Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[burning]

his level wasn't that high. Sure he was great but come on he beat a 24 year old Andy Schleck by 4 minutes in the tour. That's not out of this world.

He beat him by 4 minutes because there were only 3 or 4 deciding stages in whole tour, 2009 route was a complete joke. Put Contador against Andy in 2011 Giro route with 2009 form, the result would be completely different

Btw: Andy and Cobo would be good candidates for Lanterne Rouge, nothing more nothing less

 

[LaFlorecita]

"@dnlbenson: Just spoke to Contador. He's 100 per cent for the Tour and WILL NOT do the Giro this year."

Good news

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

"@dnlbenson: Just spoke to Contador. He's 100 per cent for the Tour and WILL NOT do the Giro this year."

Good news

Good new for Gesink

 

[El Pistolero]

Good new for Gesink

Are Wiggins and Nibali not riding the Giro anymore?

 

[Forunculo]

I hope Tour-Vuelta-Worlds

And that's the reason why he is so off-form. At least I hope

 

[LaFlorecita]

I hope Tour-Vuelta-Worlds

And that's the reason why he is so off-form. At least I hope

Yea I hope he will do that. Otherwise being so out of shape doesn't make any sense.

 

[The Hitch]

Like i always said

At the end of the day i think its good news, even though part of me wanted to see him at the giro, this year the tour is by far the most important for him

But i hope to god he does worlds after this. Please please please.

 

[The Hitch]

Yea I hope he will do that. Otherwise being so out of shape doesn't make any sense.

yes it does. Nibs goal is 2 months earlier and he is in even worse shape

 

[El Pistolero]

Yea I hope he will do that. Otherwise being so out of shape doesn't make any sense.

It's January. He normally never races in January except in 2012 because he knew he was about to get banned. Do you really think that in 20 years of now someone will remember what he did outside the GTs? Unless he wins a Monument or WC road race the answer is simply no.

 

[Pentacycle]

Are Wiggins and Nibali not riding the Giro anymore?

No, the good news for Gesink is that he probably bet some money on Contador not riding the Giro. Must've earned him a lot.

 

[Flamin]

I hope Tour-Vuelta-Worlds

And that's the reason why he is so off-form. At least I hope

Exactly. And the same applies to Nibali and Valverde for instance (worlds).

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Are Wiggins and Nibali not riding the Giro anymore?

They don't stand a chance

 

[LaFlorecita]

No, the good news for Gesink is that he probably bet some money on Contador not riding the Giro. Must've earned him a lot.

Or maybe he put money on Alberto winning le Tour or wiggo winning il giro

 

[LaFlorecita]

Like i always said

At the end of the day i think its good news, even though part of me wanted to see him at the giro, this year the tour is by far the most important for him

But i hope to god he does worlds after this. Please please please.

You should contact him.

yes it does. Nibs goal is 2 months earlier and he is in even worse shape

But Alberto isn't Nibali

 

[LaFlorecita]

It's January. He normally never races in January except in 2012 because he knew he was about to get banned. Do you really think that in 20 years of now someone will remember what he did outside the GTs? Unless he wins a Monument or WC road race the answer is simply no.

What bothers me is not that he won't win Tour de San Luis, but that he seems to be incredibly out of shape.

 

[Miburo]

What bothers me is not that he won't win Tour de San Luis, but that he seems to be incredibly out of shape.

he's 5th in GC, pretty good for now.

T-A is still 6,7 weeks. More than enough time

 

[Afrank]

"@dnlbenson: Just spoke to Contador. He's 100 per cent for the Tour and WILL NOT do the Giro this year."

Good news

Too bad, I was hoping to see him destroy Wiggo in a race Wiggins was trying to win. He better do Vuelta-worlds.

 

[Angliru]

And you will boycot the Tour if your rider will not win??? Is it a real cycling fan's behaviour? uuuuu..

I will watch no matter the result is. The race itself is more important.

We'll be certain to hear from you with your whining of how "Contador raped my love of cycling" if he wins. I just want a competitive exciting race where there is a something more interesting happening in the gc than the intrasquad drama that was the Wiggins/Froome coupling. Had Froome won now that would've really been interesting.

Seriously though, I'll be watching regardless because I love the drama of the grand tours more than just the gc battle. I would just prefer to not suffer through another Tour of Wiggins time trialing his way to another Tour win with no opposition. You may be intrigued by the numbers/wattage/science behind the performance but I'm not really into the technical aspects in that respect. This year I was intrigued by Froome's performance, Pinot's and Vangarderen emergence as grand tour talents and Sagan's entertaining and dominant display.

Don't try to pretend that you don't have favorites like so many of us.

 

[serfla]

I'm disappointed.
I was really hoping to hear different decision.
This way neither TA will have the same significance, nor the other meeting points of the two.

Won't be malicious this time, but I'm sure all Contador's fans are aware of the opportunity (for maliciousness)... It's their manner.

 

[hfer07]

No rider will ever be at AC's 09 level. That type of power will never be seen again in the sport, quite rightly. He won't need anything like that level to be the best again.

I don't quite understand why people keep saying his best performance was in 09-specially in the Tour- I concede he did perform well at Algarve, but he faltered in P-R, did really good at Pais Vasco & held back in the Dauphine. So far-nothing out of this world - then the Tour: The only real threat to him was Bruyneel & LA sabotaging his race, but with all due respect-the Schleck sisters had no impact on him with that rather "easy" parcours.

IMO the 2011 Giro performance was ET-like, having in mind how brutal the terrain & the conditions the peloton had to endure.

 

[William H]

IMO the 2011 Giro performance was ET-like, having in mind how brutal the terrain & the conditions the peloton had to endure.

Tougher course means it's easier to pile on the time gaps, and the opposition was pretty mediocre. Tour winners are supposed to be able to put the Giro field to the sword if they target the race.

 

[Carols]

We'll never see Contador like 09 again - that was like concorde - but he could well be the best rider in the world again.

When do tell did he stop being the best rider in the world????

 

[Carols]

I'm Happy he isn't going to the Giro!!!! Focus on the Tour and if there is enough in the tank, do the Vuelta and Worlds

 

[airstream]

"@dnlbenson: Just spoke to Contador. He's 100 per cent for the Tour and WILL NOT do the Giro this year."

Good news

So we have confirmation of the opposite thing. With this form, telling about double was laughable.

 

[rhubroma]

So we have confirmation of the opposite thing. With this form, telling about double was laughable.

You just demonstated you know nothing about the sport. Why on earth would he, in Jan., be anywhere near good form, if he wanted to win 2 gcs?

The fact that he's no longer contemplating the Giro doesn't change that.

It now seems likely that he will try to win the Tour-Vuelta this year, which makes sense in light of the brutal Worlds in Tuscany in Oct. Unfortunately the Vuelta-Worlds being in succession, means that the former is an ideal platform for the later and this has diminished the incentive to ride both the Giro and the Tour for many big names.

On the other hand going for the win in both Tour and Vuelta, especially in light of the difficulty of this year's Spanish event, may leave him without the resources to be on top in the Worlds.