Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[Red Rick]

Contador was clearly better in the Dauphine than in Burgos. Races with identical function.

 

[King Boonen]

https://twitter.com/albertocontador/status/815339143014322176
Haha look at the Giro trophy, will he go for the Giro after all?
Happy New Year to all of Alberto's fans and admirers on the forum, ok and to all other forum members as well

Contador riding the Giro would be awesome. Not because I particularly want him to win, but it would be brilliant for basically all the main GT contenders to shun the TdF for once. Not going to happen though I think

He discarded the Giro as an option in the interview I just posted. After all the hints he's been tossing around (changed his profile picture to an image of him in pink ; https://twitter.com/albertocontador/status/784630903339356161 ; https://www.instagram.com/p/BMBIuXYjOoQ/?taken-by=acontadoroficial ; that new year video) I am convinced he just likes to mess with our minds :lol:

As the link was Spanish I didn't click (assuming the interview was in Spanish?). That's a shame, obvious why but still a shame.

https://twitter.com/albertocontador/status/815339143014322176
Haha look at the Giro trophy, will he go for the Giro after all?
Happy New Year to all of Alberto's fans and admirers on the forum, ok and to all other forum members as well

Contador riding the Giro would be awesome. Not because I particularly want him to win, but it would be brilliant for basically all the main GT contenders to shun the TdF for once. Not going to happen though I think

Agree on points 1 and 2. Unfortunately the Tour is too important for the sponsors, but it's sometimes the low point of the year from a sporting standpoint. Too much circus, kind of a relief when it's over.

To be honest I really don't care very much about the TdF. I watch it as it's on when I'm not riding unlike a lot of the one day races but it's pretty much always disappointing.

 

[Miburo]

Re:

Contador was clearly better in the Dauphine than in Burgos. Races with identical function.

Contador thought he could win the vuelta with his legs, otherwise he will not race.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

Contador was clearly better in the Dauphine than in Burgos. Races with identical function.

Contador thought he could win the vuelta with his legs, otherwise he will not race.

And you believe that? You've seen the Tours of 2013 and 2015. Contador finished both

 

[staubsauger]

Re: Re:

Contador was clearly better in the Dauphine than in Burgos. Races with identical function.

Contador thought he could win the vuelta with his legs, otherwise he will not race.

And you believe that? You've seen the Tours of 2013 and 2015. Contador finished both

Plus the 2008 Giro. When he thought he might do quite well, but everyone including himself expected Klöden and maybe even Leipheimer to be in significantly stronger shape. Especially Klöden.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

Contador was clearly better in the Dauphine than in Burgos. Races with identical function.

Contador thought he could win the vuelta with his legs, otherwise he will not race.

And you believe that? You've seen the Tours of 2013 and 2015. Contador finished both

Yes. Im sure Contador thought he could win the Vuelta 2016, but also the Tour 2013 to a lesser extent. I don't think he thought he could win the Tour in 2015 if not for crashes/bad luck for the others.

 

[Jspear]

At times he can be a bit delusional thinking he can win a gt....claiming his numbers are good. Maybe that's the attitude that makes him a greater bike rider. He doesn't give up. Sometimes it pays off.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

Contador was clearly better in the Dauphine than in Burgos. Races with identical function.

Contador thought he could win the vuelta with his legs, otherwise he will not race.

And you believe that? You've seen the Tours of 2013 and 2015. Contador finished both

Yes. Im sure Contador thought he could win the Vuelta 2016, but also the Tour 2013 to a lesser extent. I don't think he thought he could win the Tour in 2015 if not for crashes/bad luck for the others.

He was crap all season in 2013 and must've known beforehand he wouldn't win. But really, not starting is not an option. And for this Vuelta, we don't know how his crash affected his form.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Quintana crashed hard as well and responded by winning on Covadonga the same day.

He was the favourite going into the Vuelta and obviously Contador thought he could win. They said multiple times Contador wasn't affected by his Vuelta-crash which was the reason they thought he could win on Cabarga and chased the whole day. He didn't, but it would have made sense if he progressed later in the race which he really didn't do either, especially compared to Chaves. The top-level was gone.

Im not sure about 2013. I think he genuinely believed he could win with a super-peak alá Nibali in 2014. That was the consensus among fans, medias etc.

 

[Red Rick]

As for 2013, I think there's a big difference between what athletes say their form is and what their actual form is. I've never heard a favorite saying 'nah, I'm in bad shape, I'm not gonna be close to winning' before an important race. It's not in the interest of themselves, their team, or their sponsors.

As for the Vuelta, I really don't think it was a situation where he was always gonna be 100%. Situation was a lot different compared to 2014

 

[Jspear]

Re:

As for 2013, I think there's a big difference between what athletes say their form is and what their actual form is. I've never heard a favorite saying 'nah, I'm in bad shape, I'm not gonna be close to winning' before an important race. It's not in the interest of themselves, their team, or their sponsors.

As for the Vuelta, I really don't think it was a situation where he was always gonna be 100%. Situation was a lot different compared to 2014

I thought the situation would have/should have been better than 2014.

 

[Miburo]

Re: Re:

Contador was clearly better in the Dauphine than in Burgos. Races with identical function.

Contador thought he could win the vuelta with his legs, otherwise he will not race.

And you believe that? You've seen the Tours of 2013 and 2015. Contador finished both

You're being intellectualy dishonest here. You are comparing the importance of the vuelta and the tour here?

Do you understand the mistake?

And i'm sure Contador knew he could win the giro before he started it in 2008. But maybe that Contador was different than the one now who perhaps cares more about money than winning. The same happened with the great kobe bryant.

 

[Miburo]

There's a reason why Contador won all this GT's between '07 and '12. Not only cause he was the best but he knew when he had the right shape.

That's why he didn't do the vuelta in his prime years, the tank was empty and his pride didn't allow him to lose.

But after losing many times, you become accustomed it and eventually you stop fighting against it or at least stop to an extent. Contador will fight the hardest against it but once again if you go to Trek, you clearly don't care that much about winning.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

Contador was clearly better in the Dauphine than in Burgos. Races with identical function.

Contador thought he could win the vuelta with his legs, otherwise he will not race.

And you believe that? You've seen the Tours of 2013 and 2015. Contador finished both

You're being intellectualy dishonest here. You are comparing the importance of the vuelta and the tour here?

Do you understand the mistake?

And i'm sure Contador knew he could win the giro before he started it in 2008. But maybe that Contador was different than the one now who perhaps cares more about money than winning. The same happened with the great kobe bryant.

Skipping the Vuelta is a legit option if you've ridden the Tour competitively. The Vuelta has been the GT for those who fail at the Tour for some years now. Not riding it when he could was not an option. He had to try.

As for 2013, I think there's a big difference between what athletes say their form is and what their actual form is. I've never heard a favorite saying 'nah, I'm in bad shape, I'm not gonna be close to winning' before an important race. It's not in the interest of themselves, their team, or their sponsors.

As for the Vuelta, I really don't think it was a situation where he was always gonna be 100%. Situation was a lot different compared to 2014

I thought the situation would have/should have been better than 2014.

It's very different. In 2014 he left the Tour with an injury, but for the rest his body was in great shape. Last year he crashed on day 1 and 2 and rode on for a week. If there's one thing you can do to ruin your form, it's exercising when you actually need to recover. I'm confident Contador lost a lot more form between crashing in the 2016 Tour and starting Vuelta training than he did in 2014.

 

[Miburo]

I'm shocked that none of you are disgusted that he went to trek. He has no one there. All of you were bashing on the tinkoff team but still had the 4th strongest GT team.

Now he has what??? The 15th strongest GT team?

That's what we call, being a hypocrite. I won't be in that category

 

[Miburo]

For a mere mortal like you maybe RR. Watch some vids of real champions and you'll understand it maybe.

But once again maybe he thought he could win with those legs which means that he's really done. I'm done using crashes as an excuse, it's getting pathetic imo

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

For a mere mortal like you maybe RR. Watch some vids of real champions and you'll understand it maybe.

But once again maybe he thought he could win with those legs which means that he's really done. I'm done using crashes as an excuse, it's getting pathetic imo

I don't think its pathetic, but I think its too fanboyish to point to the crashes regarding his Vuelta performance this year. Im honestly surprised Red Rick still sticks to it.

He should have been better than that in the Vuelta, but I still won't rule him out. I'd say chances of him beating Froome mano a mano are >10% at this point in TdF, but all it takes is a little bad luck for Froome. Evans did it, Contador can do it as well, but he will need everything to go his way.

 

[Red Rick]

I am a fan. I am biased. But I'm not making up the stuff that I base it on.

For a mere mortal like you maybe RR. Watch some vids of real champions and you'll understand it maybe.

But once again maybe he thought he could win with those legs which means that he's really done. I'm done using crashes as an excuse, it's getting pathetic imo

If you think trying your best and failing makes you less of a champion, then go ahead. If you think it tarnishes his legacy if he tries even though his chances of succeeding are very small, go ahead. I just don't think it affects any victory he's had in the past in any way.

Why the *** is Nadal playing the Aussie Open next week? Why is Federer playing Roland Garros in May? They're not gonna win those tournaments. But they get to decide if they try. And I can only respect that.

 

[Miburo]

You didn't get my point, Contador doens't care anymore. That's what fucks up his legacy.

If you knew kobe bryant's career you would get my point but to make it simple. Contador cares more about money than actually winning.

And that definitely fucks up his legacy to an extent.

 

[StryderHells]

Re:

I'm shocked that none of you are disgusted that he went to trek. He has no one there. All of you were bashing on the tinkoff team but still had the 4th strongest GT team.

Now he has what??? The 15th strongest GT team?

That's what we call, being a hypocrite. I won't be in that category

And why wouldn't people bash the Tinkoff team? When a team is owned by such a vile person in Oleg Tinkov then why wouldn't people bag it? My issue was never with the strength of the team but the team owner. As for his move to Trek, well that was a mistake and not because it's Trek but more that I think he should of retired. I doubt he would of gotten a stronger support riders no matter what team he went to.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

You didn't get my point, Contador doens't care anymore. That's what **** up his legacy.

If you knew kobe bryant's career you would get my point but to make it simple. Contador cares more about money than actually winning.

And that definitely **** up his legacy to an extent.

How can we know? We know like 2 other teams that showed some interest. I have no *** clue how negotiations went. So why pretend that you do and judge him for it?

 

[Miburo]

Because he could have easily went to astana and be able to ride the tour.

We all know that, it's a fact. He would have gotten less money but he would be able to ride the tour with a very competitive team.

Now he's in a *** team where he'll never win the tour unless he gets extremely lucky or all the stars get together and grant him his '09 form.

 

[dacooley]

the tour-vuelta double implies an accurate planning and it combines with a peak for the spring races really terribly. winning pn, pais vasco, tour and vuelta is probably harder than making the giro-tour double. I don't think it's doable on pure improvisation

 

[LaFlorecita]

What a steaming pile of crap.

 

[hrotha]

Hey Fleur I'm gonna need you to have a word with Contador
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/contador-argues-2017-vuelta-a-espana-route-has-too-much-time-trialling/