Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[bob.a.feet]

Well I'll be damned

 

[arvc40]

When I saw he had put Red plasters on I knew it would be an ok day !

 

[Matteo.]

Re: Re:

the important thing is that the form is much improved compared Ezero. We must be happy, Quintana is the strongest for now but maybe without the crash yesterday would have lost only 10-15 seconds today

Imo contador can take at least a minute on quintana in the ITT, remember quintana will feel the tour in the 3rd week of the vuelta. That's where he must strike

umh, I'm not so sure he loses much in the third week. unlike Froome who was at the top, Quintana ran a Tour far below expectations. maybe he is coming into form just in these days...

 

[jilbiker]

What a mountain, I was saying they are better off walking...ha-ha. And it seems like 2 more days of these kind of mountains. I am glad AC did the right thing, ride at your own pace. Froome is clearly tired, he has to be super human to not be after his schedule, I am expecting a downslide especially with 2 more days of these kind of mountains. I think Bertie came out of this with plenty of momentum and confidence. He needs that. more of that and he will get stronger, its in the mind. Body wise I think he is good.

Now, Quintana, when will the TDF hit his legs? Its got to, we will know better on monday.

 

[Pantani Attacks]

Another thing worth mentioning is that Quintana was in the red towards the end as was Froome too, while Contador finished freshly. Could be significant too. Froome especially is bound to be hurting.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Cannot wait to see Alberto the next couple of stages. Beating Froome like he did today is what really gives him morale!

 

[Gigs_98]

The picture of him overtaking Froome was incredible. This Vuelta will be fun

 

[Gigs_98]

Re:

What a mountain, I was saying they are better off walking...ha-ha. And it seems like 2 more days of these kind of mountains. I am glad AC did the right thing, ride at your own pace. Froome is clearly tired, he has to be super human to not be after his schedule, I am expecting a downslide especially with 2 more days of these kind of mountains. I think Bertie came out of this with plenty of momentum and confidence. He needs that. more of that and he will get stronger, its in the mind. Body wise I think he is good.

Now, Quintana, when will the TDF hit his legs? Its got to, we will know better on monday.

I'm not sure. He had one bad day in the Vuelta last year but that was in the middle of the race. It actually even looked as if he became better at the end. However while I'm not sure if Quintana will get worse, I am pretty sure Contador will get better and there is an ITT which doesn't suit Quintana at all. It will be very interesting.

 

[Arredondo]

Woow woow!! That hype train is becoming huge!!

Normally Quintana and Contador should prevail in the third week. And Alberto should be a bit fresher then the Colombian.

 

[Pantani Attacks]

Contador's injuries are a big factor though, it is possible he hasn't had the full effect of them.

 

[Lexman]

Re:

Contador's injuries are a big factor though, it is possible he hasn't had the full effect of them.

that's what he said after the finish :

he worked hard with the phsyio yesterday evening, but sometimes you feel more the second day after a crash....

 

[Gigs_98]

Re: Re:

Contador's injuries are a big factor though, it is possible he hasn't had the full effect of them.

that's what he said after the finish :

he worked hard with the phsyio yesterday evening, but sometimes you feel more the second day after a crash....

Tomorrows finish is way easier though. Important is how he feels on stage 10.

 

[Pantani Attacks]

Re: Re:

Contador's injuries are a big factor though, it is possible he hasn't had the full effect of them.

that's what he said after the finish :

he worked hard with the phsyio yesterday evening, but sometimes you feel more the second day after a crash....

Yep, especially after a tough stage like today he could be in for a very painful night tonight and tomorrow.

 

[Jelantik]

I think Contador rode smart today. When Froome attacked, and he got dropped.. he rode his own tempo. . I was like.. here we go again.. (really??? Contador got dropped by TDF/Rio leg?). Then Quintana left Froome in the dust. Froome slowly exploding .. next thing camera zoomed.. here comes Contador passed Froome. Wow, that sight alone? PRICELESS I can't believe my eyes. I was convinced that today Contador will loose more time to Froome.

 

[hrotha]

Re: Re:

Contador's injuries are a big factor though, it is possible he hasn't had the full effect of them.

that's what he said after the finish :

he worked hard with the phsyio yesterday evening, but sometimes you feel more the second day after a crash....

Yep, especially after a tough stage like today he could be in for a very painful night tonight and tomorrow.

Today's stage wasn't tough at all. It just had a very intense but very short effort at the end.

 

[jilbiker]

Re: Re:

Contador's injuries are a big factor though, it is possible he hasn't had the full effect of them.

that's what he said after the finish :

he worked hard with the phsyio yesterday evening, but sometimes you feel more the second day after a crash....

In working out, if I over do it, I feel the next day. If its a normal workout, I feel it two days after. Two days after means its not bad at all. If he felt it today, then its really bad.

 

[Pantani Attacks]

Re: Re:

Contador's injuries are a big factor though, it is possible he hasn't had the full effect of them.

that's what he said after the finish :

he worked hard with the phsyio yesterday evening, but sometimes you feel more the second day after a crash....

In working out, if I over do it, I feel the next day. If its a normal workout, I feel it two days after. Two days after means its not bad at all. If he felt it today, then its really bad.

Working out muscle fatigue and damage =/= crash muscle fatigue and damage.

 

[contador_attacks]

Digging deep, Alberto... Digging deep!!! Beautiful finale! He is fighting for his pride.

 

[LaFlorecita]

What. The. Heck. I didn't expect this at all. Vamos grande!!!! must be a huge morale boost for him as well to pass Froome like that

 

[portugal11]

This stage could be a "eye open" to contador. He is the best at managing efforts, that's why he is so strong in hilly tt. If he changes his approach and starts to race at his own rhytim, he could win a tour in the future

 

[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

Contador's injuries are a big factor though, it is possible he hasn't had the full effect of them.

that's what he said after the finish :

he worked hard with the phsyio yesterday evening, but sometimes you feel more the second day after a crash....

Tomorrows finish is way easier though. Important is how he feels on stage 10.

But it's a tougher stage overall. Today was easy for 180km then hard for 4, but we've seen Contador beast it in isolated 4km efforts then struggle later in harder stages this year. Tomorrow is a hilly and tough day, and Alto del Naranco is hard enough to be put time into someone if they are tired at the bottom. Not that much, but 30 seconds is possible if it's really bad. Today was a good sign, a very good sign. But we mustn't get overexcited yet. Not with, as you said, Covadonga coming up.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Cannot wait to see Alberto the next couple of stages. Beating Froome like he did today is what really gives him morale!

That was huge, I already thought he was doing quite well when he (kind of) followed Froome and Quintana, of course his legs blew off as expected, but I was happy to see him follow Chaves and limit his losses. But then that punch?!?! Not only did he drop Chaves but to sprint past Froome like that... a huge boost for him for sure

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Never doubt the man with red and yellow leg straps.

Perhaps the tape gives him extra strength, he also had it in 2014, I'm seeing a pattern

 

[Arredondo]

Re: Re:

Cannot wait to see Alberto the next couple of stages. Beating Froome like he did today is what really gives him morale!

That was huge, I already thought he was doing quite well when he (kind of) followed Froome and Quintana, of course his legs blew off as expected, but I was happy to see him follow Chaves and limit his losses. But then that punch?!?! Not only did he drop Chaves but to sprint past Froome like that... a huge boost for him for sure

He just needs to follow his own rhythm more. He alway burns himself in trying to follow the first big attack by a GC rider.

 

[Gigs_98]

Re: Re:

Contador's injuries are a big factor though, it is possible he hasn't had the full effect of them.

that's what he said after the finish :

he worked hard with the phsyio yesterday evening, but sometimes you feel more the second day after a crash....

Tomorrows finish is way easier though. Important is how he feels on stage 10.

But it's a tougher stage overall. Today was easy for 180km then hard for 4, but we've seen Contador beast it in isolated 4km efforts then struggle later in harder stages this year. Tomorrow is a hilly and tough day, and Alto del Naranco is hard enough to be put time into someone if they are tired at the bottom. Not that much, but 30 seconds is possible if it's really bad. Today was a good sign, a very good sign. But we mustn't get overexcited yet. Not with, as you said, Covadonga coming up.

But with Covadonga coming up will tomorrow really be raced hard? Maybe a few accelerations on the final climb, but I don't think the pace on the hills before that will be very high and after an easy day even a bad Contador shouldn't loose much time on Naranco. Just think about how stage 4 was raced, and the final climb there was probably more difficult.