Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[webbie146]

As you are so ****ing confident,do you want an avatar bet of Contador/Froome winning le Tour?


As for Froome as best rival,I think Andy in 2010 and Rassmussen in 2007 are better.Froome will never have climbing like this

Very true, +1

Then again we don't know how Froome's gonna perform this tdf so we gotta see.

 

[airstream]

As you are so ****ing confident,do you want an avatar bet of Contador/Froome winning le Tour?


As for Froome as best rival,I think Andy in 2010 and Rassmussen in 2007 are better.Froome will never have climbing like this

This cue is even more confident. Why? Froome's got all necessary elements. He's an excellent mountain sprinter which provides explosiveness of his punch. He's a great TTer which automatically means he's able to ride uphill in a high steady tempo. That's it. His Tour Ospedale is a matter of the nearest future. His climbing manner is probably not so spectacar. I agree on that. But spectacle and strength always don't coincide.

 

[nick101]

As for Froome as best rival,I think Andy in 2010 and Rassmussen in 2007 are better.Froome will never have climbing like this

Totally agree about contador and his rivals. Froome isn't his toughest opponent by a long shot. lance was probably his toughest psychologically - he made the whole team ride against contador and drop him on a flat stage. Whereas in the 2010 schleck was his toughest physically - he only pulled that one off with schleck dropping his chain and an (un)lucky piece of steak.

froomes abilities are miles below Rasmussen, 2010 schleck and even lance (strategically). I have no clue who will win, but froome's climbing abilities are far inferior to all those mentioned, and even lance post comeback at times..

 

[Miburo]

Totally agree about contador and his rivals. Froome isn't his toughest opponent by a long shot. lance was probably his toughest psychologically - he made the whole team ride against contador and drop him on a flat stage. Whereas in the 2010 schleck was his toughest physically - he only pulled that one off with schleck dropping his chain and an (un)lucky piece of steak.

froomes abilities are miles below Rasmussen, 2010 schleck and even lance (strategically). I have no clue who will win, but froome's climbing abilities are far inferior to all those mentioned, and even lance post comeback at times..

Stop with writing incorrect stuff. Contador lost 20 seconds on a flat tire in the cobbles stage where he already got behind cause of a crash. Why is this never mentioned?

 

[airstream]

Very true, +1

Then again we don't know how Froome's gonna perform this tdf so we gotta see.

In short you prefer to rate Froome lower than Contador just based on the fact you didn't see him beating Contador in Grand Tours?

 

[nick101]

Stop with writing incorrect stuff. Contador lost 20 seconds on a flat tire in the cobbles stage where he already got behind cause of a crash. Why is this never mentioned?

because it wasn't significant and didn't affect the overall result. he wasn't placed well, his own fault but it didn't cost him much time. I'm pretty sure andy also punctured btw. both had mechanicals, schleck just had a particularly bad one

 

[ILovecycling]

This cue is even more confident. Why? Froome's got all necessary elements. He's an excellent mountain sprinter which provides explosiveness of his punch. He's a great TTer which automatically means he's able to ride uphill in a high steady tempo. That's it. His Tour Ospedale is a matter of the nearest future. His climbing manner is probably not so spectacar. I agree on that. But spectacle and strength always don't coincide.

No its not,and he hasnt.As his height is 1.86m he is not natural climber and as for accelaration (explosivness) he is nowhere near Andy and Rassmussen like i said before.He cant react on Contador(or Purito or someone explossive) attacks immediately.His TT is great thats true.

 

[ILovecycling]

In short you prefer to rate Froome lower than Contador just based on the fact you didn't see him beating Contador in Grand Tours?

Are you surprised?GT is tottaly different to other races,its about recovery and mental strenght too.

 

[nick101]

No its not,and he hasnt.As his height is 1.86m he is not natural climber and as for accelaration (explosivness) he is nowhere near Andy and Rassmussen like i said before.He cant react on Contador(or Purito or someone explossive) attacks immediately.His TT is great thats true.

he has a decent mountain sprint. even tho I strongly dislike froome and his bunch of girls at team sky, he does have an alright acceleration. 2011 vuelta a espana really impressed me with his attack. He's not really an explosive climber, more a pre 2006 basso.

 

[airstream]

No its not,and he hasnt.As his height is 1.86m he is not natural climber and as for accelaration (explosivness) he is nowhere near Andy and Rassmussen like i said before.He cant react on Contador(or Purito or someone explossive) attacks immediately.His TT is great thats true.

Hm at the expense of what he beat Evans and Contador in sprint then? Criterion of height is about nothing. There's a lot of tall guys in our generation (Andy 186, VanGarderen 185, Nibali 183, Taarmae 185, Hesjedal 188...). In fact their number is not less than number of medium height guys. And based on these numbers you offer to distinguish natural and unnatural climbers? He doesn't do this, because he always has teammates and it would be foolish to burn matches early. When he will be mano-to-mano, he'll catch them. Moverover, as we know, Froome doesn't like to catch anyone, he prefers to counter attack instantly.

 

[Netserk]

he has a decent mountain sprint. even tho I strongly dislike froome and his bunch of girls at team sky, he does have an alright acceleration. 2011 vuelta a espana really impressed me with his attack. He's not really an explosive climber, more a pre 2006 basso.

Evans also has a good mountain sprint. Doesn't change the fact that he is not a natural climber.

 

[ILovecycling]

Hm at the expense of what he beat Evans and Contador in sprint then?Criterion of height is about nothing. There's a lot of tall guys in our generation (Andy 186, VanGarderen 185, Nibali 183, Taarmae 185, Hesjedal 188...). In fact their number is not less than number of medium height guys. And based on these numbers you offer to distinguish natural and unnatural climbers? He doesn't do this, because he always has teammates and it would be foolish to burn matches early. When he will be mano-to-mano, he'll catch them. Moverover, as we know, Froome doesn't like to catch anyone, he prefers to counter attack instantly.

There is a difference between sprint and acceleration in attack.
I know there is a lot of tall guys,but look at them they are much more smoother than Froome(except Hesjedal,and TJVG he is not even a proper climber) thats why I dont call him a natural climber.

to the bolded: thats bs,he hasnt got an accelaration for it.

edit:what about that avatar bet?not confident anymore?

 

[LaFlorecita]

because it wasn't significant and didn't affect the overall result. he wasn't placed well, his own fault but it didn't cost him much time. I'm pretty sure andy also punctured btw. both had mechanicals, schleck just had a particularly bad one

Not significant? Of course it was.

 

[nick101]

Hm at the expense of what he beat Evans and Contador in sprint then? Criterion of height is about nothing. There's a lot of tall guys in our generation (Andy 186, VanGarderen 185, Nibali 183, Taarmae 185, Hesjedal 188...). In fact their number is not less than number of medium height guys. And based on these numbers you offer to distinguish natural and unnatural climbers? He doesn't do this, because he always has teammates and it would be foolish to burn matches early. When he will be mano-to-mano, he'll catch them. Moverover, as we know, Froome doesn't like to catch anyone, he prefers to counter attack instantly.

that's incorrect about froome counter attacking immediately. completely wrong. he usually hides behind his team mates and makes them do the work then puts in a sprint within a km to go. the criterium international has been the only the time he's attacked from more than a km out. the stage he won at the dauphine, there was nearly a minutes delay between him attacking and contador ending his acceleration.

evans can climb decent because of his past in mountain biking. he's won the fleche so definitely has a strong sprint. froome only beat evans because he was quite sick with a virus and was struggling badly by the end of the tour

 

[LaFlorecita]

No its not,and he hasnt.As his height is 1.86m he is not natural climber and as for accelaration (explosivness) he is nowhere near Andy and Rassmussen like i said before.He cant react on Contador(or Purito or someone explossive) attacks immediately.His TT is great thats true.

For some reason tall climbers always seem uncomfortable to me

 

[Siriuscat]

because it wasn't significant and didn't affect the overall result. he wasn't placed well, his own fault but it didn't cost him much time. I'm pretty sure andy also punctured btw. both had mechanicals, schleck just had a particularly bad one

But the chaingate 41 seconds are significant??? Every schleck fan on the planet has harped on about it since! If the wee boy can't change gear properly, why should people wait for him?

Make your choices for heavens sake, in 2010 Saxo and Cancellara in particular dictated the race in the early stages to ensure every advantage to Andy Schleck.

When the Bungle Boys fell off in the Ardennes Contador should have ridden like the wind and taken minutes out of them in full knowledge that Saxo would do the exact same on the cobbles the next day however the circumstances presented themselves.

Everybody took the relevant advantages where they could in 2010 except the Ardennes stage that Cancellara cancelled. Alls fair in battle.

 

[Taxus4a]

airstream wrote:
Contador never bumped into a rival like Froome.

Oh boy

Froome who came from zero to hero in under 1 year...

.

Click my sign, and you will see how that is a lie.
How you can say that airstream is trolling?
Then, what is what people as you are doing always?

 

[Pentacycle]

Froome was a MTB'er as well, before he started training on a road bike in SA, so he first started out as a pure climber before finding out he was a pretty decent ITT'er. And judging his capabilities, he's actually a rider who first has to find a rythm uphill and in ITT's, before his big enine turns on. He doesn't like accelerations from early out, which is why the train works for him so well.

This could be valuable knowledge for Contador, who's known as a rider always ready to attack at unexpected moments. An attack like the one to Gap in 2011, on a relatively short climb combined with horrible weather, could cost Froome dearly. An almost similar stage is included this year, but the weather's crucial for such an attack to succeed.

 

[Netserk]

I wouldn't call Manse a short climb...

 

[Pentacycle]

I wouldn't call Manse a short climb...

Relatively short climb Still heavy, but it's no 20+ kms.

 

[Netserk]

So Alpe d'Huez is almost a short climb?

 

[nick101]

Froome was a MTB'er as well, before he started training on a road bike in SA, so he first started out as a pure climber before finding out he was a pretty decent ITT'er. And judging his capabilities, he's actually a rider who first has to find a rythm uphill and in ITT's, before his big enine turns on. He doesn't like accelerations from early out, which is why the train works for him so well.

This could be valuable knowledge for Contador, who's known as a rider always ready to attack at unexpected moments. An attack like the one to Gap in 2011, on a relatively short climb combined with horrible weather, could cost Froome dearly. An almost similar stage is included this year, but the weather's crucial for such an attack to succeed.

yeah I remember froome being a mountain biker, but pure climber initially? certainly not. he was more of a keg on wheels and only lost weight in 2011. plus evans was professional? or racing at a high level when he was mtb'ing. as far as I remember froome wasn't pro maybe only recreational
you can see froome certainly wasn't a climber in 2010:
http://cyclingweekly.media.ipcdigital.co.uk/11141/000003945/1dbb_orh100000w575/giro-2010-st10-HENDERSON-FROOME.jpg

 

[Pentacycle]

So Alpe d'Huez is almost a short climb?

Alpe d'Huez is no long climb, compared to Galibier f/e. I wasn't calling Manse or Alpe hills, why the nitpicking?

 

[Publicus]

Firstly, it would be very kind of you if you stop louting. Drivel you've posted here for last 2 years might become a subject of separate thread, however people handle you peacefully.

He said that only about San Luis and explained that with the late start of pre- season training preparation. Before TA and PV he was saying he was ready to win.

It seems inner ring disagrees with you and others on AC's approach this year:

http://inrng.com/2013/03/tirreno-adriatico-preview/

*Unlike the last couple of years, Contador is now very focused on not peaking before the Tour. He started out a couple of kilos heavier that normally and that was probably why he couldn’t shake the peloton as he normally does in Tour of Oman. I think Contador will be a lot better already and I would be surprised not to see him on the final podium.

 

[airstream]

Are you surprised?GT is tottaly different to other races,its about recovery and mental strenght too.

No. I'm not surprised that Froome is #1 favorite. If he had recovery problems and absence of great perfomances in GTs, I would agree with you but... You kind of oppose 5 (7) Contador titles and Froome's zero and make your conclusion based on that.

I agree Contador will very likely win the Tour by means of big experience if they will approximately equal, but if he's worse, no experience will save him from Froome' beast power.

IMO you confuse visual impression and power a bit. Yes, Froome appears to be not very attractive on the bike and dances not very often, unlike Contador, Schleck or Rasmussen, but when this guy pedals 39x20 with a rabid frequency (65-70 turnovers/min), it's just crazy. And Froome can drop anyone even in the saddle since he supplies himself with energy in an absolutely outstanding way.