Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[LaFlorecita]

Sounds like some riders in front of him missed a corner which forced Berto off the road, probably just a soft tumble

 

[Carols]

Re:

Sounds like some riders in front of him missed a corner which forced Berto off the road, probably just a soft tumble

There sure was a dodgy corner there. Hopefully just a little soreness.....

 

[portugal11]

Did he loose 1.05 minutes??? Game over already...

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Did he loose 1.05 minutes??? Game over already...

No, he didn't, 3km rule.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Look at the veins on his arm at least we won't have to worry about his weight

 

[portugal11]

Re:

Look at the veins on his arm at least we won't have to worry about his weight

Really??? It's just a photo

 

[Valv.Piti]

To be fair LF, thats perfectly normal veins for a professional rider, and climber, like Contador. Its not really out of the ordinary, you just got to have such a low body fat to compete even in cobbled classics and even less in the mountains.

 

[lenric]

He has to worry about correcting whatever he has been doing wrong in the last years, so that he can finally falling off his bike 4 or 5 times a year.

And about the arms, I'm with Valv.Piti. They are perfectly normal for a guy with a 7/8% body fat.

 

[LaFlorecita]

I don't see his veins like that very often and definitely not in April

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

He has to worry about correcting whatever he has been doing wrong in the last years, so that he can finally falling off his bike 4 or 5 times a year.
.

if it was that simple he'd have done it already you'd think

 

[Valv.Piti]

It can be freak accidents. If a rider crashing just in front of you, there is literally nothing you can do. Okay, you can bunnyhop over the rider, but not many riders are able to do that.

However, given how many times he has been crashing, that seems unlikely. Some of the crashes are definitely freak accidents, but when you crash and when you crash multiple times, it gets in your head. Few people can just shrug it off, it stays in the body for a while. Its not very pleasent. A sports psychiatrist could be the answer.

It can also be bad positioning/reactions/bike handling skills. I'd say Contador isn't the brightest at times when it comes to positioning and I guess you can avoid some crashes by being super quick to react to a rider crashing a bit in front of you.

 

[lenric]

Re: Re:

He has to worry about correcting whatever he has been doing wrong in the last years, so that he can finally falling off his bike 4 or 5 times a year.
.

if it was that simple he'd have done it already you'd think

It's a very simple issue actually. It's called anxiety which makes him reckless. He's eager to prove that he can still win something big, like the Tour, against the very best. By failing year after year, he's becoming more and more reckless, which has made him a very dumb rider when it comes to positioning, for example, hence why he can't help but hitting the tarmac once in a while, way more times actually when compared to the pre-ban.

So it's a simple problem. However, it's a hard one, because it takes a relaxed mind to ackowledge and correct it and Contador isn't relaxed. He was accustomed to win whatever he wanted, so, when he returned to cycling and saw that he wasn't as good as before (the reasons are irrelevant), he became stressed and frustrated.

It's not good, but it's a very common reaction. I just hope that he doesn't seriously hurt himself.

 

[SHAD0W93]

I believe Ienric nailed it. From 12-13 the only crash I remember him in was Alpe d'Huez?? when him and Froome crashed on the descent. I think it more started from him crashing out of the 14 Tour with great form that caused him to get a lot more anxious and nervous to prove he still is the best.
He does have some that are unavoidable because it just happens but some of them shouldn't.

I hope he gets better because I want him to win the Tour again and beat Merckx record for GT wins.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Another reason could be that Tinkov was putting to much pressure on him to preform compared to his other DS or owners.

 

[Singer01]

Re:

I believe Ienric nailed it. From 12-13 the only crash I remember him in was Alpe d'Huez?? when him and Froome crashed on the descent. I think it more started from him crashing out of the 14 Tour with great form that caused him to get a lot more anxious and nervous to prove he still is the best.
He does have some that are unavoidable because it just happens but some of them shouldn't.

I hope he gets better because I want him to win the Tour again and beat Merckx record for GT wins.

How can you even think that is possible? you think he wins TDF 17, and Giro-Vuelta double in 18 and 19?

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

I believe Ienric nailed it. From 12-13 the only crash I remember him in was Alpe d'Huez?? when him and Froome crashed on the descent. I think it more started from him crashing out of the 14 Tour with great form that caused him to get a lot more anxious and nervous to prove he still is the best.
He does have some that are unavoidable because it just happens but some of them shouldn't.

I hope he gets better because I want him to win the Tour again and beat Merckx record for GT wins.

He crashed twice at the 2013 TDF, in the opening stage and on the descent of Col de Manse.
I think you're right and his crash in 2014 has a lot to do with his nervousness
Although let's not forget he toppled over maybe 5 times in the 2011 TDF ok I may be exaggerating

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

I believe Ienric nailed it. From 12-13 the only crash I remember him in was Alpe d'Huez?? when him and Froome crashed on the descent. I think it more started from him crashing out of the 14 Tour with great form that caused him to get a lot more anxious and nervous to prove he still is the best.
He does have some that are unavoidable because it just happens but some of them shouldn't.

I hope he gets better because I want him to win the Tour again and beat Merckx record for GT wins.

How can you even think that is possible? you think he wins TDF 17, and Giro-Vuelta double in 18 and 19?

If you count from 9 it would take the 2017 TDF or Vuelta and the Giro-Vuelta double in 2018. Or the TDF-Vuelta double this year and Giro or Vuelta next year.
Won't happen of course, I would be happy if he could reach double digits (counting from 9).

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

It's a very simple issue actually. It's called anxiety which makes him reckless. He's eager to prove that he can still win something big, like the Tour, against the very best. By failing year after year, he's becoming more and more reckless, which has made him a very dumb rider when it comes to positioning, for example, hence why he can't help but hitting the tarmac once in a while, way more times actually when compared to the pre-ban.

So it's a simple problem. However, it's a hard one, because it takes a relaxed mind to ackowledge and correct it and Contador isn't relaxed. He was accustomed to win whatever he wanted, so, when he returned to cycling and saw that he wasn't as good as before (the reasons are irrelevant), he became stressed and frustrated.

It's not good, but it's a very common reaction. I just hope that he doesn't seriously hurt himself.

I don't see the connection anxiety = recklessness, but it's obvious he is too nervous during the race which would make him more prone to crashing. I don't remember who suggested it but perhaps he should stay at the back of the peloton for the final 10km of every flat stage at the Tour. He would lose seconds in splits but the risk of crashing would be less. Anyway, maybe he is lucky for once and doesn't crash when it matters most.

 

[lenric]

That would be an idea, but would also rule him out of contention, because his rivals would explore it. Hence, he'd feel compelled to answer, which would lead us to the main problem all over again.

I (along with other people) have already said one thing here that could prevent fallings in the last KMs of stages designed for sprinters: simply don't acknowledge time differences in the last 10 (for example) kms of the stage.
It's very easy to implement and would benefit every single one of the GC riders while not harming any others.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

That would be an idea, but would also rule him out of contention, because his rivals would explore it. Hence, he'd feel compelled to answer, which would lead us to the main problem all over again.

I (along with other people) have already said one thing here that could prevent fallings in the last KMs of stages designed for sprinters: simply don't acknowledge time differences in the last 10 (for example) kms of the stage.
It's very easy to implement and would benefit every single one of the GC riders while not harming any others.

Of course, but the UCI are unlikely to create such a rule just because Alberto can't stay on his bike

Berto often finishes near the back of the peloton on sprint stages anyway. I don't think his rivals would notice his new approach before the hectic first few stages are behind them.
Of course, what could be an issue is he could get caught behind a crash outside of the 3km safe zone. I would be a big supporter of expanding that zone to 10km, it would make the stages calmer because if you are behind a crash at 10.5km to go, it's easier to get back than at 3.5km to go. There wouldn't be such a mad rush to get into the safe zone.

 

[Valv.Piti]

10 kilometres is a bit too much even for me, but Im all for expanding it, 5 km would be sensible.

 

[StryderHells]

Re:

10 kilometres is a bit too much even for me, but Im all for expanding it, 5 km would be sensible.

Why does the rule need to be changed? Part of racing for the GC is to stay upright and out of trouble, 3 km rule is already plenty and it works.

 

[Pennino]

Re: Re:

10 kilometres is a bit too much even for me, but Im all for expanding it, 5 km would be sensible.

Why does the rule need to be changed? Part of racing for the GC is to stay upright and out of trouble, 3 km rule is already plenty and it works.

I would have agreed with that some ten years ago, but the sprint stages we see now are just ridiculous. Not only the crashes, but the whole nervousness have got way out of hand. The Sky-train trying to do the leadout. Ri-di-cu-lous.

Something has to be done about it immediately. It's not an enjoyable race anymore anyway. Maybe all Sky's rivals need to boycot it and send only second tier riders, dropping off simultaneously on the very first ascent. Just screw them. Have a nice party guys, celebrating a win that's worth absolutely nothing. :lol: Oh I would be shitting my pants :lol:

 

[lenric]

Re: Re:

That would be an idea, but would also rule him out of contention, because his rivals would explore it. Hence, he'd feel compelled to answer, which would lead us to the main problem all over again.

I (along with other people) have already said one thing here that could prevent fallings in the last KMs of stages designed for sprinters: simply don't acknowledge time differences in the last 10 (for example) kms of the stage.
It's very easy to implement and would benefit every single one of the GC riders while not harming any others.

Of course, but the UCI are unlikely to create such a rule just because Alberto can't stay on his bike

Berto often finishes near the back of the peloton on sprint stages anyway. I don't think his rivals would notice his new approach before the hectic first few stages are behind them.
Of course, what could be an issue is he could get caught behind a crash outside of the 3km safe zone. I would be a big supporter of expanding that zone to 10km, it would make the stages calmer because if you are behind a crash at 10.5km to go, it's easier to get back than at 3.5km to go. There wouldn't be such a mad rush to get into the safe zone.

I don't care about Contador. His inability to ride his bike is his problem. I care about the quality of the GC competition, since that's the reason why I fancy cycling. In that sense, 2015's Giro would have been way more competitive than it was, for example.

 

[lenric]

Re:

10 kilometres is a bit too much even for me, but Im all for expanding it, 5 km would be sensible.

Yes, it is. Just a random number though. 5/6 kms would be fine, depending on the stage.