Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[Red Rick]

Honestly I'd could accept it if he hadn't crashed away his chances in all of 2014, 2016 and 2017. The flashes of brilliance were still there in 2017, in GTs more so than in 2016. At least being able to try to long range attacks in that Tour, and that image of him flying up that hill in the ITT faster than anyone else was brilliant.

I think that in his last 2 years he just had to work a little harder to be in shape, causing him to be a little less fresh and consistent. The last week of that Vuelta was puzzling cause it was that impressive.

I think the other alternative was to go on for one more Giro I think? Would've loved to have him race right now, but ending up an also ran would've been too painful, and nothing beats the fairytale ending Contador had in La Vuelta.

Think it was a pretty smart move of Trek to sign Contador for his final year, that Vuelta was some pretty sweet PR as a team.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Contador would have has as good shot as any to win the Giro this year, I believe. Just because I don't have any clue of who are going to win and the fact that he was very good in that Vuelta in 2017, he was truly elite on a couple of stages. Dumo isn't exactly woving people and Froome is declining pretty rapidly all of a sudden, after a slow and steady decline since Tour 2013.

Yeah in hindsight it was a good time to retire, but I would still have preferred one last Giro. He has only ridden the race three times and it has been great races all 3 times, 3 very different, yet still exciting and spectacular races in their own rights.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

Contador would have has as good shot as any to win the Giro this year, I believe. Just because I don't have any clue of who are going to win and the fact that he was very good in that Vuelta in 2017, he was truly elite on a couple of stages. Dumo isn't exactly woving people and Froome is declining pretty rapidly all of a sudden, after a slow and steady decline since Tour 2013.

Yeah in hindsight it was a good time to retire, but I would still have preferred one last Giro. He has only ridden the race three times and it has been great races all 3 times, 3 very different, yet still exciting and spectacular races in their own rights.

Oh boy Dumoulin would hate riding against Contador so much. This route doesn't suit Contador very well though.

 

[perico]

If Froome doesn’t show improvement between now and July then Bertie probably could have won another TdF, at least the Pistolero we saw the last week of Spain could win no question.

 

[Amazinmets87]

If Froome doesn’t show improvement between now and July then Bertie probably could have won another TdF, at least the Pistolero we saw the last week of Spain could win no question.

He decided to retire before the Vuelta. Even if he could have foreseen Froome's forthcoming positive I doubt he'd have elected to ride another season.

 

[DFA123]

Re:

Contador would have has as good shot as any to win the Giro this year, I believe. Just because I don't have any clue of who are going to win and the fact that he was very good in that Vuelta in 2017, he was truly elite on a couple of stages. Dumo isn't exactly woving people and Froome is declining pretty rapidly all of a sudden, after a slow and steady decline since Tour 2013.

Yeah in hindsight it was a good time to retire, but I would still have preferred one last Giro. He has only ridden the race three times and it has been great races all 3 times, 3 very different, yet still exciting and spectacular races in their own rights.

I agree, that he would probably be favourite for this Giro, and think he should have ridden it more throughout his career. I kind of understand his obsession with the Tour, because it's the biggest race and he had a point to prove by winning it post-ban.

But the Giro suits him way more than the Tour because it puts so much focus on recovery. There are so many medium and high mountain stages, compared with the Tour where half the race is flat, that riders who don't recover well usually get found out and collapse big time in the last week. And recovery was Contador's biggest GT strength imo - and one that he retained even after his ban, when his climbing legs declined a bit.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

Contador would have has as good shot as any to win the Giro this year, I believe. Just because I don't have any clue of who are going to win and the fact that he was very good in that Vuelta in 2017, he was truly elite on a couple of stages. Dumo isn't exactly woving people and Froome is declining pretty rapidly all of a sudden, after a slow and steady decline since Tour 2013.

Yeah in hindsight it was a good time to retire, but I would still have preferred one last Giro. He has only ridden the race three times and it has been great races all 3 times, 3 very different, yet still exciting and spectacular races in their own rights.

I agree, that he would probably be favourite for this Giro, and think he should have ridden it more throughout his career. I kind of understand his obsession with the Tour, because it's the biggest race and he had a point to prove by winning it post-ban.

But the Giro suits him way more than the Tour because it puts so much focus on recovery. There are so many medium and high mountain stages, compared with the Tour where half the race is flat, that riders who don't recover well usually get found out and collapse big time in the last week. And recovery was Contador's biggest GT strength imo - and one that he retained even after his ban, when his climbing legs declined a bit.

I think most of his seasons were quite understandable in terms of focus. In 2009/2010 he was the big favorite for any GT he did and he already had a Giro in the pocket. So if there's any thing I'd want him to do differently is perhaps ride the Vuelta after the Tour in 2009/2010.

Post ban I think you're more right. I fully understand going for the Tour in 2013, and it's not like he had the level to win any GT if he rode them. He'd probably get 2nd in the Giro minutes away from Nibali, and maybe like 3rd or 4th in the Vuelta?

I think he kept going for the Tour because it remained a what if question for him. 2013 was easily discounted cause he was so bad. Say he's good in 2013 and gets beaten by 2 minutes or so, it's more likely that he opts for the Giro in 2014. 2014/2015 seem a bit counterintuitive to me, and if I'd have gotten wrecked in 2013 like that, I might have gone for Giro/Vuelta in 2014, and then came back for a Tour assault in 2015.

If he'd not crashed and just got beaten in the 2016 Tour, my guess is that he goes Giro/Vuelta in his last year and the Dutch would still be waiting for their first Giro d'Italia winner. Contador might not have won, but I'm pretty damn sure he would've made Dumoulin lose it.

 

[DFA123]

Yeah, it's definitely understandable why he wanted to win another Tour post-ban. Especially after the rivalry with Froome really become a thing in 2014, doing the Giro a couple of more times instead might have seemed like a soft option.

It just wasn't a race really suited to his strengths by the end. Given that his TT had declined a lot and his main strength post-ban was the ability to climb well day after day, rather than having a super high level on just two or three one or two stages and consolidating on the rest. Which is basically how Froome has dominated the race in recent years.

I think the Giro this year (and last year) is a poorer quality without a rider like Contador as well. As you said re. Dumoulin, even if not riding for the win himself, Contador would ask questions of all the other GC riders and would reveal their weaknesses. You wouldn't have had loads of second tier riders like of Pozzovivo, Zakarin and Pinot all still in contention in the last week, and it looks like it could be a similar scenario this year.

 

[Serpentin]

Wish he had gone for Giro/Vuelta double all seasons after the 2014 tour. Oh well, I will never forget stage 20 of the 2017 Vuelta... How he attacked in that stage is how I imagine it looks overtime I ride my bike :lol: All in!

 

[Red Rick]

Wish he had gone for Giro/Vuelta double all seasons after the 2014 tour. Oh well, I will never forget stage 20 of the 2017 Vuelta... How he attacked in that stage is how I imagine it looks overtime I ride my bike :lol: All in!

I can look like Contador on a 20% incline while on a 2% incline.

 

[Pennino]

Wish he had gone for Giro/Vuelta double all seasons after the 2014 tour. Oh well, I will never forget stage 20 of the 2017 Vuelta... How he attacked in that stage is how I imagine it looks overtime I ride my bike :lol: All in!

I can look like Contador on a 20% incline while on a 2% incline.

I can tell you a little secret:

You need training more.

 

[Pennino]

But I love it that Berto's so outspoken on cycling lately. Of course most of his comments are Captain Obvious, but he really gives his opinion in stead of keeping it soft with everybody. Like Tom Boonen in Belgium, very nice. He's used to it obviously, being discussed the whole year around, so now he doesn't care anymore. Grande Berto.

 

[Robert5091]

The Pope or Bertie, who's the bigger attraction?

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/contador-froome-and-aru-can-no-longer-win-the-giro-ditalia/

The Spaniard himself, who recently became a father for the first time, is set to visit the Giro d'Italia on its last stage in Rome.

 

[Netserk]

Re: Re:

Contador would have has as good shot as any to win the Giro this year, I believe. Just because I don't have any clue of who are going to win and the fact that he was very good in that Vuelta in 2017, he was truly elite on a couple of stages. Dumo isn't exactly woving people and Froome is declining pretty rapidly all of a sudden, after a slow and steady decline since Tour 2013.

Yeah in hindsight it was a good time to retire, but I would still have preferred one last Giro. He has only ridden the race three times and it has been great races all 3 times, 3 very different, yet still exciting and spectacular races in their own rights.

I agree, that he would probably be favourite for this Giro, and think he should have ridden it more throughout his career. I kind of understand his obsession with the Tour, because it's the biggest race and he had a point to prove by winning it post-ban.

But the Giro suits him way more than the Tour because it puts so much focus on recovery. There are so many medium and high mountain stages, compared with the Tour where half the race is flat, that riders who don't recover well usually get found out and collapse big time in the last week. And recovery was Contador's biggest GT strength imo - and one that he retained even after his ban, when his climbing legs declined a bit.

I think most of his seasons were quite understandable in terms of focus. In 2009/2010 he was the big favorite for any GT he did and he already had a Giro in the pocket. So if there's any thing I'd want him to do differently is perhaps ride the Vuelta after the Tour in 2009/2010.

He couldn't in 2010. I think the team environment maybe added to the need for an early end of the 2009 season. Also that it was still undecided where he would ride in 2010.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

The Pope or Bertie, who's the bigger attraction?

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/contador-froome-and-aru-can-no-longer-win-the-giro-ditalia/

The Spaniard himself, who recently became a father for the first time, is set to visit the Giro d'Italia on its last stage in Rome.

Ooof, tough choice for the Italians

 

[LaFlorecita]

I'm seriously impressed that Berto still finds time to ride his bike 3 hours a day, even though he's commentating on Eurosport for 5 hours a day and has a 1 month old baby at home.
That's true passion

Also, I'm just posting this cause I freaking love that kit (and one post closer to 50k)

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

I'm seriously impressed that Berto still finds time to ride his bike 3 hours a day, even though he's commentating on Eurosport for 5 hours a day and has a 1 month old baby at home.
That's true passion

Also, I'm just posting this cause I freaking love that kit (and one post closer to 50k)

Or questionable parenting

jkjk

 

[DFA123]

Contador made a great call on the commentary today, basically called Froome as the winner with 2km to go. When they were going into the tunnels near the top the lead commentator was getting really excited and started saying how Adam Yates (he's called him Adam at some point every single day of the race so far - and you guys think Kirby is bad!) will be ahead by the time they exit the tunnels.

Contador said, no he won't, and that 5 seconds is a huge gap to close on towards the end of a climb like this. The commentator and Contador then both repeated the exact same conversation 4 times over the remaining 2km, with the commentator even claiming the GPS must be wrong when they were in the last tunnel, because the gap hadn't changed.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Contador made a great call on the commentary today, basically called Froome as the winner with 2km to go. When they were going into the tunnels near the top the lead commentator was getting really excited and started saying how Adam Yates (he's called him Adam at some point every single day of the race so far - and you guys think Kirby is bad!) will be ahead by the time they exit the tunnels.

Contador said, no he won't, and that 5 seconds is a huge gap to close on towards the end of a climb like this. The commentator and Contador then both repeated the exact same conversation 4 times over the remaining 2km, with the commentator even claiming the GPS must be wrong when they were in the last tunnel, because the gap hadn't changed.

Lol
I guess there is one thing very few can rival when it comes to commentary, and that's his ability to read a race

 

[DFA123]

Yep, I found it interesting, because I think most people would have thought Yates was probably favourite at that point given his sprint finish. But Contador was adamant that even though he was closing in, it was still a very big gap to close. Maybe he was having flash backs to Angliru

 

[Red Rick]

I think it's pretty clear that once you get through the tunnel you've burned through any reserve you have so it's not like you can close a gap easy cause you've still got something left.

I think he might have had flashbacks of trying to bring Anton back and getting bringing the gap down like 5s in the final kilometer that day.

 

[Koronin]

Re:

Contador made a great call on the commentary today, basically called Froome as the winner with 2km to go. When they were going into the tunnels near the top the lead commentator was getting really excited and started saying how Adam Yates (he's called him Adam at some point every single day of the race so far - and you guys think Kirby is bad!) will be ahead by the time they exit the tunnels.

Contador said, no he won't, and that 5 seconds is a huge gap to close on towards the end of a climb like this. The commentator and Contador then both repeated the exact same conversation 4 times over the remaining 2km, with the commentator even claiming the GPS must be wrong when they were in the last tunnel, because the gap hadn't changed.

So that's what they were saying. I wish my Spanish was better. I guess that just maybe if I listen to it enough it'll get better? If nothing else we've now conclusively proven that Contador is one of the best at reading a race (I think most of us already knew this) and even know that he's retired is still very good at reading races.


As for the comments about his riding/commentating and parenting, is it really that different from riders who start families while they're still active and are gone for half the year racing?

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

As for the comments about his riding/commentating and parenting, is it really that different from riders who start families while they're still active and are gone for half the year racing?

It isn't, but you'd expect his priorities to be different from those of a still active rider. He doesn't have to ride his bike for 3 hours a day (not saying he shouldn't)

 

[SHAD0W93]

I mean, as long as it works for him and his wife and they are happy that is all that matters. As time goes by he will most likely ride less as he gets out of the competitive mentality.

If anything it shows how he is able to plan his day to be with his family and other commitments.

 

[Serpentin]

Re: Re:

I'm seriously impressed that Berto still finds time to ride his bike 3 hours a day, even though he's commentating on Eurosport for 5 hours a day and has a 1 month old baby at home.
That's true passion

Also, I'm just posting this cause I freaking love that kit (and one post closer to 50k)

Or questionable parenting

jkjk

If you work full time you are away from home 10 hours a day. 3 hours on the bike is nothing