Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[Miburo]

I really don't know if Contador can even give Froome a run for his money. I doubt it unless he really has that giro 2011 form.

His form has been really good but tbh if this was the old Contador he would have crushed martin in the pais vasco ITT.

It's still alien Froome, DL will tell us more although you can't use it as the best indicator.

Btw it'll only come from Contador i think, nibali is dog**** atm.

 

[Jack_89]

The time trial is what worries me the most. Even in the best case scenario I think Contador would lose 1 minute. And of course if he time trials like last year he will lose 3-4.

There is no doubt he is closer to the Dawg on the climbing though.

I totally agree.

To make a good TT, he must lose at most 1m 30s / 2 min.

 

[Red Rick]

I'm surprised to hear that from you red rick, and Idk what you are basing it on 2011 vuelta he won the last gc stage. 2012 tour like you said he didn't get weaker (2nd on final mountain (behind break) and final tt).
2012 vuelta, can't read into someone losing form if it's the second of back to back gts.
2013 tour is the only one. But remember he had the gc wrapped up by 5 minutes and still won a stage in the final week.

In the 2011 Vuelta he got dropped hard on el Angliru. He finished in a group with Menchov who wasn't in great shape and with Wout Poels. Hardest climb of the race. It was at the end of the 2nd week though, and the GC was done by the 3rd week.

In the 2012 Tour he didn't weaken towards the end, he did show weakness at one point though.

2012 Vuelta he got really bad in the end. From Lagos de Covadonga onwards he got dropped like a stone on every climb that was raced. If you compare that to Contador, who in the 2011 Tour attacked like a madman in the final stages and dropped only once, while he won the toughest Giro in recent memory before that

Last year he weakened from the 2nd tt onwards imo. Someone who wins on Bonascre and Ventoux putting minutes into everybody and almost beats Tony Martin in a flat tt, should win a hilly tt with a way bigger margin. He was lucky enough that Saxo ****ed up their tactics. In the alpes he was dropped twice by both Purito and Quintana

Name 1 GT where Contador was weaker in the 3rd week than before that

 

[Netserk]

In the 2011 Vuelta he got dropped hard on el Angliru. He finished in a group with Menchov who wasn't in great shape and with Wout Poels. Hardest climb of the race. It was at the end of the 2nd week though, and the GC was done by the 3rd week.

Yes he lost time to Cobo on Angliru. Didn't lose time to anyone else there. Won the next (and final) MTF.

Is that worse than how he did the two weeks before?

Couldn't a case be made that he got stronger during that Vuelta, but Cobo did as well, and was the best climber in the race, and Froome the 2nd best?

 

[ILovecycling]

I really don't know if Contador can even give Froome a run for his money. I doubt it unless he really has that giro 2011 form.

His form has been really good but tbh if this was the old Contador he would have crushed martin in the pais vasco ITT.

It's still alien Froome, DL will tell us more although you can't use it as the best indicator.

Btw it'll only come from Contador i think, nibali is dog**** atm.

I know 2013 really was bad for us,Alberto fans,but man....this is Contador 2011!just trust him

 

[RichieTheBest]

The question is whether Contador 11 is good enough to put the time into Froome on an alien form uphill.

 

[ILovecycling]

The question is whether Contador 11 is good enough to put the time into Froome on an alien form uphill.

the question is if Froome will be on an alien form
(if so,never mind,on form Contador always finds the way to win )

 

[trevim]

The funny thing is that if Contador is really back to his top shape (which I still doubt), Froome can't do that great 3rd week act he did last year, pretending to be suffering and losing time on the mountains after he had all the time he wanted on everyone else. May this year he'll have to go all in instead.

 

[phanatic]

The question is whether Contador 11 is good enough to put the time into Froome on an alien form uphill.

Even in top form, Bertie seems to be in the same position Andy was in 2010. Of course the key differences are that Contador has a history of winning, and more potential for a great ITT.

 

[Publicus]

I really don't know if Contador can even give Froome a run for his money. I doubt it unless he really has that giro 2011 form.

His form has been really good but tbh if this was the old Contador he would have crushed martin in the pais vasco ITT.

It's still alien Froome, DL will tell us more although you can't use it as the best indicator.

Btw it'll only come from Contador i think, nibali is dog**** atm.

With respect to Pais Vasco ITT, I recall someone here reporting that according to Riis Contador dropped his chain during the stage. I've not seen an actual direct quote from Riis but if true that puts his 2nd place into context

 

[Butterhead]

With respect to Pais Vasco ITT, I recall someone here reporting that according to Riis Contador dropped his chain during the stage. I've not seen an actual direct quote from Riis but if true that puts his 2nd place into context

Riis confirmed that very fact in an interview on Danish TV, so its valid.
He did drop the chain, but nothing was said about how long it took him to get it back on or how much time Riis thought it had cost him, so its still a guess, but of course with only few seconds apart its fair to assume he would have beaten Tony.

 

[podunavac]

I don't believe Riis.

 

[Jspear]

Riis confirmed that very fact in an interview on Danish TV, so its valid.
He did drop the chain, but nothing was said about how long it took him to get it back on or how much time Riis thought it had cost him, so its still a guess, but of course with only few seconds apart its fair to assume he would have beaten Tony.

So Contador did well in the Vasco tt and he might have been able to beat Martin....That's all great, but I still fear he'll have trouble in the longer Tour tt.

Does anyone know what the profile for the Tour tt will look like? I wasn't able to find one anywhere....I'm assuming as long as it is that it won't be hilly like the Vasco tt.

 

[Jspear]

I don't believe Riis.

Does Riis have good reason to lie on something like that? Do you have good reason not to believe him on something like that....or is this just some hunch of yours?

 

[podunavac]

I don't have a reason to believe him.

 

[The Hitch]

In the 2011 Vuelta he got dropped hard on el Angliru. He finished in a group with Menchov who wasn't in great shape and with Wout Poels. Hardest climb of the race. It was at the end of the 2nd week though, and the GC was done by the 3rd week.

Well he was working for Wiggins on Angliru. The next day when he was free to fight cobo mano a mano he beat him. That tells me he did not get weaker.

2012 Vuelta he got really bad in the end. From Lagos de Covadonga onwards he got dropped like a stone on every climb that was raced. If you compare that to Contador, who in the 2011 Tour attacked like a madman in the final stages and dropped only once, while he won the toughest Giro in recent memory before that

Contador was weaker in the tour no question. He got dropped twice btw, once on luz, though only at the end and then on galibier which was a total crack.

Froome didn't show as much spirit as contador,but at the end of the day he was weaker because of the tdf. Remember that tdf contador raced was easy first 2 weeks of sprints and the odd uphill 500m sprint. By contrast 2012 vuelta had a whole gts climbing worth done by the 2nd week froome was still in it till ancares when he let go because contador murito and Valverde went full attack mode. On the other hand the only 2 mountain stages in the first 15 days of the tour were raced very slow, contador still cracked on one. This allowed him to ride into form which is what he said he'd try. Froome went into the vuelta which was only 2 and a half weeks after the Olympics still on peak and lost it in the gt.

 

[The Hitch]

Does Riis have good reason to lie on something like that? Do you have good reason not to believe him on something like that....or is this just some hunch of yours?

Didn't Riis say last year contador was going to attack or die in the alpes?

 

[Jspear]

Didn't Riis say last year contador was going to attack or die in the alpes?

I don't recall....I'll take your word that he did. Isn't that more of an expression? I was just asking a simple question. Do we have reason to believe that Riis would lie about Contador's chain slipping?

 

[podunavac]

I don't recall....I'll take your word that he did. Isn't that more of an expression? I was just asking a simple question. Do we have reason to believe that Riis would lie about Contador's chain slipping?

Do we have a reason to believe that he would tell the truth?

 

[Jspear]

Do we have a reason to believe that he would tell the truth?

Give the guy the benefit of doubt unless there's evidence to prove he is lying. I understand you might not like him because he is an ex-you know what and all....but dude, we are talking about a mechanical issue.

 

[The Hitch]

I don't recall....I'll take your word that he did. Isn't that more of an expression? I was just asking a simple question. Do we have reason to believe that Riis would lie about Contador's chain slipping?

im not saying he used those words, but I remember hype on this thread and in the media in general about how Contador was going to go full out in the mountains because Riis said that was how it was going to play.

I understand your point, why would Riis lie. Well, its an excuse for why his rider came 2nd in a stage rather than 1st. Ok probably even for riis its a stretch. But at the same time its understandable that people wouldn't believe what he says. He isn't number 1 in the world honesty rankings.

 

[Jspear]

im not saying he used those words, but I remember hype on this thread and in the media in general about how Contador was going to go full out in the mountains because Riis said that was how it was going to play.

I understand your point, why would Riis lie. Well, its an excuse for why his rider came 2nd in a stage rather than 1st. Ok probably even for riis its a stretch. But at the same time its understandable that people wouldn't believe what he says. He isn't number 1 in the world honesty rankings.

I can agree with that....for the most part.

 

[Butterhead]

Didn't Riis say last year contador was going to attack or die in the alpes?

Isnt that what any DS would say about his gc rider? It means nothing, its not even a so called lie, its part of the game in front of the camera and mics, nothing unusual, lets move on.

 

[Butterhead]

im not saying he used those words, but I remember hype on this thread and in the media in general about how Contador was going to go full out in the mountains because Riis said that was how it was going to play.

I understand your point, why would Riis lie. Well, its an excuse for why his rider came 2nd in a stage rather than 1st. Ok probably even for riis its a stretch. But at the same time its understandable that people wouldn't believe what he says. He isn't number 1 in the world honesty rankings.

So you mean Riis should go out in public and say his main gc rider cant win? You are some poor DS if thats your logic, whatever he THINKS is not necessary what he will say in front of the journos, you should know that and what is said means nothing, nada, until its proven. And besides I dont think anybody on the team, including AC and Riis knew what was going on with AC, or why he couldnt perform as expected, and they still don´t, they just took a different approach this year that luckily worked better, but during the tour nobody had answers so how could he say anything else than we can expect to see AC attack, thats what he use to do, and nothing indicated he would fail. Its one of these things you cant explain, you just cant get your form up, even the numbers say otherwise, but your body wont cooperate for some weird reason.

 

[ILovecycling]

Didn't Riis say last year contador was going to attack or die in the alpes?

Can I have a question on you Hitch,I wanted to ask you this for a couple of times now...

How 2012 and 2013 did affect your opinion and position on Contador?