Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[Red Rick]

Either random bs or he's talking 'bout non-essential bodyfat. But I dunno.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Wants to lose 2 kg more, has 3,7% body fat. Is that even possible?

 

[Squire]

Re:

Wants to lose 2 kg more, has 3,7% body fat. Is that even possible?

He could always cut off a limb.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

Wants to lose 2 kg more, has 3,7% body fat. Is that even possible?

He could always cut off a limb.

It can't be healthy or beneficiary no matter how he loses 2 kg with that amount of fat, lol.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Wants to lose 2 kg more, has 3,7% body fat. Is that even possible?

He could always cut off a limb.

I saw a comment on twitter saying "he's got thick eyebrows"
He could lose some muscle in the upper body

 

[Pennino]

Haha this is just terrific. Pushing his rivals to reach unhealthy levels, bit like Coppi telling Bartali he'd watch cowboy movies all night or The Boss spreading talks he'd climb Alpe d'Huez seven times on one day at competitive speed.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

Haha this is just terrific. Pushing his rivals to reach unhealthy levels, bit like Coppi telling Bartali he'd watch cowboy movies all night or The Boss spreading talks he'd climb Alpe d'Huez seven times on one day at competitive speed.

"I guess I'm perfectly fit atm with a FTP of 440, but I still really haven't done any coordinated high intensity stuff yet, that will probably net me another 20 watts in July"

 

[carolina]

Re: Re:

A cyclist wouldn't be able to mantain such a low bodyfat percentage. That's physically impossible.

If he was even close to that number you would be able to see every muscle striation. He's more close to 8-9%.

You don't understand. I'm not arguing his BF% is actually 3.7%. What I'm saying is that while his actual BF% may not be 3.7%, the method he uses showed that value and as long as he always uses the same method, it doesn't matter. It's probably the skinfold test or something which only measures subcutaneous fat.

then there is really no point in being surprised with that number... I made some calculations just for fun, assuming he is 62 kg right now:

62*3,7% = 2,294 kg fat.
looses 2kg: 0,294/60 = 0,49% bf :lol:

 

[rick james]

Re:

Haha this is just terrific. Pushing his rivals to reach unhealthy levels, bit like Coppi telling Bartali he'd watch cowboy movies all night or The Boss spreading talks he'd climb Alpe d'Huez seven times on one day at competitive speed.

yes that's exactly what Bertie is up to

 

[GraftPunk]

Re: Re:

Eh, pretty sure he's just trolling. He seems to have a yen for misinforming his opponents (which I find hilarious actually), and besides, it's DEXA or GTFO when it comes to BF.

Why would he say his BF% is lower than it actually is to misinform his rivals (potentially provoking them to lose weight and become harder to beat) and in an obscure Spanish radio show no less? As for DEXA, that's hardly something you would use regularly to keep track of your BF% throughout several years.

No clue why he said it, but DXA isn't that expensive, especially for a pro cyclist and pro cycling team. Just saying.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

No clue why he said it, but DXA isn't that expensive, especially for a pro cyclist and pro cycling team. Just saying.

It's not about the cost but the radiation. It's unlikely to cause harm but you don't want to expose the body to more radiation than necessary, ALARA/ALARP principle.

 

[GraftPunk]

Re: Re:

No clue why he said it, but DXA isn't that expensive, especially for a pro cyclist and pro cycling team. Just saying.

It's not about the cost but the radiation. It's unlikely to cause harm but you don't want to expose the body to more radiation than necessary, ALARA/ALARP principle.

Are you kidding, Contie eats Cobalt 60 for breakfast!

 

[Scarponi]

People always get body fat wrong, he is probably 5-7 which is still so low

 

[hammerthaim]

Go watch Durianrider's video on DEXA. Scam 100%

 

[Dan2016]

People always get body fat wrong, he is probably 5-7 which is still so low

Yeah it's hard to accurately measure isn't it. I remember seeing a documentary with a section on body fat measurement methods and how much they vary. As you say, he could be around around 5%, not unusual for a pro.

I wonder if he just meant he wants to lose 2kg weight for the Tour? That could be mostly a bit of muscle.
2kg fat loss from 4% fat would be nuts, unless he's planning to eat his organs and go full genius skeletal.

 

[Escarabajo]

I know his fans won't agree with me but I have the feeling, just like in past years, that he is being over-raced.

 

[Publicus]

Re:

I know his fans won't agree with me but I have the feeling, just like in past years, that he is being over-raced.

there may be something to that. Given his propensity to go hard in EVERY RACE, he probably should consider skipping catalunya or pais vasco--or both. I don't see him riding Dauphine, for example, and just following wheels or being content not to be at the front. Who would he listen to on this? Is De Jongh giving him data on the impact of rest on his body? Is there some magical number of race days that are optimal (given his riding style)? All good questions that I hope they're grappling with (especially the "given his riding style" component)

 

[buchanan]

Re: Re:

I know his fans won't agree with me but I have the feeling, just like in past years, that he is being over-raced.

there may be something to that. Given his propensity to go hard in EVERY RACE, he probably should consider skipping catalunya or pais vasco--or both. I don't see him riding Dauphine, for example, and just following wheels or being content not to be at the front. Who would he listen to on this? Is De Jongh giving him data on the impact of rest on his body? Is there some magical number of race days that are optimal (given his riding style)? All good questions that I hope they're grappling with (especially the "given his riding style" component)

I was also thinking this. I suppose we have to believe he knows himself better than we do, but it also looks to me that he risks over racing in these early season weeks. He squeezed in that trip to Abu Dhabi too, which was abnormal. Now Catalunya and Pais Vasco coming up in quick succession. He'll obviously be going for the wins at both. Seems he just wants to race all out, as often as possible.

Contrast that with Froome who prefers a steady buid-up of long early season training camps; will ride Catalunya as a training race; and only start to really push himself at Romandie.

 

[wheresmybrakes]

Maybe he's just desperate for a win, because its been a while since he won a stage, never mind a stage race. After all he is the "champion".

 

[Angliru]

Re:

Maybe he's just desperate for a win, because its been a while since he won a stage, never mind a stage race. After all he is the "champion".

If that were the case he wouldn't have ridden in support of Mollema. He would have ridden his own race pursuing his own interests.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Maybe he's just desperate for a win, because its been a while since he won a stage, never mind a stage race. After all he is the "champion".

His last stage race win was in August last year
He won 3 stages in the first half of last season
I't's not exactly "been a while"

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

I know his fans won't agree with me but I have the feeling, just like in past years, that he is being over-raced.

I'm confident they know what they're doing.
He'll probably be a little worse in Catalunya compared to Paris-Nice but stronger again in Pais Vasco. That's usually the case, and this year Paris-Nice was extraordinarily hard.
He'll have almost 2 months to recover after Pais Vasco

 

[Publicus]

Re: Re:

I know his fans won't agree with me but I have the feeling, just like in past years, that he is being over-raced.

I'm confident they know what they're doing.
He'll probably be a little worse in Catalunya compared to Paris-Nice but stronger again in Pais Vasco. That's usually the case, and this year Paris-Nice was extraordinarily hard.
He'll have almost 2 months to recover after Pais Vasco

Yeah but it's not like he'll be doing just coffee rides for 2 months. He's going to take off maybe 1-2 weeks and then its right back to it.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

I know his fans won't agree with me but I have the feeling, just like in past years, that he is being over-raced.

I'm confident they know what they're doing.
He'll probably be a little worse in Catalunya compared to Paris-Nice but stronger again in Pais Vasco. That's usually the case, and this year Paris-Nice was extraordinarily hard.
He'll have almost 2 months to recover after Pais Vasco

Yeah but it's not like he'll be doing just coffee rides for 2 months. He's going to take off maybe 1-2 weeks and then its right back to it.

Of course but he'll have more than enough time to recover as much as he has to

 

[LaFlorecita]

What do you think ?
Should be more than strong enough uphill but I'm very worried about the TTT. Berto likely will be slightly worse than at Paris-Nice as usual so he really can't afford to lose much time at all if he aims to win.