Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

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Jul 19, 2010
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Red Rick said:
Apparently, Contador had mechanical problems while standing on the pedals.

well.. that's a good luck there. if he ended up has to stop, Froome probably thought he had crushed Contador. Considering he got mechanical too, and still hang well, makes it even more interesting for the weekend.
 
Jun 9, 2014
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may be contador wanted a smaller gear and could not change...but he seems to be using a huge gear while climbing this year like in Basque and now
 

Butterhead

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Dec 27, 2013
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Alberto: Today was hard with a high tempo all day and some difficult roads as well but thats okay because this was really good training for next month and the Tour. Thats why were here, no? Of course if we could have taken a stage win today we would but at the moment Chris is very strong so congrats to him. Now well take it day by day and well see how it goes in the final, Contador told Cycling news at the summit, as he lean against the railings.

"The last kilometer was the hardest but the climb was okay. I want to take it day by day. There was a small problem with my bike when I was climbing out of the saddle but I m very happy with the last two days and I think the coming days will be even better".

I know we heard it all before, but there is still something very different about it.
He looks so much better, he sounds so much better, he got huge confidence and his optimism and calm is refreshing.
If he truly takes this as just training and he can actually improve a lot toward the Tour, then Anorexia is in for a good old spanking.
I so wish that he finally can shut the mouth on this asxxxxx I REALLY REALLY DONT LIKE HIM!!!
 
Jul 19, 2010
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Butterhead said:
Alberto: Today was hard with a high tempo all day and some difficult roads as well but thats okay because this was really good training for next month and the Tour. Thats why were here, no? Of course if we could have taken a stage win today we would but at the moment Chris is very strong so congrats to him. Now well take it day by day and well see how it goes in the final, Contador told Cycling news at the summit, as he lean against the railings.

"The last kilometer was the hardest but the climb was okay. I want to take it day by day. There was a small problem with my bike when I was climbing out of the saddle but I m very happy with the last two days and I think the coming days will be even better".

I know we heard it all before, but there is still something very different about it.
He looks so much better, he sounds so much better, he got huge confidence and his optimism and calm is refreshing.
If he truly takes this as just training and he can actually improve a lot toward the Tour, then Anorexia is in for a good old spanking.
I so wish that he finally can shut the mouth on this asxxxxx I REALLY REALLY DONT LIKE HIM!!!

And don't forget. He looked skinny, but not anorexic. So for the look itself, he looks good :D and of course he climbed well and smart today. We shall see saturday which supposedly the hardest stage.
 

Butterhead

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Dec 27, 2013
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ILovecycling said:
Sounds unclear.


What was it?What do you think?Gear problem:confused:

I think its fair to say he was on the limit, just like the dawg was.
But of course, a mechanical is always a good explanation :p
 

Butterhead

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Dec 27, 2013
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Jelantik said:
And don't forget. He looked skinny, but not anorexic. So for the look itself, he looks good :D and of course he climbed well and smart today. We shall see saturday which supposedly the hardest stage.

He he, just as long as he just stays with him I am fine with it, he dont have to win anything, just be a shadow, thats all. I think that will freak out the dawg 10 times more than actually winning a stage, just stay on his wheel no matter what he does, and the mind games has begun. :p
 
Jul 19, 2010
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Butterhead said:
He he, just as long as he just stays with him I am fine with it, he dont have to win anything, just be a shadow, thats all. I think that will freak out the dawg 10 times more than actually winning a stage, just stay on his wheel no matter what he does, and the mind games has begun. :p

can agree more. :) Froome did looked that he tried very very hard to drop Bertie. Like you said, there's nothing more damaging for Froome to see his rival still glued to his wheel even after he tried very hard to drop him. But I don't want to celebrate yet, the hard stage are still yet to come. So far, Bertie looks promising.:p
 
I have seen the last 5 km 2-3 times: D and I have come to a conclusion.:p

Emosson Saturday to decide a nice slice of the Tour (without accident, falls, etc.) since both will have a week of racing in the legs and less rust.

Or Contador drops dawg and give him a few seconds or will Froome to get him out of the wheel, by bringing down the curtain on the tour well in advance: D

'cause the slopes saturday will be on 9-10%, the trails will count zero and they will arrive at the finish line one at a time.
At the moment I see Froome favored 60-40. :)
 
Nov 26, 2012
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AC did wonderfully well today.
Today's performance has definitely put Froome to shame. his expression at the end of the stage was "i won. wht if you managed to follow me even with me doing c***c"


I didnt know that Froome actually attacked. its the sight of others dropping off tht made me realize tht Froome was probablt attacking; and , of course, the ES guy praising Lord Sky. Kelderman felt like an attack, JVDB felt like an attack. The maximum advantage that froome manaed to make was half a bike length.



has AC ever won a sprint? I dont recall him ever winning a sprint.
 
Nov 26, 2012
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LaFlorecita said:
I noticed he was grinding a huge gear on the last part of the climb. Maybe it's something to do with that.

a gear-shift problem?


also wht was he trying to see by looking around froome?
 
Well I was a little over optimisitic about Contador not just hanging on today, but he is approaching his best ever form and is a far cry from last year, when he was not disciplined over the winter and still not mentally over his career setback.

Froome was a wake-up call at the Tour last go around.

Alberto is certainly a huge, huge talent and he has a class that only very few in the sport have had. Had he raced in a different era, he would have done phenomenal in many classics as well as stage races, I'm convinced of it.

Now though Sky has produced the sport's ultimate racer, who looks horrible on the bike and we know how much inefficient style needs to be overcome with power. Watching Froome thus makes one incredulous that someone like that could possibly put such devestating accellerations uphill while seated! Even Armstrong, who we know was doped to the gills, couldn't ride in the seat like that.

At the same time Contador was able to keep up and if the Spaniard still has a decent margin of improvement, then he can perhaps best Froome in the third week of the Tour. If Froome gets better, then no.

But can we really have faith in a credible cycling if the Sky captain is even able to hold on to this form for the next 7 weeks? He and Sky are the new global image of the sport, but watching him stinks of the laboratory.

PS. Two things that Contador has in his favor: 1) he hasn't messed up his preparation like last year and certainly will improve from this Dauphine and 2) he's tactically smarter than Froome.