Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[Carols]

Thank goodness he has made the wise decision!

 

[Matteo.]

Finally he takes the right decision. It's difficult to say that , but he could not continue.
Noe rest and training , we wait him in the Vuelta

 

[ILovecycling]

Get well soon Champion!

Vamos Alberto!

 

[rm7]

Re:

The question remains: what was the extent of his injuries?

Unless you think he regressed dramatically since the Dauphine, i guess it's very bad. I don't think he have pain, but the injuries clearly took its toll on him.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

I think Contador already decided before this stage to abandon. It's the right thing to do though. Now he can focus on the Vuelta. Also, I think that we will now hear that Contador's injuries are worse than what we've been told throughout the Tour.

 

[jilbiker]

You should totally forget the Tour. Its just not good vibes for him. Even his 2 official victories were not without drama. He is still a legend. He has 2 TDFs so no one can say he did not win the best. Just get to double digits now (officially) in Grand Tour Palmeres.

I think he feels the Tour is "the one that got away" and humans generally seem to hunger for that "one" even where is bad for you.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Get well soon Alberto, maybe forget the Tour, it's been a cruel race for you in recent years.

No reason why he can't win the Vuelta!

 

[Miburo]

Re:

I think Contador already decided before this stage to abandon. It's the right thing to do though. Now he can focus on the Vuelta. Also, I think that we will now hear that Contador's injuries are worse than what we've been told throughout the Tour.

They were obviously terrible and the team never underrated the injuries anyways.

Unless you think this is contador's true level knowing he's second on the uci ranking.

On to the vuelta i guess

 

[CheckMyPecs]

Re:

You should totally forget the Tour. Its just not good vibes for him. Even his 2 official victories were not without drama. He is still a legend. He has 2 TDFs so no one can say he did not win the best. Just get to double digits now (officially) in Grand Tour Palmeres.

Some would nuance that claim, but that is a conversation for another day.

 

[Matteo.]

Re:

The question remains: what was the extent of his injuries?

Why it's a question that?! In dauphine he was on a similar level of Martin, Barde, and now he would be on the level of any Cavendish or Greipel? It seems clear that the causes are crashes. No joking

 

[RedheadDane]

Well, the Vuelta should be interesting.

 

[Captain_Obvious]

I'm glad the torture is over.

 

[buchanan]

The Tour is just not his race and he's no longer a favourite at the Tour these days anyway. Not against Froome and Quintana. I hope he now gets a week of good rest and recovery. Forget about the Tour, then begin training for the Vuelta - and go there to win it. I wouldn't even bother with the Olympics if I were him. Just get another Grand Tour in the bag.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Re:

The Tour is just not his race and he's no longer a favourite at the Tour these days anyway. Not against Froome and Quintana. I hope he now gets a week of good rest and recovery. Forget about the Tour, then begin training for the Vuelta - and go there to win it. I wouldn't even bother with the Olympics if I were him. Just get another Grand Tour in the bag.

You're right about the Tour and him not being a favorite there anymore, but I think he should definitely focus on the Olympics. A good show here and a Vuelta win would save his season.

 

[Sciocco]

Looking forward to Vuelta stages 10, 14, 19, and 20.
Hopefully they bring a few decent flat guys for the opening day TTT.

 

[bajbar]

Re:

Looking forward to Vuelta stages 10, 14, 19, and 20.
Hopefully they bring a few decent flat guys for the opening day TTT.

Boaro, Bennati, Bodnar, Sagan could all do very well in TTTs. For the mountains they might put in Hansen, Poljanski, Trofimov, Kiserlovski... And then there are the usual suspects Hernandez and Paulinho...

 

[lenric]

Re: Re:

The question remains: what was the extent of his injuries?

Why it's a question that?! In dauphine he was on a similar level of Martin, Barde, and now he would be on the level of any Cavendish or Greipel? It seems clear that the causes are crashes. No joking

Calm down.
It's a question worth considering. Obviously his injuries greatly diminished his capacity to do something worth noticing. But those injuries weren't only superficial, otherwise he wouldn't take this long to heal. Seeing that, his participation in the Olympic Games can be cancelled. That's why the extent of his injuries is important.

 

[Jelantik]

It's tough to see. But his body has probably went into trauma/shock for getting the abuse in the last 7 days without a chance to recovery. Finally it gave him fever to make his stop. I respect him to abandon.

On side note: It's official every TDF "odd year" (2014, 2016), it's not his year. He never has a good luck (twice abandon - crashed out and crashed-sick). The even year 2013, 2015, he has a better chance. First bad form, second fatigue, so 2017 he'll be in top form :lol: Vamos Contador!!

EDIT; sorry the mixed up between "odd" and "even".

 

[Escarabajo]

Re: Re:

The question remains: what was the extent of his injuries?

Why it's a question that?! In dauphine he was on a similar level of Martin, Barde, and now he would be on the level of any Cavendish or Greipel? It seems clear that the causes are crashes. No joking

Calm down.
It's a question worth considering. Obviously his injuries greatly diminished his capacity to do something worth noticing. But those injuries weren't only superficial, otherwise he wouldn't take this long to heal. Seeing that, his participation in the Olympic Games can be cancelled. That's why the extent of his injuries is important.

We really don't know. And sometimes they hide a lot of the truth. They were talking about fever overnight. TBH, whatever he had he was not fit to keep racing.

 

[Sciocco]

Re: Re:

Looking forward to Vuelta stages 10, 14, 19, and 20.
Hopefully they bring a few decent flat guys for the opening day TTT.

Boaro, Bennati, Bodnar, Sagan could all do very well in TTTs. For the mountains they might put in Hansen, Poljanski, Trofimov, Kiserlovski... And then there are the usual suspects Hernandez and Paulinho...

Yea, I'm not too worried for the mountains. It's just that the TTT is 29.4 kms and if he gets a group like you listed he should be fine.

 

[Gigs_98]

It's tough to see. But his body has probably went into trauma/shock for getting the abuse in the last 7 days without a chance to recovery. Finally it gave him fever to make his stop. I respect him to abandon.

On side note: It's official every TDF "odd year" (2014, 2016), it's not his year. He never has a good luck (twice abandon - crashed out and crashed-sick). The even year 2013, 2015, he has a better chance. First bad form, second fatigue, so 2017 he'll be in top form :lol: Vamos Contador!!

I just noticed that he doesnt have one single result in an even year tdf
2006 didn't ride
2008 Astana was banned from the tour
2010 he won but later was disqualified
2012 banned
2014 crashed out
2016 crashed out

 

[Miburo]

Gigs in '06 he was also banned (tour) for fuentes.

So he pretty much always got banned in even years and then later on he crashed out on even years

 

[buchanan]

Re: Re:

The Tour is just not his race and he's no longer a favourite at the Tour these days anyway. Not against Froome and Quintana. I hope he now gets a week of good rest and recovery. Forget about the Tour, then begin training for the Vuelta - and go there to win it. I wouldn't even bother with the Olympics if I were him. Just get another Grand Tour in the bag.

You're right about the Tour and him not being a favorite there anymore, but I think he should definitely focus on the Olympics. A good show here and a Vuelta win would save his season.

With his luck he will contract the Zika virus at the Olympics. But seriously, he is just not a one day rider. Never has been. He isn't even really a regular stage winner at stage races so it's really hard to picture him winning the Olympics road race. But a race like the Vuelta is perfect for him and he has obviously had great success there. Leave the Olympics to Spanish compatriots Valverde and Purito I reckon.

 

[Jelantik]

Re:

Well, the Vuelta should be interesting.

yep. he is the only one who are fresh .. besides Kruisjwijk. Quintana, Froome, Landa reportedly will be in the Vuelta?

 

[Jelantik]

Re: Re:

The Tour is just not his race and he's no longer a favourite at the Tour these days anyway. Not against Froome and Quintana. I hope he now gets a week of good rest and recovery. Forget about the Tour, then begin training for the Vuelta - and go there to win it. I wouldn't even bother with the Olympics if I were him. Just get another Grand Tour in the bag.

You're right about the Tour and him not being a favorite there anymore, but I think he should definitely focus on the Olympics. A good show here and a Vuelta win would save his season.

With his luck he will contract the Zika virus at the Olympics. But seriously, he is just not a one day rider. Never has been. He isn't even really a regular stage winner at stage races so it's really hard to picture him winning the Olympics road race. But a race like the Vuelta is perfect for him and he has obviously had great success there. Leave the Olympics to Spanish compatriots Valverde and Purito I reckon.

you think he got less chance to win ITT than Valverde or Purito or izagire or whoever the winner of Spanish ITT? errr :surprised: