Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[Jspear]

Re:

Contador still has a lot to offer. This Vuelta is slowly but surely slipping away of him, but he still has the will and power.
Fresh and recovered Contador with more dedicated management can achieve another GT victory.

He might even have something to offer in this Vuelta. We still don't know how the other gc guys are going to continue to recover. I'm not giving up hope even though I expect Quintana to win.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Retire. Can't compete with guys with one more GT in their legs.

Well, he did crash... we don't know how much that affected him.

No 10th GT...

According to some here, the crash had not affected him.
And 2 days ago it didn't seem to have to.

I'm sure you understand this stage was way different.

I believe this is also why no contract has been announced yet. Some how, it is dependent on his performance in this GT.

Nope, he's signed already.

 

[Miburo]

Blew himself up, happens a lot with him these days.

Hoping for a stage win

 

[Lexman]

"#LV2016 @albertocontador jumps to 5th in the GC after his late push on today's stage. Stellar ride from the Spanish Tinkoff leader @lavuelta"

I don't know who wrote this but makes me cry...

 

[Alexandre B.]

Now that we know he can't sustain Quintana's pace, he needs to change his tactics.

 

[Red Rick]

This is just self-sabotage. He tries so hard to win, that his result doesn't reflect his shape most likely.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

Just target the Giro / veulta next year

If he has this shape he won't be able to win either.

He'll win the Giro unless Froome, Quintana, Nibali or Valverde show up - which they probably won't.

It's difficult to see an argument for him leading the team at the Tour ahead of Mollema anyway at the moment.

 

[buchanan]

Re: Re:

Retire. Can't compete with guys with one more GT in their legs.

Well, he did crash... we don't know how much that affected him.

No 10th GT...

According to some here, the crash had not affected him.
And 2 days ago it didn't seem to have to.
One way or another, he's almost 3 minutes down on GC and though there is a slight chance of him recovering some time, winning seems to be an almost impossible task and Contador isn't anymore the rider who can do the impossible.

I believe this is also why no contract has been announced yet. Some how, it is dependent on his performance in this GT.

Yes agree. He didn't look too adversely affected by the crash over the past 2 stages, so it doesn't seem likely that 3 days later, in today's stage, it becomes the main factor causing him to lose time to Quintana and Froome. It just looked like he blew up. The overall win looks all but impossible now.

 

[Jelantik]

ow well.. as I have said, I'm not convinced with Contador's fitness to begin with, even without his injury. He didn't seem that all confidence on his form prior to the start. Yes, he sometimes sandbagging. But he just didn't have the same vibe as when he has great form type of confidence. Don't know whether he just lost his motivation to train hard or his TDF injury was so severe. His form now looks like his 2013 TDF or 2012 Vuelta. Encouraging, but not good enough.. Now he almost down to what 2+/ close 3 minutes? With that kind of form it will take miracle (like someone crashing).. or Quintana/Froome has to fade really really bad. Ow well, it's like watching him at 2013 TDF. I guess no GT win this year.

On a side note: I'm just amazed to see how the TDF+RIo guy are dominating this vuelta so far. Chavez and Contador who are supposed to be fresher than them are being left in the dust. Maybe this is just a week 3 game? But as Froome has shown us at TDF, .. gain as much as time at the beginning, so when they fade, they have enough buffer to fall back.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

"#LV2016 @albertocontador jumps to 5th in the GC after his late push on today's stage. Stellar ride from the Spanish Tinkoff leader @lavuelta"

I don't know who wrote this but makes me cry...

It's obviously sarcastic, they posted similar tweets during the Tour. It's pathetic and makes me feel really bad for Alberto. He deserves more respect. At least the guys at the race seem to support him. Not like a certain other teammate:

Roman Kreuziger ‏@Roman86_K
What for a inteligent ride from @chrisfroome ,hat off,not everyone knows his limits

.......

 

[Red Rick]

ow well.. as I have said, I'm not convinced with Contador's fitness to begin with even without his injury. He didn't seem that all confidence on his form prior to the start. Yes, he sometimes sandbagging. But he just didn't have the same vibe as when he has great form type of confidence. Don't know whether he just lost his motivation to train hard or his TDF injury was so severe. His form now looks like his 2013 TDF or 2012 Vuelta. Encouraging, but not good enough.. Now he almost down to what 2+/ close 3 minutes? With that kind of form it will take miracle (like someone crashing).. or Quintana/Froome has to fade really really bad. Ow well, it's like watching him at 2013 TDF. I guess no GT win this year.

On a side note: I'm just amazed to see how the TDF+RIo guy are dominating this vuelta so far. Chavez and Contador who are supposed to be fresher than them are being left in the dust. Maybe this is just a week 3 game? But as Froome has shown us at TDF, .. gain as much as time at the beginning, so when they fade, they have enough buffer to fall back.

How are these 2 any close?

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

This is just self-sabotage. He tries so hard to win, that his result doesn't reflect his shape most likely.

Exactly. Once again he blew his legs off. It's really frustrating.

 

[Gloin22]

ow well.. as I have said, I'm not convinced with Contador's fitness to begin with even without his injury. He didn't seem that all confidence on his form prior to the start. Yes, he sometimes sandbagging. But he just didn't have the same vibe as when he has great form type of confidence. Don't know whether he just lost his motivation to train hard or his TDF injury was so severe. His form now looks like his 2013 TDF or 2012 Vuelta. Encouraging, but not good enough.. Now he almost down to what 2+/ close 3 minutes? With that kind of form it will take miracle (like someone crashing).. or Quintana/Froome has to fade really really bad. Ow well, it's like watching him at 2013 TDF. I guess no GT win this year.

On a side note: I'm just amazed to see how the TDF+RIo guy are dominating this vuelta so far. Chavez and Contador who are supposed to be fresher than them are being left in the dust. Maybe this is just a week 3 game? But as Froome has shown us at TDF, .. gain as much as time at the beginning, so when they fade, they have enough buffer to fall back.

Well Contador rode almost half of the Tour, plus had few injuries to recover from. I mean Contador was 100% prepared for Tour, that takes a toll on rider, even if he didn't ride the 2nd half. Chaves on other hand was solely focused on Vuelta, but he's still relatively young for GT contender, he's allowed to have few weak GTs at this age, especially as he had super peak at Giro.

 

[lenric]

Re: Re:

Retire. Can't compete with guys with one more GT in their legs.

Well, he did crash... we don't know how much that affected him.

No 10th GT...

According to some here, the crash had not affected him.
And 2 days ago it didn't seem to have to.

I'm sure you understand this stage was way different.

I believe this is also why no contract has been announced yet. Some how, it is dependent on his performance in this GT.

Nope, he's signed already.

Sure it was. Harder and all that, though he has had two more days to recover. But that doesn't erase the fact of him being unable to be better than guys who have ridden more GTs this year than him, including Valverde.

I'm evaluating this according to his goals. He wants to target the Tour. If he can't be much better than this, then he should retire, because even if he gets to win another GT (other than the french one), he won't fulfill his goal.

About the contract, I didn't say it wasn't signed. I only said there may be a connection between the lack of an announcement and his performance in GTs.

 

[Matteo.]

There's a thing that i don't understand: at 34 y.o as it's not possible to know the limit not to blew up himself. The same for Nibali for exemple

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

He'll win the Giro unless Froome, Quintana, Nibali or Valverde show up - which they probably won't.

Nibali will be at the Giro, and most likely also Aru and Chaves. It hardly matters - sponsors will demand he rides the Tour.

It's difficult to see an argument for him leading the team at the Tour ahead of Mollema anyway at the moment.

'That's nonsense. There is literally no scenario in which Mollema is a better bet for the Tour than Contador, except for the scenario in which Contador crashes again.

 

[LaFlorecita]

It's very simple. If he rides his own pace, he is probably the 2nd best climber in the race at this point. However, he's too god damn stubborn and too focused on winning that he can't see when it is better to let go and not go into the red.

 

[Deadbody]

I think he needed a too long break away from training seriously after the tour crashes. Those crashes was what screwed up his season. I'm sure he will be back at doing stellar performances next year.

 

[Gigs_98]

So...on which climb will he attack on Saturday?

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re:

Ooof, hard to see what he should do know. Lose time on purpose and go for a stage?

No. You never know what can happen in the 3rd week, and a champion like Berto won't give up

 

[Gloin22]

Re: Re:

Ooof, hard to see what he should do know. Lose time on purpose and go for a stage?

No. You never know what can happen in the 3rd week, and a champion like Berto won't give up

Exactly, what kind of silliness to even think that...

I mean we just have to look at this years Giro and how improbable it looked Nibali would have won and look what happened...never say never in cycling.

 

[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

Just target the Giro / veulta next year

If he has this shape he won't be able to win either.

He'll win the Giro unless Froome, Quintana, Nibali or Valverde show up - which they probably won't.

It's difficult to see an argument for him leading the team at the Tour ahead of Mollema anyway at the moment.

I see Froome going to the Giro, not in top shape but as a stab at the Giro-Tour double. Hopefully he'll see that even if he ends up with 6 Tours he'll be less revered than even if he wins and podiums a Giro-Tour double. Valverde has expressed desire to go back after his (slightly lucky) podium this year, and Nibali will 100% go in my eyes, he cannot miss the 100th Giro. Kruijswijk will be there too, and he is better than Valverde on the climbs of the Giro. In this shape flo is right, he would not have been the best climber at the Giro, and would not have podiumed.

Anyway Contador is not going to the Tour, no way. Think about how much more money Trek will get if Contador goes to the Tour instead if the Giro. And he's still better than Mollema. And will be next year.

 

[sir fly]

Re: Re:

He'll win the Giro unless Froome, Quintana, Nibali or Valverde show up - which they probably won't.

Nibali will be at the Giro, and most likely also Aru and Chaves. It hardly matters - sponsors will demand he rides the Tour.

It's difficult to see an argument for him leading the team at the Tour ahead of Mollema anyway at the moment.

'That's nonsense. There is literally no scenario in which Mollema is a better bet for the Tour than Contador, except for the scenario in which Contador crashes again.

I think you're wrong. Segafredo would love showing him at home.
Co-leadership with Mollema at the Tour, or Vuelta leadership are remaining options, as I see it.

If he's signed, off course..

 

[Gloin22]

No way Froome ever risks going to Giro, Tour is the only race that matters, and Sky needs to be winning Tour to keep the sponsors happy now they established thsemselves as the best team in the world. Froome has to be 100% there, and even going to Giro can endanger that, even if he's not peaking there.

 

[deValtos]

Re: Re:

'That's nonsense. There is literally no scenario in which Mollema is a better bet for the Tour than Contador, except for the scenario in which Contador crashes again.

Hate to break it to you but the scenario in which Contador crashes again is probably the most likely one.