Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

I'm hearing he's already in good shape, should be great racing!

I just hope he (or anyone) won't crash

Well, fingers crossed! He definitely has been training hard

 

[Scarponi]

Here we go ladies and gentlemen. Another big year commences

 

[Carols]

Vamos Alberto!

 

[Scarponi]

Staying up until 3am here in Australia tonight and tomorrow to see Contador live

 

[Carols]

Nice Bike!
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/contador-to-debut-custom-trek-emonda-at-ruta-del-sol/

 

[Scarponi]

Trek is riding

 

[sir fly]

By the look of things, this is going to be one of the better seasons.

 

[Scarponi]

I'm happy beyond reasons at that. Clearly testing himself rather then the riders. What I liked the most was going over the top of other Riders attacks giving himself they extra 50m of impotence

 

[Gigs_98]

How did he look on the climb?

 

[Jspear]

How did he look on the climb?

I only saw the last couple K of the climb, but he looked decent to me. He was very proactive. Wasn't waiting around for others to pull....typical if he's feeling good. Looks better than this time last year.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

How did he look on the climb?

I think he looked okay. Turning some very heavy gears at times, but he responded to every attack (which is starting to become a habbit as no one else around him wants to do any work). Considering he has no race days, I think this was a good performance.

 

[portugal11]

He can do great accelerations but he can't mantain a high pace too long

 

[Netserk]

He rode with a giant 'suck my wheel' sign on his ass

 

[Netserk]

Re:

He can do great accelerations but he can't mantain a high pace too long

How would you know? Once Bala got up to him, he slowed down. They had quite a gap at that point.

 

[Scarponi]

He pulled back all the attacks quite easily, landa got a 100m gap because the group with him are cowards and he pulled it back within a km and valverde for a 15m on the final 50m of the climb after Contador attacked several times but he still closed it well imo. As posters above stated he couldn't kick on with the attacks but it's his first race day and can anyone name a single year where in his first race day on a climb did he go 8km out and kick on ? I can't imagine the backlash if Contador lost on falls creek like froome

 

[DFA123]

Re:

He pulled back all the attacks quite easily, landa got a 100m gap because the group with him are cowards and he pulled it back within a km and valverde for a 15m on the final 50m of the climb after Contador attacked several times but he still closed it well imo. As posters above stated he couldn't kick on with the attacks but it's his first race day and can anyone name a single year where in his first race day on a climb did he go 8km out and kick on ? I can't imagine the backlash if Contador lost on falls creek like froome

It's a different situation from Froome though. Consistently in his career, Contador's form in the very early races has given a strong indication of how he will perform in the GTs later in the year. Froome could ride in 180th and look absolutely dead, but everyone knows he's still be at top form by the TdF. That's why there's so much more scrutiny on Contador.

Today, all in all, was fairly promising.

 

[Scarponi]

Though (correct me if I'm wrong ) but u though Contador riding so early in the year is a product of the 2010s and yes I'm aware of his firm curve but I'm just saying most other years he has 3 flat stages before a climb of not 8km. That was a brutal climb for the stage of the year

 

[Jspear]

Re: Re:

He pulled back all the attacks quite easily, landa got a 100m gap because the group with him are cowards and he pulled it back within a km and valverde for a 15m on the final 50m of the climb after Contador attacked several times but he still closed it well imo. As posters above stated he couldn't kick on with the attacks but it's his first race day and can anyone name a single year where in his first race day on a climb did he go 8km out and kick on ? I can't imagine the backlash if Contador lost on falls creek like froome

It's a different situation from Froome though. Consistently in his career, Contador's form in the very early races has given a strong indication of how he will perform in the GTs later in the year. Froome could ride in 180th and look absolutely dead, but everyone knows he's still be at top form by the TdF. That's why there's so much more scrutiny on Contador.

Today, all in all, was fairly promising.

Exactly. One can look like a completely talent-less rider and then go on to be the best, while the other is just naturally better.

 

[sir fly]

Re: Re:

He can do great accelerations but he can't mantain a high pace too long

How would you know? Once Bala got up to him, he slowed down. They had quite a gap at that point.

To me, it looked like he struggled a bit after the acceleration at the bottom. His gearing did look heavier than usually, as mentioned.
And that initial attack was masterpiece. First, the group stretched, then he kept pushing harder and harder until the elastic snapped.
He's good. Already looks like he's working better than with Tinkoff. Better in the sense of program, specific training, effort measuring.

 

[Jspear]

Re:

Though (correct me if I'm wrong ) but u though Contador riding so early in the year is a product of the 2010s and yes I'm aware of his firm curve but I'm just saying most other years he has 3 flat stages before a climb of not 8km. That was a brutal climb for the stage of the year

It was hard, but believe me, if he had been crap here, things wouldn't have gotten much better. Everyone else who would have been crushing him would only be getting better through the season.

 

[DFA123]

Re:

Though (correct me if I'm wrong ) but u though Contador riding so early in the year is a product of the 2010s and yes I'm aware of his firm curve but I'm just saying most other years he has 3 flat stages before a climb of not 8km. That was a brutal climb for the stage of the year

That's a good point about starting your racing season with a tough stage like that. I guess he hasn't done that too often before. Still, he looked to have a spring in his legs that was missing for a lot of last season - especially at the Vuelta.

 

[Scarponi]

Re: Re:

Though (correct me if I'm wrong ) but u though Contador riding so early in the year is a product of the 2010s and yes I'm aware of his firm curve but I'm just saying most other years he has 3 flat stages before a climb of not 8km. That was a brutal climb for the stage of the year

It was hard, but believe me, if he had been crap here, things wouldn't have gotten much better. Everyone else who would have been crushing him would only be getting better through the season.

Yep which is why I'm a little more excited then normal. no one but valverde who is top 3-5 GC could match. Good chance only Quintana and froome will be able to go head to head. Quintana will best froome this year. The progress in form will be too intense and

 

[Scarponi]

Apologies for my spelling. I have to have a few scotches to stay up until 3-4am for the early season events

 

[Matteo.]

So, tomorrow will be interesting,judginge those comments

 

[Carols]

I was pleased by his performance, especially considering it was his first race day of the year. The 'hunger' is very obviously still there and only Bala who has races and a win in his legs could really match him on the climb.

After being battered daily by the Travesty that is Trump, watching him take off at 24km to go brought a smile to my face .