Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[ferryman]

Contador has spoken. Game on.

 

[peloton]

Contador has spoken. Game on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WNs03Vovt4w

 

[peloton]

Contador has spoken. Game on.

He'll be ready.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WNs03Vovt4w

 

[airstream]

What it means my little trolling buddy is that Alberto will do what he has to do to win the race, he won't rely on anyone elses form or tactics. "When my legs are okay" is the key phrase that's had everyone worried since Alberto hit the scene, when his legs are okay, he's almost unbeatable, roll on july!!

No, SiriusCat. A rider [no matter how strong he is] is responsible only for his form and can not guarantee that his 100% will be better than other's 100%. Hence sooner or later any fighter gets beaten by a stronger one. You will be convinced of this

 

[Cimber]

No, SiriusCat. A rider [no matter how strong he is] is responsible only for his form and can not guarantee that his 100% will be better than other's 100%. Hence sooner or later any fighter gets beaten by a stronger one. You will be convinced of this

This is very true, BUT what Contador said between the lines was "if I get myself to 100% I dont have to worry about Froome and Wiggins cos then I am simply better them them".

But really we shouldnt write a thesis about that interview. Really what is shows is that he is confident, which is good.

 

[airstream]

"if I get myself to 100% I dont have to worry about Froome and Wiggins cos then I am simply better them them".

Did he really add that? Hm, very strange, Contador never talked about opponents in such a derogatory self-condident fashion. It is very interesting.

 

[Cimber]

First the underlined part

This is very true, BUT what Contador said between the lines was "if I get myself to 100% I dont have to worry about Froome and Wiggins cos then I am simply better them them".

But really we shouldnt write a thesis about that interview. Really what is shows is that he is confident, which is good.

Did he really add that? Hm, very strange, Contador never talked about opponents in such a derogatory self-condident fashion. It is very interesting.

Second: yes that is very rare, which is why we have talked so much about this interview.

But as I also added: if u boil it down it simply shows that he feels confident

 

[Contadoraus Schlecks]

First the underlined part





Second: yes that is very rare, which is why we have talked so much about this interview.

But as I also added: if u boil it down it simply shows that he feels confident

Or that he is trying to project confidence

 

[Cimber]

Or that he is trying to project confidence

Could be, but usally he is not a guy who does that. In any case its very rare that he says stuff like that. If it real confidence or not time will tell. But usually what he says is more in the line with "we have to wait and see etc"

 

[Cimber]

A Q&A session with Contador where there a a few interesting thing. Fx:

Respuesta: Al final, un poco por mis características como corredor, soy un ciclista atacante y realmente es eso lo que me gusta y lo que me motiva. Es verdad que hay carreras que lo más inteligente sería hacerlo de otra manera, tal como se está viendo en los últimos tiempos, porque cada vez está todo más medido y hay que calcular más, pero atacar es una forma de correr que me motiva más que ser conservador.

Respuesta: Sin duda el principal cambio es el entrenamiento basado en los vatios. Prácticamente todos los profesionales trabajan con potenciómetro porque es un dato más objetivo. Independientemente de la fatiga que tengas en el cuerpo, 300 o 400 vatios siempre van a ser eso, ya estés más o menos cansado. En cambio, la frecuencia cardíaca baja con el cansancio. Esa es la diferencia. Luego cada uno aplica sus series, las horas de entrenamiento que considera convenientes, etc. En cuanto al Sky, tiene un método muy sofisticado, una muy buena programación, pasan muchísimos días concentrados en altura fuera de casa y han conseguido tener un buen rendimiento, pero tampoco es un entrenamiento que difiera mucho respecto al resto


http://www.biciciclismo.com/cas/site/noticias-ficha.asp?id=62539

 

[JRanton]

Could be, but usally he is not a guy who does that. In any case its very rare that he says stuff like that. If it real confidence or not time will tell. But usually what he says is more in the line with "we have to wait and see etc"

Exactly. Which is why I made my initial comment about it being out of character.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Exactly. Which is why I made my initial comment about it being out of character.

Exactly, which means he is either confident he doesn't need to lower expectations or feels the need to play mind games. So he's really good or really bad. I think the former is a bit more likely but I won't rule out the latter

 

[Dutchsmurf]

Exactly, which means he is either confident he doesn't need to lower expectations or feels the need to play mind games. So he's really good or really bad. I think the former is a bit more likely but I won't rule out the latter

I'm leaning towards the latter. Contador in shape always talks himself down.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

Velasco is afraid and he know how bad he has become, he is just trying to talk himself up.

 

[JimPanzen]

Velasco is afraid and he know how bad he has become, he is just trying to talk himself up.

He often talked himself down before small "preparation" races, but I can't remember him doing that before a grand tour. Let's wait and see how "bad" he has become...

 

[LaFlorecita]

I'm leaning towards the latter. Contador in shape always talks himself down.

So does Contador not in shape

 

[Publicus]

I think there is a fair amount of projection going on here with Contador's statement. As I read it, he's making a non-controversial statement that if his legs are good, he's not worried about Froome. He didn't say his legs were good or declare that he wasn't worried about Froome. If he had made either of those two statements, then I could see the trash talking/bravado angle. I expect we'll hear just before the TdF that he is unsure of his form/his training was good/Froome is the big threat or man to beat (along with Purito, Valverde, Schleck, etc).

This seems like vintage Contador to me.

 

[sacrifice&hardwork]

I think there is a fair amount of projection going on here with Contador's statement. As I read it, he's making a non-controversial statement that if his legs are good, he's not worried about Froome. He didn't say his legs were good or declare that he wasn't worried about Froome. If he had made either of those two statements, then I could see the trash talking/bravado angle. I expect we'll hear just before the TdF that he is unsure of his form/his training was good/Froome is the big threat or man to beat (along with Purito, Valverde, Schleck, etc).

This seems like vintage Contador to me.

Well yes, exactly! Don't know if any of you kind people actually listen to the radio interview but Pedro Delgado (who was also there with Alberto) asked Alberto: "¿quien te preocupa mas de los dos, Wiggins o Froome?" ["Who are you most worry about, Wiggins or Froome?"] And Alberto said: "Froome. La verdad lo que me preocupa mas que todo son mis piernas, eso con diferencia, si mis piernas estan bien, la verdad que no me preocupa ninguno de los dos." ["Froome. Really, what I'm more worry of are my legs, without a doubt, if my legs are good, then really I'm not worry about either of the two."] And that's all he said about this topic. He didn't even wanted to answer, when asked, on how was his form, etc and just said that he doesn't like to give out stuff like this away. So really, it's just the same old Contador

 

[xrayvision]

I think it has do with a new approach. He been used to managing his own training, scheduled his entire season as he wanted to, and now it all been laid in Bjarnes hands. Riis have for a long time wanted him to prepare differently than he was used to, and this season he had his will.

I´m pretty sure we will see a fit for fight and confident Alberto in Dauphine, and to me it sounds he has reasons for his confidence. He will remove all doubts in 10 days time, and we will all have something to look forward to the 29th of june.

EDIT: Except air of course.

 

[Carols]

Well yes, exactly! Don't know if any of you kind people actually listen to the radio interview but Pedro Delgado (who was also there with Alberto) asked Alberto: "¿quien te preocupa mas de los dos, Wiggins o Froome?" ["Who are you most worry about, Wiggins or Froome?"] And Alberto said: "Froome. La verdad lo que me preocupa mas que todo son mis piernas, eso con diferencia, si mis piernas estan bien, la verdad que no me preocupa ninguno de los dos." ["Froome. Really, I'mwhat more worry of are my legs, without a doubt, if my legs are good, then really I'm not worry about either of the two."] And that's all he said about this topic. He didn't even wanted to answer, when asked, on how was his form, etc and just said that he doesn't like to give out stuff like this away. So really, it's just the same old Contador

All these folks hanging on 1/2 a quote. I never read the 1/2 quote any other way than 'If My Legs Are Good'. There was never anything to indicate how his legs felt and 'what I'm more worried of are my legs' isn't inspiring. I'd have liked 'My legs are Good, hopefully they stay that way' a lot better.

 

[Cimber]

Well yes, exactly! Don't know if any of you kind people actually listen to the radio interview but Pedro Delgado (who was also there with Alberto) asked Alberto: "¿quien te preocupa mas de los dos, Wiggins o Froome?" ["Who are you most worry about, Wiggins or Froome?"] And Alberto said: "Froome. La verdad lo que me preocupa mas que todo son mis piernas, eso con diferencia, si mis piernas estan bien, la verdad que no me preocupa ninguno de los dos." ["Froome. Really, what I'm more worry of are my legs, without a doubt, if my legs are good, then really I'm not worry about either of the two."] And that's all he said about this topic. He didn't even wanted to answer, when asked, on how was his form, etc and just said that he doesn't like to give out stuff like this away. So really, it's just the same old Contador

Still, as I have written earlier what he is essentially saying is that if his legs are good then hé doesnt have to worry about Froome, i.e if he hits his 100% form then hé is simply stronger than Froome. The real question is if he is able to reach 100%. We havent seen it for a while

 

[xrayvision]

All these folks hanging on 1/2 a quote. I never read the 1/2 quote any other way than 'If My Legs Are Good'. There was never anything to indicate how his legs felt and 'what I'm more worried of are my legs' isn't inspiring. I'd have liked 'My legs are Good, hopefully they stay that way' a lot better.

His legs are not supposed to feel that good...yet Carol.
Have faith in that Riis and AC knows what they doing, so far from what I´ve seen, the team is looking pretty good and prepared, not anything like the early season.
We will see some truth the coming week.

 

[Jelantik]

Hm i don't know. It's definitely out of his character. But I won't read it too much on that. He is a racer with heart of a champion. So, he won't show up just to lay down and play dead to Froome. So we probably are the one who has too high of a hope for him, and expecting good means he'll destroy his opponents.

If you take a look Contador preban and post band, the changes that happens on him is interesting. I'm not talking about his strength, but more about him as a person. Before the ban, in my opinion, he was more insecure, more inclusive to his spanish circles, he also projected more about himself, judging from his pistol icon showed up on his team bike. Why is this matter. If i can recall, none of the GT winner or champions has their icon on their team material. Riders usually get a stripe of colors for winning GT, or world champion, but the least they got their "nickname". Anyway, that's why i thought it has some significance on how he branded himself within his team.

Fast forward, post ban, I saw him a lot more mature, a lot more confidence, a lot more relax, a lot more open in my opinion compare to before. From his interview, during the race, he shows more and more about his team mate (maybe before he did too, we just never see it publicly. Thanks to twitter I guess) and more about his team. Last vuelta, if I'm not mistaken, I didn't see any pistol icon on his bike anymore, and so far this year too. I might be wrong, but my point is, to me this is a sign that he is less about branding himself within his team, and he shows more publicly that he is part of the team and it's all about the team. Or maybe Bjarne played role on that, I don't know. (but i can't be 100% about the pistol icon on the bike, we'll see if the icon ends up still on the bike). If it does, then this point is false . But i just thought it's always interesting when a team sport that's supposed to be all about team, has a rider brand himself differently than the rest of the team. Not that it's anything wrong, it just kinda defeat the purpose of 'team' idea, you know… there's no "i" on the 'team'? (Projected outside of the team is fine, but not inside the team.)..okay back to my rumbling opinion..

One thing that's strike the most is from one of his coming back interview (might be in youtube), he mentioned that his perpective about his life in cycling isn't about 'all about cycling anymore'. He said, that cycling is only part of life and there's a lot more other than cycling. This to me, is kind of a glimpse of his look on how he sees his career moving forward and how he wants to take it from now on. Certainly, it sounded more a mature look to me.His trouble has definitely shaped his thinking and his look on his life in cycling and in general. One thing that doesn't change is that he still loves to compete and win. (And we still witness that to this day). Maybe this time around, he won't win it with his sure brute of strength and dominating performance plus his signature's sting attack, but maybe with a combination of strength and more calculated, strategic and smart move. Contador might not be the strongest guy in La Vuelta, but he did won it, because he was smarter and he outwitted his opponent.

So yes, we've seen him this year and our head was full with his replay of his dominating past performance and understandably, we expected that he'll decimate the field like years before. Just to our disappointment, he did none of it. Then we started to say he sucks, he would be beaten by Froome, and endless of thought and doubts start to take center of our discussion whenever we mention about him. But we must not forget, in 6 months of his absence, cycling has changed a lot. The technology changes as well as his opponent. New breed of challenger arises and new approches in science has emerged. Every race we found new revelations. But a great champion always manages to adapt.

So this is a Contador v.2.0. He might not be dominating as in the past. But he is surely be up there to challenge Froome. Every champion always has his nemesis. He might not be winning with his style like in the past, but maybe he'll win it with sheer wit, smart and strategic move combine with his signature attacking style. After all, a great champion always adapts. Winning might not be come as easy as it used to be for him, but we would be surely treated with a great race. He is a real racer, and he 'makes' the race exciting.

And finally, this is just some personal observation from some one who's not even a psychologist

 

[contessador]

Hm i don't know. It's definitely out of his character. But I won't read it too much on that. He is a racer with heart of a champion. So, he won't show up just to lay down and play dead to Froome. So we probably are the one who has too high of a hope for him, and expecting good means he'll destroy his opponents.

If you take a look Contador preban and post band, the changes that happens on him is interesting. I'm not talking about his strength, but more about him as a person. Before the ban, in my opinion, he was more insecure, more inclusive to his spanish circles, he also projected more about himself, judging from his pistol icon showed up on his team bike. Why is this matter. If i can recall, none of the GT winner or champions has their icon on their team material. Riders usually get a stripe of colors for winning GT, or world champion, but the least they got their "nickname". Anyway, that's why i thought it has some significance on how he branded himself within his team.

Fast forward, post ban, I saw him a lot more mature, a lot more confidence, a lot more relax, a lot more open in my opinion compare to before. From his interview, during the race, he shows more and more about his team mate (maybe before he did too, we just never see it publicly. Thanks to twitter I guess) and more about his team. Last vuelta, if I'm not mistaken, I didn't see any pistol icon on his bike anymore, and so far this year too. I might be wrong, but my point is, to me this is a sign that he is less about branding himself within his team, and he shows more publicly that he is part of the team and it's all about the team. Or maybe Bjarne played role on that, I don't know. (but i can't be 100% about the pistol icon on the bike, we'll see if the icon ends up still on the bike). If it does, then this point is false . But i just thought it's always interesting when a team sport that's supposed to be all about team, has a rider brand himself differently than the rest of the team. Not that it's anything wrong, it just kinda defeat the purpose of 'team' idea, you know… there's no "i" on the 'team'? ..okay back to my rumbling opinion..

One thing that's strike the most is from one of his coming back interview (might be in youtube), he mentioned that his perpective about his life in cycling isn't about 'all about cycling anymore'. He said, that cycling is only part of life and there's a lot more other than cycling. This to me, is kind of a glimpse of his look on how he sees his career moving forward and how he wants to take it from now on. Certainly, it sounded more a mature look to me.His trouble has definitely shaped his thinking and his look on his life in cycling and in general. One thing that doesn't change is that he still loves to compete and win. (And we still witness that to this day). Maybe this time around, he won't win it with his sure brute of strength and his signature's sting attack, but maybe with a combination of strength and more calculated, strategic and smart move. Contador might not be a strongest guy in La Vuelta, but he did won it, because he was smarter and he outwitted his opponent.

So yes, we've seen him this year and our head was full with his replay of his dominating past performance and understandably, we expected that he'll decimate the field like years before. Just to our disappointment, he did none of it. Then we started to say he sucks, he would be beaten by Froome, and endless of thought and doubts start to take center of our discussion whenever we mention about him. But we must not forget, in 6 months of his absence, cycling has changed a lot. The technology changes as well as his opponent. New breed of challenger arises and new approches in science has emerged. Every race we found new revelations. But great champion always manages to adapt.

So this is a Contador v.2.0. He might not be dominating as in the past. But he is surely be up there to challenge Froome. Every champion always has his nemesis. He might not be winning with his style like in the past, but maybe he'll win it with sheer wit, smart and a strategic move combine with his signature attacking style. After all, a great champion always adapts. Winning might not be come as easy as it used to be for him, but we would be surely treated .
with a great race. He is a real racer, and he 'makes' the race exciting
And finally, this is just some personal observation from some one who's not even a psychologist

Enjoyed your post very much and I agree whole-heartedly. Not a psychologist either but Contador has morphed into something different. Maybe it began before the actual ban - he lost that 2011 TdF but there was pure heart and soul in his performance in the end. He is out to enjoy every minute and we get to see him!

 

[LaFlorecita]

Hm i don't know. It's definitely out of his character. But I won't read it too much on that. He is a racer with heart of a champion. So, he won't show up just to lay down and play dead to Froome. So we probably are the one who has too high of a hope for him, and expecting good means he'll destroy his opponents.

If you take a look Contador preban and post band, the changes that happens on him is interesting. I'm not talking about his strength, but more about him as a person. Before the ban, in my opinion, he was more insecure, more inclusive to his spanish circles, he also projected more about himself, judging from his pistol icon showed up on his team bike. Why is this matter. If i can recall, none of the GT winner or champions has their icon on their team material. Riders usually get a stripe of colors for winning GT, or world champion, but the least they got their "nickname". Anyway, that's why i thought it has some significance on how he branded himself within his team.

Fast forward, post ban, I saw him a lot more mature, a lot more confidence, a lot more relax, a lot more open in my opinion compare to before. From his interview, during the race, he shows more and more about his team mate (maybe before he did too, we just never see it publicly. Thanks to twitter I guess) and more about his team. Last vuelta, if I'm not mistaken, I didn't see any pistol icon on his bike anymore, and so far this year too. I might be wrong, but my point is, to me this is a sign that he is less about branding himself within his team, and he shows more publicly that he is part of the team and it's all about the team. Or maybe Bjarne played role on that, I don't know. (but i can't be 100% about the pistol icon on the bike, we'll see if the icon ends up still on the bike). If it does, then this point is false . But i just thought it's always interesting when a team sport that's supposed to be all about team, has a rider brand himself differently than the rest of the team. Not that it's anything wrong, it just kinda defeat the purpose of 'team' idea, you know… there's no "i" on the 'team'? ..okay back to my rumbling opinion..

One thing that's strike the most is from one of his coming back interview (might be in youtube), he mentioned that his perpective about his life in cycling isn't about 'all about cycling anymore'. He said, that cycling is only part of life and there's a lot more other than cycling. This to me, is kind of a glimpse of his look on how he sees his career moving forward and how he wants to take it from now on. Certainly, it sounded more a mature look to me.His trouble has definitely shaped his thinking and his look on his life in cycling and in general. One thing that doesn't change is that he still loves to compete and win. (And we still witness that to this day). Maybe this time around, he won't win it with his sure brute of strength and dominating performance plus his signature's sting attack, but maybe with a combination of strength and more calculated, strategic and smart move. Contador might not be a strongest guy in La Vuelta, but he did won it, because he was smarter and he outwitted his opponent.

So yes, we've seen him this year and our head was full with his replay of his dominating past performance and understandably, we expected that he'll decimate the field like years before. Just to our disappointment, he did none of it. Then we started to say he sucks, he would be beaten by Froome, and endless of thought and doubts start to take center of our discussion whenever we mention about him. But we must not forget, in 6 months of his absence, cycling has changed a lot. The technology changes as well as his opponent. New breed of challenger arises and new approches in science has emerged. Every race we found new revelations. But a great champion always manages to adapt.

So this is a Contador v.2.0. He might not be dominating as in the past. But he is surely be up there to challenge Froome. Every champion always has his nemesis. He might not be winning with his style like in the past, but maybe he'll win it with sheer wit, smart and strategic move combine with his signature attacking style. After all, a great champion always adapts. Winning might not be come as easy as it used to be for him, but we would be surely treated with a great race. He is a real racer, and he 'makes' the race exciting.

And finally, this is just some personal observation from some one who's not even a psychologist

Great post. I completely agree but it makes me sad. A little.