Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[lenric]

To be fair, no one expected him to win time on Froome. I guess if both went full gas, Contador would still lose around 15/20 seconds.
For example, in 2014's Dauphine the same happened.

 

[ferryman]

Re:

Can't blame a guy who's been falling 4/5 times a year, especially on the Tour, of being afraid to fall, especially after knowing that had happened to one of his rivals.

There's a big difference between being afraid to fall and riding cautiously and sensibly in treacherous conditions. Wiggins in the Giro would be best example of a rider being afraid to fall that I can think of.

 

[DFA123]

“Perder 42" con Froome en 14km es una barbaridad. No sé si se salió, si fue muy rápido o si arriesgó demasiado, el caso es que me parecen unas grandísimas diferencias para la contrarreloj inaugural”

"Losing 42 seconds to Froome is an awful lot. I don't know how it turned out, if he went very quickly or if he risked a lot. Anyway, I think the differences are very big for an opening time trial."

Contador a little surprised by the outcome today it seems. He also said he was happier to be close to his other rivals though and that there is still a lot of racing ahead of them all.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Just back from Düsseldorf. *** weather. So sorry to hear about Valverde and Ion crashing out
I got worried when Berto didn't appear for a long time after Küng but I'm happy he made it through in one piece. His time loss to Froome is a little too big for comfort and I'd expected him to gain time on Dan Martin and Quintana, but compared to for example Porte his ride wasn't that bad. Hard to estimate how much time his cautious approach cost him.
Seems he lost quite some time to Froome in the final km. I was just before the final km arch and I timed the difference between Berto and Froome at 2:25, so Berto 35s slower. Maybe Froome left a little early or Berto a little late though. Hard to say.

 

[DFA123]

Re:

Just back from Düsseldorf. **** weather. So sorry to hear about Valverde and Ion crashing out
I got worried when Berto didn't appear for a long time after Küng but I'm happy he made it through in one piece. His time loss to Froome is a little too big for comfort and I'd expected him to gain time on Dan Martin and Quintana, but compared to for example Porte his ride wasn't that bad. Hard to estimate how much time his cautious approach cost him.
Seems he lost quite some time to Froome in the final km. I was just before the final km arch and I timed the difference between Berto and Froome at 2:25, so Berto 35s slower. Maybe Froome left a little early or Berto a little late though. Hard to say.

Nice to hear you went. Hope you didn't get too battered by the rain - it looked a really miserable day on TV. The TV coverage of Contador was pretty much non-existant between the starting gate and the final 500m (and terrible in general all day). All the focus seemed to be on Froome, Kung and Quintana, so it's hard to say where he lost time, but from his interviews it seems that he just took it easy on the corners.

Froome took the dangerous corners faster than most it seems, making most of his time there. Porte was shown on TV a lot and he could have almost got off his bike and walked around a couple he was going so slowly.

 

[Publicus]

I think he played it too safe in the corners--even compared to his other GC contenders (at least 4 of his teammates finished faster than him including Degenkolb). He at least isn't delusional about it. He's got a lot of ground to make up and he can't afford to concede any more time. Hopefully he stays on the bike tomorrow too (without the time loss).

"In the parts where I had to pedal I felt good, although 42 seconds is a lot for 14 kilometers, but this has just begun. Obviously, Froome has made some great differences, he is ahead, so there's no other way but to go on the offensive. But until we get to the first mountain stage and see how the legs are, you cannot say what tactic to adopt."

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Nice to hear you went. Hope you didn't get too battered by the rain - it looked a really miserable day on TV. The TV coverage of Contador was pretty much non-existant between the starting gate and the final 500m (and terrible in general all day). All the focus seemed to be on Froome, Kung and Quintana, so it's hard to say where he lost time, but from his interviews it seems that he just took it easy on the corners.

Froome took the dangerous corners faster than most it seems, making most of his time there. Porte was shown on TV a lot and he could have almost got off his bike and walked around a couple he was going so slowly.

It wasn't torrential rain but it was just wet all day with at least a light drizzle all the time. Each time I thought I could put my umbrella away it got worse again. Of course just after the last rider had finished, the sky cleared
I had a spot just after the final km arch first, but on the side of the first km, if you know what I mean. But a large group of Polish fans thought it was a good spot as well, can't say much about their enthusiasm, they cheered for many riders but as more and more claimed their spot at the barriers I decided to walk a little further in search of a better spot. I found one, among a group of Sky fans, I later realized really embarrassing, they cheered only for (ex) Sky riders and British riders ("Go go Sergio!" "Go go Mikel!" "Go go G!" "Go go Richie!") except Dan McLay who they didn't seem to know. They didn't even clap for the other riders. Of course, this just motivated me more to cheer loudly for my favorites and I even cheered for Valverde and of course I clapped for everyone, though not as enthusiastically for Froome

 

[LaFlorecita]

Also, to me the crowd wasn't very enthusiastic as a whole (besides the Polish fans) Greipel, Martin and Kittel got the loudest cheers, but that was more or less what any random rider got at the Utrecht Tour start and Apeldoorn Giro start.

 

[bob.a.feet]

Re:

Also, to me the crowd wasn't very enthusiastic as a whole (besides the Polish fans) Greipel, Martin and Kittel got the loudest cheers, but that was more or less what any random rider got at the Utrecht Tour start and Apeldoorn Giro start.

Will you watch tomorrow's stage as well?

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Also, to me the crowd wasn't very enthusiastic as a whole (besides the Polish fans) Greipel, Martin and Kittel got the loudest cheers, but that was more or less what any random rider got at the Utrecht Tour start and Apeldoorn Giro start.

Will you watch tomorrow's stage as well?

Nah. In 2015 I watched the 2nd stage (almost crossed my backyard) as well as the 1st but the 2nd was very underwhelming compared to the TT. Nothing beats watching 198 riders come by a minute apart (and in this case even twice because they came from both directions ). If it was closer I'd consider it but not interested in a 2 hour drive to see the riders fly by in 5 seconds.

 

[silvergrenade]

Re: Re:

Nice to hear you went. Hope you didn't get too battered by the rain - it looked a really miserable day on TV. The TV coverage of Contador was pretty much non-existant between the starting gate and the final 500m (and terrible in general all day). All the focus seemed to be on Froome, Kung and Quintana, so it's hard to say where he lost time, but from his interviews it seems that he just took it easy on the corners.

Froome took the dangerous corners faster than most it seems, making most of his time there. Porte was shown on TV a lot and he could have almost got off his bike and walked around a couple he was going so slowly.

It wasn't torrential rain but it was just wet all day with at least a light drizzle all the time. Each time I thought I could put my umbrella away it got worse again. Of course just after the last rider had finished, the sky cleared
I had a spot just after the final km arch first, but on the side of the first km, if you know what I mean. But a large group of Polish fans thought it was a good spot as well, can't say much about their enthusiasm, they cheered for many riders but as more and more claimed their spot at the barriers I decided to walk a little further in search of a better spot. I found one, among a group of Sky fans, I later realized really embarrassing, they cheered only for (ex) Sky riders and British riders ("Go go Sergio!" "Go go Mikel!" "Go go G!" "Go go Richie!") except Dan McLay who they didn't seem to know. They didn't even clap for the other riders. Of course, this just motivated me more to cheer loudly for my favorites and I even cheered for Valverde and of course I clapped for everyone, though not as enthusiastically for Froome

Thanks for sharing your experiences. Sounds so cool.
Hope to see the TdF one day. Live.

 

[bob.a.feet]

Re: Re:

Also, to me the crowd wasn't very enthusiastic as a whole (besides the Polish fans) Greipel, Martin and Kittel got the loudest cheers, but that was more or less what any random rider got at the Utrecht Tour start and Apeldoorn Giro start.

Will you watch tomorrow's stage as well?

Nah. In 2015 I watched the 2nd stage (almost crossed my backyard) as well as the 1st but the 2nd was very underwhelming compared to the TT. Nothing beats watching 198 riders come by a minute apart (and in this case even twice because they came from both directions ). If it was closer I'd consider it but not interested in a 2 hour drive to see the riders fly by in 5 seconds.

Ya that makes sense. You were fairly lucky that you got to watch a TT as it's probably the best for spectators.

 

[davebqvst]

Re:

Also, to me the crowd wasn't very enthusiastic as a whole (besides the Polish fans) Greipel, Martin and Kittel got the loudest cheers, but that was more or less what any random rider got at the Utrecht Tour start and Apeldoorn Giro start.

I was downtown for the last part of the race (went to the start first and hung out at the team buses and watched the riders set off) and was surprised by how many people around me talked about Tony Martin - judging by most of their comments, they were locals just checking it out or casual fans at best, but every other minute someone asked "So where's Tony Martin? Did Tony Martin go by already? Is that Tony Martin?"

At the Movistar bus there was a group of Colombian fans who were in an amazing mood despite the weather and easily the loudest and most enthusiastic fans out there compared to all the others I saw (didn't see any Polish fans tho). They were crazy loud when Nairo peeked out of the bus and hopped on a team car for a recon.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

Also, to me the crowd wasn't very enthusiastic as a whole (besides the Polish fans) Greipel, Martin and Kittel got the loudest cheers, but that was more or less what any random rider got at the Utrecht Tour start and Apeldoorn Giro start.

Will you watch tomorrow's stage as well?

Nah. In 2015 I watched the 2nd stage (almost crossed my backyard) as well as the 1st but the 2nd was very underwhelming compared to the TT. Nothing beats watching 198 riders come by a minute apart (and in this case even twice because they came from both directions ). If it was closer I'd consider it but not interested in a 2 hour drive to see the riders fly by in 5 seconds.

Ya that makes sense. You were fairly lucky that you got to watch a TT as it's probably the best for spectators.

MTT in crazy athmosphere?

Anyway, I remember being in Apeldoorn last year and though the athmosphere was pretty good the crowds were somewhat lame. I was ready to lose my *** for every rider but people were just standing there casually and giving the gentle clap mostly.

 

[Valv.Piti]

I watched the 2009 TTT in Montpellier, that was bloody amazing as well. That Astana team, holy smokes.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Anyway, I remember being in Apeldoorn last year and though the athmosphere was pretty good the crowds were somewhat lame. I was ready to lose my **** for every rider but people were just standing there casually and giving the gentle clap mostly.

Really? It wasn't that bad where I was.
Anyway, I saw Berto at the bus going for a recon and he looked really tiny. He was in all black and black is slimming, I know, but still.

 

[bob.a.feet]

Re: Re:

Also, to me the crowd wasn't very enthusiastic as a whole (besides the Polish fans) Greipel, Martin and Kittel got the loudest cheers, but that was more or less what any random rider got at the Utrecht Tour start and Apeldoorn Giro start.

Will you watch tomorrow's stage as well?

Nah. In 2015 I watched the 2nd stage (almost crossed my backyard) as well as the 1st but the 2nd was very underwhelming compared to the TT. Nothing beats watching 198 riders come by a minute apart (and in this case even twice because they came from both directions ). If it was closer I'd consider it but not interested in a 2 hour drive to see the riders fly by in 5 seconds.

Ya that makes sense. You were fairly lucky that you got to watch a TT as it's probably the best for spectators.

MTT in crazy athmosphere?

Anyway, I remember being in Apeldoorn last year and though the athmosphere was pretty good the crowds were somewhat lame. I was ready to lose my **** for every rider but people were just standing there casually and giving the gentle clap mostly.

Stage 18 at last years Tour would have been cool

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

Anyway, I remember being in Apeldoorn last year and though the athmosphere was pretty good the crowds were somewhat lame. I was ready to lose my **** for every rider but people were just standing there casually and giving the gentle clap mostly.

Really? It wasn't that bad where I was.
Anyway, I saw Berto at the bus going for a recon and he looked really tiny. He was in all black and black is slimming, I know, but still.

I probably had unreasonable expectations and was wayyyy too hyped myself

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Anyway, I remember being in Apeldoorn last year and though the athmosphere was pretty good the crowds were somewhat lame. I was ready to lose my **** for every rider but people were just standing there casually and giving the gentle clap mostly.

Really? It wasn't that bad where I was.
Anyway, I saw Berto at the bus going for a recon and he looked really tiny. He was in all black and black is slimming, I know, but still.

I probably had unreasonable expectations and was wayyyy too hyped myself

Well thinking about it I do remember the cheers getting less as the race progressed, although you could hear any Dutch rider approach just from the cheers. But here so many riders went by with just a handful of people clapping, it killed me, so of course I screamed like crazy for them The British fans must have thought I'm not entirely right in the head for cheering for Spaniards, Lithuanians, Italians, Frenchies, Kazakhs, Belgians, Germans, Dutchies, Danes etc and from so many different teams as well

 

[rhubroma]

You can't be timorous in the opening 14k TT of the Tour when facing Froome and Sky. It's as simple as that, especially when you probably will be limiting your losses.Ten seconds becomes an abyss. Although if one rider had to break his knee, it must have been Valverde, a co-national, which enhances the drama and thus the temerity. Now 42 seconds down will leave no margin to control and wait and see, with the disadvantage of having the rival in the very position to do so.

 

[LaFlorecita]

I would have bitten your hand off if you'd told me before the race he would lose 42 seconds to Froome but wouldn't crash. Totally worth it.
Still in the final 1.5km he was just empty. It was obvious from his body language as well as him losing 7s to Froome.

 

[jflemaire]

Re: Re:

Anyway, I remember being in Apeldoorn last year and though the athmosphere was pretty good the crowds were somewhat lame. I was ready to lose my **** for every rider but people were just standing there casually and giving the gentle clap mostly.

Really? It wasn't that bad where I was.
Anyway, I saw Berto at the bus going for a recon and he looked really tiny. He was in all black and black is slimming, I know, but still.

I probably had unreasonable expectations and was wayyyy too hyped myself

Well thinking about it I do remember the cheers getting less as the race progressed, although you could hear any Dutch rider approach just from the cheers. But here so many riders went by with just a handful of people clapping, it killed me, so of course I screamed like crazy for them The British fans must have thought I'm not entirely right in the head for cheering for Spaniards, Lithuanians, Italians, Frenchies, Kazakhs, Belgians, Germans, Dutchies, Danes etc and from so many different teams as well

For what it's worth I find your attitude very refreshing. You should be applauded for it.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

For what it's worth I find your attitude very refreshing. You should be applauded for it.

Thank you it seems only natural to me

 

[rick james]

Re: Re:

Nice to hear you went. Hope you didn't get too battered by the rain - it looked a really miserable day on TV. The TV coverage of Contador was pretty much non-existant between the starting gate and the final 500m (and terrible in general all day). All the focus seemed to be on Froome, Kung and Quintana, so it's hard to say where he lost time, but from his interviews it seems that he just took it easy on the corners.

Froome took the dangerous corners faster than most it seems, making most of his time there. Porte was shown on TV a lot and he could have almost got off his bike and walked around a couple he was going so slowly.

It wasn't torrential rain but it was just wet all day with at least a light drizzle all the time. Each time I thought I could put my umbrella away it got worse again. Of course just after the last rider had finished, the sky cleared
I had a spot just after the final km arch first, but on the side of the first km, if you know what I mean. But a large group of Polish fans thought it was a good spot as well, can't say much about their enthusiasm, they cheered for many riders but as more and more claimed their spot at the barriers I decided to walk a little further in search of a better spot. I found one, among a group of Sky fans, I later realized really embarrassing, they cheered only for (ex) Sky riders and British riders ("Go go Sergio!" "Go go Mikel!" "Go go G!" "Go go Richie!") except Dan McLay who they didn't seem to know. They didn't even clap for the other riders. Of course, this just motivated me more to cheer loudly for my favorites and I even cheered for Valverde and of course I clapped for everyone, though not as enthusiastically for Froome

lol

 

[rhubroma]

Re:

I would have bitten your hand off if you'd told me before the race he would lose 42 seconds to Froome but wouldn't crash. Totally worth it.
Still in the final 1.5km he was just empty. It was obvious from his body language as well as him losing 7s to Froome.

Well then eat my hand. And if, as you suggest, his tank at the end was notwithstanding empty, then I really can't say what you find worthwhile. He is either off form, or a coward.