Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[veganrob]

Can't believe i have to say this again, you knosw..praise velasco... contador is a abit of fighter so if he has not decline, pressure from the boss will not be a problem.

I think you are correct to a point Zam. 09 TdF shows how mentally tough AC is under adverse conditions. He would much rather let his legs to the talking however and does not deserve the BS from Tinkov either, Who I think is a tool of the highest order.
Lets just hope Alberto is in superb condtion and dispel the critics and naysayers.

 

[Miburo]

And as we saw last year that's not a good idea.

Like adding more pressure will affect contador on a negative way. He had one of his best years under the most pressure you can imagine (2009).

Actually i recently watched a movie called armstrong lie i think. And in that movie Bruyneel was really ****ed off when Contador attacked in the tour 2009 when kloden dropped and frank won the stage.

It was funny cause a few minutes before Contador's attack Bruyneel asked him to not attack.

 

[Publicus]

@olegtinkov: Disappointed to be 4th on TTT for @tinkoff_saxo , but seeing from the car, how @albertocontador was pulling, I'm confident in his GC result.

Well that's good to know and explains things a bit

 

[perico]

I don't see it as pressure. After last year's debacle between Tinky and Bertie, I think it speaks well that Oleg has confidence in Contador's form. He's not exactly one for positive reinforcement, so I take it that he's pleased with how Alberto is progressing thus far.

 

[ILovecycling]

He's putting pressure on Contador to perform. That's all it is.

i know,all rusians do that,personal experience

 

[Publicus]

I don't see it as pressure. After last year's debacle between Tinky and Bertie, I think it speaks well that Oleg has confidence in Contador's form. He's not exactly one for positive reinforcement, so I take it that he's pleased with how Alberto is progressing thus far.

It certainly jives with what Contador said about his own sensations after the stage.

“I’m happy with how I feel physically, it’s quite good in spite of this being a completely flat time trial, and that’s the most important thing,” he said. “Maybe there were teams with more powerful riders than ours, and in certain sections of the time trial they were able to get a margin, but the truth as I saw it is that the team did very well and is strong, and I think that we’ll do a great Tirreno-Adriatico,” concluded the leader of Tinkoff-Saxo.

 

[Jelantik]

Well that's good to know and explains things a bit

@olegtinkov: Disappointed to be 4th on TTT for @tinkoff_saxo , but seeing from the car, how @albertocontador was pulling, I'm confident in his GC result.

so the finish video isn't really showing that Contador was struggling? well, that's good. But tinkoff twitter is really opposite from what kreuziger, roche and contador thought about how the TTT went.

Interesting. This is probably just the beginning of the many headache having Oleg as a boss. He expects nothing but winning. Ufff... it's huge pressure for the boys to win. P-N team GC already gone out the window with majka lost 4 minutes, breschel out and Sorenson can't put himself high enough. So TA team gotta perform now.

 

[Publicus]

so the finish video isn't really showing that Contador was struggling? well, that's good. But tinkoff twitter is really opposite from what kreuziger, roche and contador thought about how the TTT went.

Interesting. This is probably just the beginning of the many headache having Oleg as a boss. He expects nothing but winning. Ufff... it's huge pressure for the boys to win. P-N team GC already gone out the window with majka lost 4 minutes, breschel out and Sorenson can't put himself high enough. So TA team gotta perform now.

I think the struggle at the end was real, but the reason was likely him doing monster pulls earlier during the stage. I didn't see what Roche and Roman had to say about the TTT.

EDIT: I think understand what you are saying better now (I misunderstood before).

 

[Jelantik]

I didn't see what Roche and Roman had to say about the TTT.

Nicholas Roche ‏@nicholasroche Mar 12
@tinkoff_saxo i think a good ttt!

Roman Kreuziger ‏@Roman86_K Mar 12
Ok we didn't won @tinkoff_saxo ,arrived 4th..but I can tell you...we went very very fast!!!congrats to @opqscyclingteam

Kreuziger didn't necessarily said good TTT, but despite loosing he thought they already went fast (but not fast enough )

 

[Jelantik]

He doesn't need it .. he puts enough pressure on himself. .. pressure from Tinkov - do NOT want

+1. Few years back when he was really on the top of his career as far as strength and form, pressure means nothing to him. Because he got his leg to answer that. This year, he just comes off from a disappointing year, even most people in this forum already made him sound like he is dead . It's easier to face pressure even in the form of crazy Oleg, if he has a year like his golden years. But right now, he is still searching a confirmation of his form and his confidence. Pressure from his boss isn't not really something that he is looking forward.

Even I'm at the edge of my seat watching this T-A. Wondering how his form now after he said that he had good winter, and he got good "S". Weekend doesn't come soon enough

 

[LaFlorecita]

So annoying that Saxo can never keep Contador at the front when it matters.

 

[Netserk]

So annoying that Saxo can never keep Contador at the front when it matters.

Contador is also partly at fault for that.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Contador is also partly at fault for that.

Why?

123456

 

[peloton]

Why?

123456

He doesn't stay behind his team, but rides around in the bunch.

One of his ex team mates a few years ago said how difficult it was to protect him because of that.

 

[LaFlorecita]

He doesn't stay behind his team, but rides around in the bunch.

One of his ex team mates a few years ago said how difficult it was to protect him because of that.

He just loses his teammate's wheel.

 

[EnacheV]

He is not at fault, i think it's normal to lose a few seconds to Sagan (Kwiatkowski is another thing, will talk about him after i see how good is at climbing mountains).

The fault is organizers that design this kind of ****ty routes afraid that some climber can shatter the GC

You know a race is ****ty when a climber can't hope to recover 30 seconds from a TTT and few punchy stages.

He should have gone directly to Catalunya.

 

[peloton]

He just loses his teammate's wheel.

That too.

Iirc it was one of his Astana team mates back in the days who said that (how difficult it was to protect him)

 

[GJB123]

I don't think it would have made a whole lot of difference unless he would have been in the wheel of Bennati. I got the distinct impression that Bennati had a free role in his home town and was free to have shot a stage victory.

I just think AC doesn't have the explosiveness or the punch to live with the guys like Sagan, Gilbert and apparently Kwia. Add to that the very tight and twisty nature of the final kilometer and you lose a little time very easily. Look at the other GC contenders like Uran, Quintana, Evans (who can be quite explosive mind you), Porte, etc. all lost time to the guys dicing for stage victory. No reason to cry wolf in this case.

 

[Netserk]

He just loses his teammate's wheel.

Way too easily.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Way too easily.

Yep, but that's just him.

 

[LaFlorecita]

He is not at fault, i think it's normal to lose a few seconds to Sagan (Kwiatkowski is another thing, will talk about him after i see how good is at climbing mountains).

The fault is organizers that design this kind of ****ty routes afraid that some climber can shatter the GC

You know a race is ****ty when a climber can't hope to recover 30 seconds from a TTT and few punchy stages.

He should have gone directly to Catalunya.

It's the TTT that does it. 26s is already a huge gap to bridge.

 

[Jspear]

He is not at fault, i think it's normal to lose a few seconds to Sagan (Kwiatkowski is another thing, will talk about him after i see how good is at climbing mountains).

The fault is organizers that design this kind of ****ty routes afraid that some climber can shatter the GC

You know a race is ****ty when a climber can't hope to recover 30 seconds from a TTT and few punchy stages.

He should have gone directly to Catalunya.

Why couldn't he recover 30 seconds between Saturday and Sunday?

 

[Publicus]

Why couldn't he recover 30 seconds between Saturday and Sunday?

He'll need a lot more than 30" to have a cushion to offset Kwiatkowski's expected gains on the final ITT. Not impossible, but it's going to take him, along with other climbers, putting Kwiatkowski into a deep hole.

 

[Rollthedice]

It's the TTT that does it. 26s is already a huge gap to bridge.

I see it's 36 sec. Am I wrong?

 

[Cyivel]

I see it's 36 sec. Am I wrong?

extra 10 is from today, bonus and time gap.