Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[Carols]

Not quite

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfMNDkoWjpc

now I'm sad. He wasn't even breathing

Alas those days are gone. No grimace, not even a deep breath, rides away.....

He is a Great Champion in decline, age brings all of them down. I am just happy to have seen the Legend that is Alberto Contador. You all can disagree but I've followed this sport for 50+ years and he is one of the Best to ever throw his leg over a bike in those 50 years.

Hopefully he has enough left to give us a show, if not his legacy is not diminished. His star has dimmed but the Glory of 2007-2015 will always be with us. I have it all on dvd .

Still epic viewing

I would also love to get a DVD of Paris-Nice 2016 and 2017, the final stages; such awesome racing there from Contador.

Oh I also have the 2016 Basque Country and P-N, the 2017 final PN stage is still on the dvr

 

[Jspear]

I think in the end, that first ITT will haunt him. Imagine if that's his greatest amount of loss time. It could very well be imo....that would suck. He's performed okay in the one MTF we've had. We are having this conversation about him being behind riders like Aru, Bardet, and Martin, because of a TT! Unfortunate....

 

[perico]

Re: Re:

Why the pessimism? I expected him to lose at least 30 seconds, he actually paced himself really well. He will animate the race im sure of it!

you know the diehard fans don't just want to see him 'animate the race'

Yeah, but i still think he has a chance to win it, the tour is open this year!

Yes! He definitely does. And so does 6-7 others. And this might be the problem Berto has to face. He has to now drop all of the others fair and square in stages to come, especially in limited MTF's. He can't really afford to drag those others with him as he would lose the sprint and concede seconds in that case.

I feel this tour is not going to have huge time differences at the end, much like in Giro. I.e. Aru and Martin has currently almost the advantage they need to Berto in final TT, so dragging them along while dropping Froome/Porte is probably not going to win the race for Berto. Obvious the situation is worse compared to Froome/Porte as they are probably not going lose any seconds in TT to Berto.

This all makes the race really interesting, Froome is in pole and Richie 2nd atm. If the other has bad day the other can just follow wheels of the rest and win. Aru/Conrador/Martin/Barder needs to drop and take more than a minute compared every GC contender to win the race.

I think you can see how three of these could possibly make up time. Aru by outclimbing Porte/Froome like yesterday, Bardet by attacking on a descent and Martin by taking time in the last km and bonus seconds. Contador though, I'm not sure. It's difficult to see him outclimbing, outdescending or out-sprinting Froome; maybe he will have to try a surprise attack on a flatter stage.

The way he did on the first real MTF of the Vuelta last year. Let Froome go into the red chasing down an Aru attack and reel 'em in.

 

[bob.a.feet]

Just watched the replay and have to say that Alberto's comeback was impressive as f---. That wasn't a letup by Porte and Froome. That was strength on Alberto's part and bodes well. They all looked on the limit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbpM9ZLpnOM

Yep, it was a nice thing to see! From 0:20 to 0:50 in the video he closed a huge gap!

This shows that his form is at least decent. You see him bridging the gap with all the riders in tow, yet in previous years he would crack completely and many of those riders would finish ahead of him. And Contador ended up dropping most of them, Also, I must say the Trek kit is starting to grow on me :lol:

 

[Matteo.]

Just watched the replay and have to say that Alberto's comeback was impressive as f---. That wasn't a letup by Porte and Froome. That was strength on Alberto's part and bodes well. They all looked on the limit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbpM9ZLpnOM

Yep, it was a nice thing to see! From 0:20 to 0:50 in the video he closed a huge gap!

This shows that his form is at least decent. You see him bridging the gap with all the riders in tow, yet in previous years he would crack completely and many of those riders would finish ahead of him. And Contador ended up dropping most of them, Also, I must say the Trek kit is starting to grow on me :lol:

He's obviously in decent shape, the only fault is his oldness

 

[Carols]

Taylor Phinney just told a cool Berto story on US tv. He was riding 1/2 way up the climb and encountered Alberto (who he says he idolizes), on his way down to the team bus. Berto has a pink whistle (Taylor found that funny! It made me think Giro) in his mouth and is blowing away to let the spectators know he is coming through. One lady stayed in his way and he had to avoid her and did a slow head turn to look at her and gave her a long blow on the whistle!

Just thought I'd share

 

[bambino]

Just watched the replay and have to say that Alberto's comeback was impressive as f---. That wasn't a letup by Porte and Froome. That was strength on Alberto's part and bodes well. They all looked on the limit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbpM9ZLpnOM

Yep, it was a nice thing to see! From 0:20 to 0:50 in the video he closed a huge gap!

This shows that his form is at least decent. You see him bridging the gap with all the riders in tow, yet in previous years he would crack completely and many of those riders would finish ahead of him. And Contador ended up dropping most of them, Also, I must say the Trek kit is starting to grow on me :lol:

As said it does look impressive, but not as hyped as you said. Uran, Nairo, GT, Meintjes and Yates actually follows him fairly easily which to me proves Froome's group did not go full gas.

And actually Berto didn't drop any of them. By the time he went to the front of Porte, it was group of 10 riders. It was Porte's attack following that which dropped riders including Contador who finished 7th in that group of 10 so many of those riders did finish ahead of him.

 

[red zone]

Just watched the replay and have to say that Alberto's comeback was impressive as f---. That wasn't a letup by Porte and Froome. That was strength on Alberto's part and bodes well. They all looked on the limit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbpM9ZLpnOM

Yep, it was a nice thing to see! From 0:20 to 0:50 in the video he closed a huge gap!

This shows that his form is at least decent. You see him bridging the gap with all the riders in tow, yet in previous years he would crack completely and many of those riders would finish ahead of him. And Contador ended up dropping most of them, Also, I must say the Trek kit is starting to grow on me :lol:

As said it does look impressive, but not as hyped as you said. Uran, Nairo, GT, Meintjes and Yates actually follows him fairly easily which to me proves Froome's group did not go full gas.

And actually Berto didn't drop any of them. By the time he went to the front of Porte, it was group of 10 riders. It was Porte's attack following that which dropped riders including Contador who finished 7th in that group of 10 so many of those riders did finish ahead of him.

the Froome/Port group was going as hard as they could , after Froomes initial attack he couldn't hold his pace and was recovering and that's why Alberto rode back to their group

 

[bambino]

Re:

I think in the end, that first ITT will haunt him. Imagine if that's his greatest amount of loss time. It could very well be imo....that would suck. He's performed okay in the one MTF we've had. We are having this conversation about him being behind riders like Aru, Bardet, and Martin, because of a TT! Unfortunate....

Agree, it was bad TT. To be completely fair though, Aru took his advantage yesterday with 36sec over Berto and almost the same can be said about Martin. But indeed their lead should be only around 10-20sec should the TT gone as expected.

 

[bambino]

Just watched the replay and have to say that Alberto's comeback was impressive as f---. That wasn't a letup by Porte and Froome. That was strength on Alberto's part and bodes well. They all looked on the limit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbpM9ZLpnOM

Yep, it was a nice thing to see! From 0:20 to 0:50 in the video he closed a huge gap!

This shows that his form is at least decent. You see him bridging the gap with all the riders in tow, yet in previous years he would crack completely and many of those riders would finish ahead of him. And Contador ended up dropping most of them, Also, I must say the Trek kit is starting to grow on me :lol:

As said it does look impressive, but not as hyped as you said. Uran, Nairo, GT, Meintjes and Yates actually follows him fairly easily which to me proves Froome's group did not go full gas.

And actually Berto didn't drop any of them. By the time he went to the front of Porte, it was group of 10 riders. It was Porte's attack following that which dropped riders including Contador who finished 7th in that group of 10 so many of those riders did finish ahead of him.

the Froome/Port group was going as hard as they could , after Froomes initial attack he couldn't hold his pace and was recovering and that's why Alberto rode back to their group

Disagree. They had Martin pacing which isn't optimum. If they would've gone full gas, then Berto's group would've dropped them right there. They where catching breath for the bonus seconds and you saw what happened once Porte launched the game to fight for those.

Edit: actually you say the same thing - they were indeed cathing power for the sprint. They probably would've been able to ride higher tempo.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Survived another day

"El domingo es la etapa más dura del Tour. Con lluvia puede ser una locura. Hay que aprovechar los días que estemos bien"
Sunday will be the hardest stage of the Tour, with rain it could be crazy. We have to take advantage of the days that we feel well.

 

[Carols]

Survived another day

"El domingo es la etapa más dura del Tour. Con lluvia puede ser una locura. Hay que aprovechar los días que estemos bien"
Sunday will be the hardest stage of the Tour, with rain it could be crazy. We have to take advantage of the days that we feel well.

Geez I hope he feels 'well' on Sunday!

 

[LaFlorecita]

Survived another day

"El domingo es la etapa más dura del Tour. Con lluvia puede ser una locura. Hay que aprovechar los días que estemos bien"
Sunday will be the hardest stage of the Tour, with rain it could be crazy. We have to take advantage of the days that we feel well.

Geez I hope he feels 'well' on Sunday!

So do I!!

 

[Carols]

Survived another day

"El domingo es la etapa más dura del Tour. Con lluvia puede ser una locura. Hay que aprovechar los días que estemos bien"
Sunday will be the hardest stage of the Tour, with rain it could be crazy. We have to take advantage of the days that we feel well.

Geez I hope he feels 'well' on Sunday!

So do I!!

Deg was on US tv. He said Berto is doing 'okay' and projects so much Confidence it makes the team feel good that he can get a result.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Survived another day

"El domingo es la etapa más dura del Tour. Con lluvia puede ser una locura. Hay que aprovechar los días que estemos bien"
Sunday will be the hardest stage of the Tour, with rain it could be crazy. We have to take advantage of the days that we feel well.

Geez I hope he feels 'well' on Sunday!

So do I!!

Deg was on US tv. He said Berto is doing 'okay' and projects so much Confidence it makes the team feel good that he can get a result.

Interesting. Steven de Jongh said something similar a few stages ago (I think after stage 3) that he hadn't spoken to Berto yet but that the boys said he looked really good That's how we know him, a true leader!

 

[rei_da_montanha]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5HdSbRaPcU

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5HdSbRaPcU

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Is that what Team Sky would refer to as marginal gains?

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5HdSbRaPcU

:lol:

that's hilarious :lol: just the way he tells it :lol: :lol: baby toy, the woman :lol:

 

[bajbar]

Re: Re:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5HdSbRaPcU

:lol:

that's hilarious :lol: just the way he tells it :lol: baby toy, the woman :lol:

Oh dear. That must be fun. Contador whistling his way down the mountain

He should also use it in the stage itself. Imagine how Froome would react when Contador starts whistling in his ear half way up Mont du Chat!

 

[Carols]

Re: Re:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5HdSbRaPcU

:lol:

that's hilarious :lol: just the way he tells it :lol: :lol: baby toy, the woman :lol:

I know, he is soo drolll when he talks, I'm aways LMAO!!!

 

[Angliru]

Re: Re:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5HdSbRaPcU

:lol:

that's hilarious :lol: just the way he tells it :lol: :lol: baby toy, the woman :lol:

I know, he is soo drolll when he talks, I'm aways LMAO!!!

Cycling's version of The Big Lebowski. Get this man a cardigan to cool down in!

 

[Electress]

Re: Re:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5HdSbRaPcU

:lol:

that's hilarious :lol: just the way he tells it :lol: :lol: baby toy, the woman :lol:

I know, he is soo drolll when he talks, I'm aways LMAO!!!

Cycling's version of The Big Lebowski. Get this man a cardigan to cool down in!

And a rug. A rug would really tie his whole hotel room together...

 

[Angliru]

Re: Re:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5HdSbRaPcU

:lol:

that's hilarious :lol: just the way he tells it :lol: :lol: baby toy, the woman :lol:

I know, he is soo drolll when he talks, I'm aways LMAO!!!

Cycling's version of The Big Lebowski. Get this man a cardigan to cool down in!

And a rug. A rug would really tie his whole hotel room together...

LOL! An underrated cinematic classic.

 

[Jelantik]

Just watched the replay and have to say that Alberto's comeback was impressive as f---. That wasn't a letup by Porte and Froome. That was strength on Alberto's part and bodes well. They all looked on the limit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbpM9ZLpnOM

Yep, it was a nice thing to see! From 0:20 to 0:50 in the video he closed a huge gap!

This shows that his form is at least decent. You see him bridging the gap with all the riders in tow, yet in previous years he would crack completely and many of those riders would finish ahead of him. And Contador ended up dropping most of them, Also, I must say the Trek kit is starting to grow on me :lol:

As said it does look impressive, but not as hyped as you said. Uran, Nairo, GT, Meintjes and Yates actually follows him fairly easily which to me proves Froome's group did not go full gas.

And actually Berto didn't drop any of them. By the time he went to the front of Porte, it was group of 10 riders. It was Porte's attack following that which dropped riders including Contador who finished 7th in that group of 10 so many of those riders did finish ahead of him.

the Froome/Port group was going as hard as they could , after Froomes initial attack he couldn't hold his pace and was recovering and that's why Alberto rode back to their group

contador is taking Froome's playbook. Let others attacked and slowly reeled them in. Maybe he is in fact has turned into a diesel rider. Or he just merely didn't have the leg :lol:

 

[Valv.Piti]

I think its a bit problematic that the climbing domestiques seems a little off-form, but Nairo, Aru and Porte won't have that much help in the real mountains either. All these teams are pretty mediocre. Out of all contenders, Bardet might actually have the strongest squad which could be very helpful on stage 9 (that Contador said is the hardest day, which is true). Thats a bummer because they wont be able to threaten Sky before Chat.