Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[Velolover2]

Re: Re:

Seems like he must be pretty confident for the TT considering he didn't try an attack on the climb.

with this finish, an attack was doomed anyway. I don't think it's a matter of confidence but just common sense.

Brutal walls longer than 2k are always a disappointment. You can't attack at all.

The Zoncolan-styled climbs are usually boring.

 

[Carols]

Re: Re:

Bala is on raging form, he will be the major competition. He can TT when he needs to.

Shame about those lousy 3 seconds, bad luck again. I sure hope he wins tomorrow because losing by seconds again will be a killer

I'm not sure I'd survive a loss by less than 3 seconds

Me either .

Poor Samu, I love him, but I sure hope he doesn't cost Alberto this race!

 

[GraftPunk]

I think he'll take GC, but I seriously doubt he'll take the stage tomorrow. he seems to be riding in a very conservative manner, whether to save energy or because of the crash, who knows? I get the feeling he's left a bit in the tank for tomorrow and he appeared to mark and follow moves with relative ease today (despite those pesky three seconds).

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

I think he'll take GC, but I seriously doubt he'll take the stage tomorrow. he seems to be riding in a very conservative manner, whether to save energy or because of the crash, who knows? I get the feeling he's left a bit in the tank for tomorrow and he appeared to mark and follow moves with relative ease today (despite those pesky three seconds).

Yeah let's say Roglic for the stage win or maybe Ion. Berto should be top-5 though or even top-3.

 

[wheresmybrakes]

Re:

Can Alberto take the GC win tomorrow? He deserves it after 5 days of crashes and bad luck.

I think maybe Cummings deserves the GC as his crash was far superior to Contadors!

 

[Carols]

Re: Re:

Can Alberto take the GC win tomorrow? He deserves it after 5 days of crashes and bad luck.

I think maybe Cummings deserves the GC as his crash was far superior to Contadors!

Cummings was never a GC contender......

 

[LaFlorecita]

Contador: "Me sentí bien, pero fui conservador por la caída"
"I felt good, but I was conservative because of the crash"

 

[Valv.Piti]

Sensible racing tactics today, he must feel confident he can beat Bala tomorrow and he probably will be the favourite. Seems he isn't too hurt after all now, does it.

Strange to see him follow Valverde like that, its usually the other way around.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Sensible racing tactics today, he must feel confident he can beat Bala tomorrow and he probably will be the favourite. Seems he isn't too hurt after all now, does it.

Strange to see him follow Valverde like that, its usually the other way around.

Yeah or perhaps he is hurt and would have won the stage otherwise weird to conclude he isn't hurt because he didn't lose much time, how can you know

 

[Red Rick]

I have seen nothing, and I feel that even with this result, I still know nothing.

 

[portugal11]

He will win le tour if froome crash. In my opinion froome is clearly one step above contador nowadays (and he also has by far a better team), in my opinion even a fresh (and in top shape) quintana is no match to froome.
Valverde would have dropped everyone if contador wasn't in the race so I can say that contador was the second strongest today

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

Sensible racing tactics today, he must feel confident he can beat Bala tomorrow and he probably will be the favourite. Seems he isn't too hurt after all now, does it.

Strange to see him follow Valverde like that, its usually the other way around.

Yeah or perhaps he is hurt and would have won the stage otherwise weird to conclude he isn't hurt because he didn't lose much time, how can you know

I'd like to point out again that I wrote 'too hurt', as in, not too hurt. You know when he doesn't have problems closing Valverde's attacks down time and time again. Thats a sensible conclusion, isn't it.

 

[Netserk]

The crash probably cost him 20-30 seconds on today's stage. I think that's a sensible conclusion.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

The crash probably cost him 20-30 seconds on today's stage. I think that's a sensible conclusion.

Haha, yeah... no comments.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

I'd like to point out again that I wrote 'too hurt', as in, not too hurt. You know when he doesn't have problems closing Valverde's attacks down time and time again. Thats a sensible conclusion, isn't it.

We could turn it around and say normally Contador should easily be able to drop Uran and the likes so he was clearly hurt by the crash

My point is we don't know how badly he was hurt. No, clearly he wasn't terribly hurt otherwise he'd have done worse. That's the only thing we can conclude.
What annoys me is that you wrote it in such a way as if to say, "see, I was right, he exaggerated the effects of his crash again" which is a conclusion we cannot make.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Alberto's results in Pais Vasco TTs:
2005 | 1
2006 | 8
2007 | 2
2008 | 1
2009 | 1
2013 | 10
2014 | 2
2016 | 1

https://twitter.com/Contador_Fans/status/850404086763618304
Seems top 2 is a pretty safe bet

 

[dacooley]

it's alright. once bertie wraps up his 5th pais vasco title tommorow, we'll say how easy that actually was.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

I'd like to point out again that I wrote 'too hurt', as in, not too hurt. You know when he doesn't have problems closing Valverde's attacks down time and time again. Thats a sensible conclusion, isn't it.

We could turn it around and say normally Contador should easily be able to drop Uran and the likes so he was clearly hurt by the crash

My point is we don't know how badly he was hurt. No, clearly he wasn't terribly hurt otherwise he'd have done worse. That's the only thing we can conclude.
What annoys me is that you wrote it in such a way as if to say, "see, I was right, he exaggerated the effects of his crash again" which is a conclusion we cannot make.

Don't overanalyse things and try to make me look like such a bad guy.

Look, we know Valverde is in some amazing form and you yourself predicted that Contador would finish in 8th or something if I remember correctly. Clearly, you were expecting worse based on his crash and the way he has raced this race.

Then we watch the stage and Valverde makes a bunch of really serious attacks, yet can't gap Contador which means that the crash obviously hasn't affected him that much (we believe going into the race that they were equally good, Valverde and Contador, so that Contador without the crash should have been able to drop Valverde on this climb by 20 seconds or so is unrealistic).

Thats why I assume he wasn't hurt too bad, hence why I wrote it. God damn you are quick to get defensive when I write in here.

 

[damian13ster]

Re:

Can Alberto take the GC win tomorrow? He deserves it after 5 days of crashes and bad luck.

I am sorry, but in what way crashes make one deserving winner? I can name 5-6 riders who deserve this more than Contador based on the race so far.
But I do also think that he is a favorite at this point. Btw, I don't like the idea of not having bonus seconds for top 3 finishers.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Can Alberto take the GC win tomorrow? He deserves it after 5 days of crashes and bad luck.

I am sorry, but in what way crashes make one deserving winner? I can name 5-6 riders who deserve this more than Contador based on the race so far.
But I do also think that he is a favorite at this point. Btw, I don't like the idea of not having bonus seconds for top 3 finishers.

He deserves it because despite all his bad luck he's still in the game, fighting for the win.

 

[wheresmybrakes]

Re: Re:

Can Alberto take the GC win tomorrow? He deserves it after 5 days of crashes and bad luck.

I am sorry, but in what way crashes make one deserving winner? I can name 5-6 riders who deserve this more than Contador based on the race so far.
But I do also think that he is a favorite at this point. Btw, I don't like the idea of not having bonus seconds for top 3 finishers.

Exactly! That's what I was saying when I said Cummings deserved the GC cos his crash was so much worse! It was the same in P-N, because Contador made a kamikaze break from 50 odd k's out and missed out by a couple of seconds he obviously deserved the GC according to the die hards.

 

[damian13ster]

Not really. The route and lack of bonus seconds allowed that, and not some kind of epic chases, aggressive riding, etc. Not being able to stay on the bike and still finishing in peleton is hardly enough to make someone a worthy winner. How would he deserve it more than guys like Valverde, De la Cruz, Roglic, etc. who has actually shown something this race

 

[wheresmybrakes]

The only way you deserve to win is if you finish in first place, regardless of how you got there. (as long as its legal! )

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Not really. The route and lack of bonus seconds allowed that, and not some kind of epic chases, aggressive riding, etc. Not being able to stay on the bike and still finishing in peleton is hardly enough to make someone a worthy winner. How would he deserve it more than guys like Valverde, De la Cruz, Roglic, etc. who has actually shown something this race

If he finishes 1st, he deserves it as much as anyone else. End of discussion!

I really don't get why some people have such a hard time understanding what people mean when they say "he deserves the win" or "he deserved the win". It means that this rider would have been a deserving winner!! It is not meant to detract from the actual winner, FFS.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

The only way you deserve to win is if you finish in first place, regardless of how you got there. (as long as its legal! )

Nonsense.

So in your opinion if rider A attacks with 100km to go and builds a 5 minute advantage on his own, gets hit by a motorcycle and crashes into a ravine, climbs out, continues, breaks his chain, has to wait two minutes before he gets a new bike, gets caught 50 meters before the line by rider B, who just sat on the back of a group of 20 riders for the entire race, rider A didn't deserve the win?