is down go ahead because this is what the maket demands.

 

[Carols]

Re: Re:

Alberto said he waits the rest day and then decide what to do .

But what can he do ? If he does not want to retire and as the polka-dot jersey is goal of Rafall , he can only point to the stages . But to do this is to go off the charts because they i do not see him defeating quintana or froome in a head to head

Lose 20 minutes so he can go in the BOD and win the stage that's how. Plus win the stage 18 TT .

Heyyyy, THIS IS CONTADOR!!! He doesn't fight for stage wins. He is at least top5 in every race he enters

Well he's injured so he doesn't have many options here...... A stage Win is a Win and is better then a lousy top 10.

 

[Carols]

Re:

Cycling has changed, there is no rest for the weary. If a captain is down go ahead because this is what the maket demands.

Well the team is folding, I'm sure it would be a different story if they weren't. Alberto told Roman to ride for himself so you can't fault him today.

 

[Pennino]

Ha, that would be something. Winning a stage and right after that saying goodbye to the Tour. Then everybody here would have more or less their wishes fullfilled

 

[Carols]

Re:

Ha, that would be something. Winning a stage and right after that saying goodbye to the Tour. Then everybody here would have more or less their wishes fullfilled

The real wish is a miracle recovery and savage attacks but that appears unattainable.

 

[Carols]

Well it doesn't appear as if he will quit!

For Contador, the next stage to Andorra will be about damage limitation and making it to the first rest day on Monday. Despite the ongoing struggle to come back from the injuries sustained in those early crashes, Contador is determined to fight on and does not give any credence to the idea of quitting.

"Never, it is not an option that I have thought about," he said. "I do not like to remember that I have had to abandon the Tour. If we are here it is to try and do something, but we will see. My body needs rest and this Sunday I expect a really hard day.

"Tomorrow is going to be very complicated day. It will be as tiring as today’s stage. Tomorrow I have to try to make it through the day as best as I can and analyse everything during the rest day.”

 

[Pennino]

Re: Re:

Ha, that would be something. Winning a stage and right after that saying goodbye to the Tour. Then everybody here would have more or less their wishes fullfilled

The real wish is a miracle recovery and savage attacks but that appears unattainable.

Off course, just to see him being able to wash the pedals in a head-to-head fight with the best.

But I'm already enjoying this, as weird as that may sound. All this fighting spirit with an online army of contadoristas 'apoyando' as agressively as possible cycling's most beloved GC racer. Mighty Contador.

 

[LeSensei]

Its okay guys. Even If Contador retired tomorrow none of these guys would ever accomplish half of what hes done. Hes a legend. Like Pantani, his idol. Remembered for his racing, as much as his palmares. That is the whole point of supporting Contador. Even if he doesnt win you have to be proud of the guy. Quintana lost last year tour because of cowardice. Cant be proud of that imho.

To me another vuelta isnt going to make him more of a legend than he already is. Another stage like Alpe D Huez 2011 however...

 

[fantomas]

Its okay guys. Even If Contador retired tomorrow none of these guys would ever accomplish half of what hes done. Hes a legend. Like Pantani, his idol. Remembered for his racing, as much as his palmares. That is the whole point of supporting Contador. Even if he doesnt win you have to be proud of the guy. Quintana lost last year tour because of cowardice. Cant be proud of that imho.

To me another vuelta isnt going to make him more of a legend than he already is. Another stage like Alpe D Huez 2011 however...

This!

I don't even care if he wins a stage. Contador is Contador either way, a legend. Rewatching his epic battles with Rasmussen still almost brings tears of joy to my eyes. Peyresourde and Plateau de Beille.

 

[Red Rick]

Quitting the Tour would be convenient. Convenience is a lame reason. I might skip class because it's convenient, but Contador isn't some regular student skipping a regular part of his job for convenience sake. He'd be quitting the biggest race of the year even though he can finish, just for the sake of convenience. Sounds like something that would Alberto Contador would do.

 

[Jelantik]

Re: Re:

Alberto said he waits the rest day and then decide what to do .

But what can he do ? If he does not want to retire and as the polka-dot jersey is goal of Rafall , he can only point to the stages . But to do this is to go off the charts because they i do not see him defeating quintana or froome in a head to head

Lose 20 minutes so he can go in the BOD and win the stage that's how. Plus win the stage 18 TT .

Heyyyy, THIS IS CONTADOR!!! He doesn't fight for stage wins. He is at least top5 in every race he enters

after pathetic ride by Tejay, Porte, Bardet, Martin, Aru today, letting Movistar chased Froome alone, I hope Contador recovers and unleashes his wrath to those wanna be contender. I'm sure Quintana and Froome aren't going to let Contador goes. It would be nice to see Contador toying and decides who's going to be the podium other than those two, by attacking left and right. He just need to stay with sky train, until all domestiques of BMC, Etixx and AG2R gone, then attacks.

 

[Tonton]

If you're in good condition and get beat, man up and keep going. If you got caught in crosswinds (or the likes) and lost time, keep going. I have a problem with the Cippo approach: win a few flat stages, and get out. That's really bad. If you are out of shape, sick or injured, unless you have something to prove to yourself (or others), I don't have a problem with DNF. Bertie has nothing to prove. To me it's a no-brainer.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re: Re:

Alberto said he waits the rest day and then decide what to do .

But what can he do ? If he does not want to retire and as the polka-dot jersey is goal of Rafall , he can only point to the stages . But to do this is to go off the charts because they i do not see him defeating quintana or froome in a head to head

Lose 20 minutes so he can go in the BOD and win the stage that's how. Plus win the stage 18 TT .

Heyyyy, THIS IS CONTADOR!!! He doesn't fight for stage wins. He is at least top5 in every race he enters

after pathetic ride by Tejay, Porte, Bardet, Martin, Aru today, letting Movistar chased Froome alone, I hope Contador recovers and unleashes his wrath to those wanna be contender. I'm sure Quintana and Froome aren't going to let Contador goes. It would be nice to see Contador toying and decides who's going to be the podium other than those two, by attacking left and right. He just need to stay with sky train, until all domestiques of BMC, Etixx and AG2R gone, then attacks.

I do not think that Dan Martin going to the front on a super fast descent would have helped matters.

 

[Jspear]

If you're in good condition and get beat, man up and keep going. If you got caught in crosswinds (or the likes) and lost time, keep going. I have a problem with the Cippo approach: win a few flat stages, and get out. That's really bad. If you are out of shape, sick or injured, unless you have something to prove to yourself (or others), I don't have a problem with DNF. Bertie has nothing to prove. To me it's a no-brainer.

This. It wouldn't be cowardice of him to leave. If he was 20th in the GC because of bad form it would look bad to leave - but no one could blame him for leaving.