Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[LaFlorecita]

I'm still looking for confirmation but it appears Alberto will be in Panama next year on March 4 with Purito, for the "Ocean to Ocean" Gran Fondo

 

[Jspear]

Talking about power meters again. He’s saying they should be banned from racing. That would be pretty cool and would definitely chang things in a positive way.

I want to see him really grow his beard out. He looks sharp with it.

 

[Serpentin]

Re:

Its insane if you actually can deduct that he is more relaxed after the Vuelta from these two pictures.

You are right, the pictures was more of a example. He seems more relaxed when you listen to interviews and on social media. I think he is right about power meters. Make racing dull.

 

[Pennino]

Re:

Talking about power meters again. He’s saying they should be banned from racing. That would be pretty cool and would definitely chang things in a positive way.

I want to see him really grow his beard out. He looks sharp with it.

That would be really cruel. Just after Berto quitting they'd ban the powermeters. No way in hell.

 

[Dr. Watson]

Alberto saying he could have won all three GTs in one season... I dont think that would be possible even in his prime years
http://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/racing/alberto-contador-won-three-grand-tours-year-353787?utm_content=manual&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_term=cyclingweekly

 

[hrotha]

What I see there is a super sensationalist and misleading headline.

 

[Dr. Watson]

yes, but hypothetically speaking, if he went for it would it be possible?

 

[silvergrenade]

Re:

yes, but hypothetically speaking, if he went for it would it be possible?

No

 

[Red Rick]

I think Contador would've had a very good shot at the Giro-Tour double in 2009 if he had tried that. The Giro and the Tour were comparatively easy he would've had a good team for both. If he won both, yoloing the Vuelta would always have been an option, and given Contador's high base level and that Vuelta's racing, he wouldn't be gruppetto material for sure.

Valverde, a more inconsistent GT rider, was competitive until the end of the 2nd week of the Vuelta after a harder Giro and a harder Tour.

 

[Roku]

He is only 34 and is starting to have delusions.

He will make Bahamontes seem like a wise man when he reaches his 70s

 

[Durden93]

Cobtador should go into politics, because he's behaving like a populist. Banning race radios will do nothing. There was a stage back in the tour in 2009 or 2010 where they banned power meters. Guess what happened? The break was given a small lead, got caught, and average speed was about 41km/h. It did nothing. There were radios in this year's world championships too.

 

[silvergrenade]

He is only 34 and is starting to have delusions.

He will make Bahamontes seem like a wise man when he reaches his 70s

Yup.
Next will be a protest against UCI to return his overturned GT wins. While he's at it, Lance to join him to get his 7. :lol:

 

[LaFlorecita]

I love Berto's ideas like banning power meters in racing and implementing budget caps. He thinks the same way about cycling as I do, or maybe it is the other way around
Berto for UCI President!

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

Cobtador should go into politics, because he's behaving like a populist. Banning race radios will do nothing. There was a stage back in the tour in 2009 or 2010 where they banned power meters. Guess what happened? The break was given a small lead, got caught, and average speed was about 41km/h. It did nothing. There were radios in this year's world championships too.

n=1?

Decent sample size for statistical analysis.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Cobtador should go into politics, because he's behaving like a populist. Banning race radios will do nothing. There was a stage back in the tour in 2009 or 2010 where they banned power meters. Guess what happened? The break was given a small lead, got caught, and average speed was about 41km/h. It did nothing. There were radios in this year's world championships too.

I'm lost now

 

[hrotha]

I don't remember that stage in 2009 or 2010 where they banned power meters. Link?

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Cobtador should go into politics, because he's behaving like a populist. Banning race radios will do nothing. There was a stage back in the tour in 2009 or 2010 where they banned power meters. Guess what happened? The break was given a small lead, got caught, and average speed was about 41km/h. It did nothing. There were radios in this year's world championships too.

n=1?

Decent sample size for statistical analysis.

Lol

Of course it's not certain racing will be better after banning power meters, but it can hardly be worse. So why not try? Oh wait, because the most influential team of all would certainly be against it

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

I don't remember that stage in 2009 or 2010 where they banned power meters. Link?

He must be talking about the stage in 2009 when UCI tested a race radio ban on a flat stage and the peloton staged a protest by going as slowly as possible for the majority of the stage. Of course, Berto never mentioned banning race radios.

 

[hrotha]

Re: Re:

I don't remember that stage in 2009 or 2010 where they banned power meters. Link?

He must be talking about the stage in 2009 when UCI tested a race radio ban on a flat stage and the peloton staged a protest by going as slowly as possible for the majority of the stage. Of course, Berto never mentioned banning race radios.

It's weird that he'd conflate both things though. Maybe he thinks "power meter" is a heavy metal radio station?

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

What I see there is a super sensationalist and misleading headline.

These days, it seems most people only read headlines. If you look at the comments below the CN news article on Berto calling for a race radio ban, for example, Berto also explains his view on the budget cap, yet people still jump to conclusions and attack him for calling for something he isn't actually calling for

 

[Netserk]

Re:

yes, but hypothetically speaking, if he went for it would it be possible?

In 2009, if he had his team behind him and 100% loyal, and of course planned his season around; yes, I think he'd have had a fair chance.

Strong TT (and climbing as well, but TT is crucial for an 'easy' team controlled win, just see Froome this year), strong team, and easy routes.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

yes, but hypothetically speaking, if he went for it would it be possible?

In 2009, if he had his team behind him and 100% loyal, and of course planned his season around; yes, I think he'd have had a fair chance.

Strong TT (and climbing as well, but TT is crucial for an 'easy' team controlled win, just see Froome this year), strong team, and easy routes.

Edit 1: Seriously tho, he would have had a chance, but everything needed to go perfect. His strongest season despite his P-N meltdown. Valverde wasn't anything special in that Vuelta and won on savvy, but I still very much doubt he would have pulled it off under perfect circumstances.

Edit 2: Look at Valverde's face. The story about Contador's pedalling technique and facial expressions at his absolute peak (2009) holds very much true for that exact picture while the era's best climbers are struggling to hold on behind.

 

[Durden93]

Re: Re:

Cobtador should go into politics, because he's behaving like a populist. Banning race radios will do nothing. There was a stage back in the tour in 2009 or 2010 where they banned power meters. Guess what happened? The break was given a small lead, got caught, and average speed was about 41km/h. It did nothing. There were radios in this year's world championships too.

I'm lost now

Sorry flo, that's what I get for writing before I've had my coffee. I was referring to radios only.

 

[samhocking]

Some of the dullest Tour years were Indurain's. No power meters or race radios then, simply ride to threshold up the mountains and smash the TTs. Likewise half of Armstrong's wins were without radio and no power meters and almost as dull too with a team throttling attacks riding to perceived threshold and HR, but at least he won a couple of stages unlike Indurain. If Indurain and also Armstrong's team can climb to threshold to kill the race without power and race radio, perhaps Bertie simply doesn't want to accept his time has passed and his way of racing more for fans entertainment than to increase your chance of winning have come to an end. It's bad news for the fans, but how much of professional sport should be about entertainment and how much about winning?

Also, the study by Gaël Guegan concluded using race radio actually rewards the brave and does not correlate with the outcome of a race in a negative way.

 

[Netserk]

Give me any Indurain year over the bore that was the Tour this year (the last many years, actually).