Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[inthepink]

Contador doesn't need an excuse......He wants to ride the Vuelta

Anyway ...win the Tour and leave the Vuelta till later

One problem at a time

 

[Jspear]

Contador doesn't need an excuse......He wants to ride the Vuelta

Anyway ...win the Tour and leave the Vuelta till later

One problem at a time

Yes he has made it very clear - He wants to do very well at the Vuelta.
And its not one problem at a time, its one victory at a time.

 

[Carols]

Majka is in, but he's not happy

"Yesterday I got a phone call from Bjarne with the decision. I am not happy about it, I think the team doesn't care about my health."

Majka says it was not his plan, he's tired nad didn't train much. "I am not ready, I don't feel ready..."

Say what??? Little snot...you aren't happy and say it to the press. If he doesn't want to ride the Tour I'd make sure he didn't ride the Tour for a few more years at least! Little SH*T.

 

[ILovecycling]

Say what??? Little snot...you aren't happy and say it to the press. If he doesn't want to ride the Tour I'd make sure he didn't ride the Tour for a few more years at least! Little SH*T.

pretty harsh,but I definitely agree,this is serious sh:t

 

[thehook]

So Majka was brought into the world tour by TS. He had support in this Giro. And no pressure last year.
This is how he repays that? The best GT rider in the world wants you to ride for him at your young age. This is how you repay that? What did you think you where going to lead the team at Vuelta?
So your team owner with deep pocket$. Wants to win the Tour. With AC. This is how you repay him. Not to bright bro. He should **** can you for the rest of the season. Then next year you can ride every half *** kermess,3 day, & **** race. In your contract year. See how that goes for you?

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

And we are sure this aint a translation issue, like with Birdsong a week ago

 

[jaylew]

A bit more from Majka:

"Before the start of the season my calendar was primarily based on the Giro d` Italia, and later the Tour de Pologne and the Vuelta a Espana," he wrote in a statement on his Facebook page. "Upon completion of the Giro, the management team wondered about my start in the Tour de France, but I was skeptical about this idea.

"Since my return from Italy I have not trained much, I was very tired and still feel the effects of this 3-week race. I do not feel ready to compete in the Tour de France. Yesterday I got a phone call from Bjarne Riis, who said that my start in France has already been decided and that I have to go.

"I'm not happy with this decision. I believe that the Tinkoff-Saxo management does not care about my health. I'm 24 years old and I believe that riding two Grand Tours in a row at my age is too much. I hope I am wrong. However, I have concerns.

"The main objective is to win with Alberto Contador, and I have to support him. The Tour de France is not an easy race and even the flat stages are hard."

 

[ILovecycling]

Selfish ****,he won't be a good domestique at all.Better to take zaugg or a rouler

 

[cineteq]

A bit more from Majka:

"Before the start of the season my calendar was primarily based on the Giro d` Italia, and later the Tour de Pologne and the Vuelta a Espana," he wrote in a statement on his Facebook page. "Upon completion of the Giro, the management team wondered about my start in the Tour de France, but I was skeptical about this idea.

"Since my return from Italy I have not trained much, I was very tired and still feel the effects of this 3-week race. I do not feel ready to compete in the Tour de France. Yesterday I got a phone call from Bjarne Riis, who said that my start in France has already been decided and that I have to go.

"I'm not happy with this decision. I believe that the Tinkoff-Saxo management does not care about my health. I'm 24 years old and I believe that riding two Grand Tours in a row at my age is too much. I hope I am wrong. However, I have concerns.

"The main objective is to win with Alberto Contador, and I have to support him. The Tour de France is not an easy race and even the flat stages are hard."

Not cool. It will come back to haunt them. Hope Contador has a say on this.

 

[indianfanboy]

Will Majka even get his condition back to support Contador so fast?

 

[inthepink]

Really surprised with Majka's attitude

Who does not want to ride the Tour and be part of a wining team ??
Some riders would give their eye teeth....Barguil,Bennett, Wiggins ??
Doesn't sound like he is a team player and certainly not thinking of Contador and team

As for back to back tour ...Mick Rodgers is 34 and s riding back to back tours
Nico Roche has been doing back to back tours since he was 24 and is better in the 2nd tour.....but everyone is different

 

[ciranda]

Will Majka even get his condition back to support Contador so fast?

No, it's a stupid decision by the team. Hard to see him even with the twenty best in the mountains so he's obviously not an alternative in Kreuziger's role anyway.

 

[del1962]

Why are ppl giving Majka such a hard time, he is obvioulsy not ready for a 3 week tour and is just being honest about it.

 

[Miburo]

Why are ppl giving Majka such a hard time, he is obvioulsy not ready for a 3 week tour and is just being honest about it.

Don't mean you gotta call out your team like that in the press, they still pay you.

 

[Afrank]

I don't get all this hate you guys are giving Majka, IMO I don't see his statements as that bad. He could have done without saying he doesn't think they care about his health. But all he's doing is expressing some frustration at being called up last minute to ride the Tour.

Try to look at it from his point of view. He just completed a difficult 3 week GT. He probably thought he would now get the chance to take some time and get a deserved rest. But now only a week before Tour start he suddenly is told he has to go race another 3 weeks in the hardest of GT's. If it was me in this position I would be pretty pi$$ed just like he is.

 

[cineteq]

Don't mean you gotta call out your team like that in the press, they still pay you.

Why not? This needs to be called out outloud. The fact that they pay well doesn't mean he should accept to be exploited like a slave. Your values are way too screwed.

 

[greenedge]

i think after 10 years Oprah will have to reserve a day for the wonderkid and his team mates.

Stephen Fry

 

[greenedge]

As for back to back tour ...Mick Rodgers is 34 and s riding back to back tours
Nico Roche has been doing back to back tours since he was 24 and is better in the 2nd tour.....but everyone is different

Different levels of recovery- Roche was a bit heavier and not competing for the podium in his GT's at that age. Actually on CQ it says he rode only the TDF in 2009, 2008 only the Vuelta and in 2007 only the Giro. Rogers raced 1 day this year before the Giro, so he also used it to raise his form for the TDF and he's probably got one of the biggest engines in the pro peleton.

 

[RobbieCanuck]

S#it happens and that's why TS carries 29 riders. Majka has a right to be upset because now he has to get his head into the TDF, and all the pain that comes with it. For him it will be a psychological thing. What he needs this week is some easy riding and lots of rest. IMO Riis ought to use Zaugg, but heck who am I?

The upside is TS will now have to be more focused than ever, wary of every Sky move. Ironically it may bring the team closer as they have to pull together and bear down. If the team approaches this in a positive way, this may give them a psychological edge!

 

[orangerider]

Really surprised with Majka's attitude

Who does not want to ride the Tour and be part of a wining team ??
Some riders would give their eye teeth....Barguil,Bennett, Wiggins ??
Doesn't sound like he is a team player and certainly not thinking of Contador and team

Agreed. Hopefully he is speaking without thinking first and comes to realize how wrong he is. That it's actually a blessing and a wonderful opportunity for him to be in the team with Contador, with a chance to prove himself by going on the edge of collapse. Being 24, he needs to earn his keep - has no status to say anything negative.

 

[yespatterns]

Screw this. Everyone who is a legit professional in any field probably gets the same type of call at some point: "It's time to sack up and do your job and be awesome at it in a time of need, despite lack of sleep, rest or your expectation of something different". That's a given fact if you are good at what you you do and earn a living at it. For most of us that means sleeping at the office sometimes to meet a deadline, or a two hour notice on a flight to a different continent, etc. when we'd rather be chilling at home with the lady and family/friends. He needs to thank his lucky stars he gets to ride a bike for a living, do what what he can for his team that pays him a solid amount, and shut the **** up in public about how put out he is. His poor attitude isn't doing him any favors team-wise or fan-wise. Keep your business out of the streets as they say.

Edit: My main point is that he is in process of missing a great opportunity to do well at the tour. No one will fault him for not being recovered. Instead of doing his job and potentially being successful, he seems to be going the primadonna route. i understand his concerns but this could be a defining moment in his career that could pay heavy dividends, without the whining.

 

[Afrank]

Screw this. Everyone who is a legit professional in any field probably gets the same type of call at some point: "It's time to sack up and do your job and be awesome at it in a time of need, despite lack of sleep, rest or your expectation of something different". That's a given fact if you are good at what you you do and earn a living at it. For most of us that means sleeping at the office sometimes to meet a deadline, or a two hour notice on a flight to a different continent, etc. when we'd rather be chilling at home with the lady and family/friends. He needs to thank his lucky stars he gets to ride a bike for a living, do what what he can for his team that pays him a solid amount, and shut the **** up in public about how put out he is. His poor attitude isn't doing him any favors team-wise or fan-wise. Keep your business out of the streets as they say.

Edit: My main point is that he is in process of missing a great opportunity to do well at the tour. No one will fault him for not being recovered. Instead of doing his job and potentially being successful, he seems to be going the primadonna route. i understand his concerns but this could be a defining moment in his career that could pay heavy dividends, without the whining.

You seem to be under the impression that any rider can ride back to back GT's. It's not that simple. 3 Weeks of racing takes a lot out of you. Even more when you are one of the riders contending for a high GC and have to be at the top of your game and working hard on nearly every stage.

You say is is missing a opportunity to do well, how's he going to do well if he's, like he says, too tired from the Giro? In fact, IMO, the Saxo management should be taking into account how much they realistically expect him to be able to do at the age of only 24 after finishing the Giro in 6th.

It's his body that they are forcing through these hard efforts. If he doesn't feel he's ready to tackle such a challenge then he has every right to object if he feels they are not taking into account his health or whether he's ready to do back to back GT's.

 

[jaylew]

I don't get all this hate you guys are giving Majka, IMO I don't see his statements as that bad. He could have done without saying he doesn't think they care about his health. But all he's doing is expressing some frustration at being called up last minute to ride the Tour.

Try to look at it from his point of view. He just completed a difficult 3 week GT. He probably thought he would now get the chance to take some time and get a deserved rest. But now only a week before Tour start he suddenly is told he has to go race another 3 weeks in the hardest of GT's. If it was me in this position I would be pretty pi$$ed just like he is.

These were my thoughts until I spent some more time thinking about it. Now I actually feel like the following:

Screw this. Everyone who is a legit professional in any field probably gets the same type of call at some point: "It's time to sack up and do your job and be awesome at it in a time of need, despite lack of sleep, rest or your expectation of something different". That's a given fact if you are good at what you you do and earn a living at it. For most of us that means sleeping at the office sometimes to meet a deadline, or a two hour notice on a flight to a different continent, etc. when we'd rather be chilling at home with the lady and family/friends. He needs to thank his lucky stars he gets to ride a bike for a living, do what what he can for his team that pays him a solid amount, and shut the **** up in public about how put out he is. His poor attitude isn't doing him any favors team-wise or fan-wise. Keep your business out of the streets as they say.

Edit: My main point is that he is in process of missing a great opportunity to do well at the tour. No one will fault him for not being recovered. Instead of doing his job and potentially being successful, he seems to be going the primadonna route. i understand his concerns but this could be a defining moment in his career that could pay heavy dividends, without the whining.

As mentioned above, I'm starting to come around to this way of thinking when at first I thought people were being ridiculous for calling him out. You know, you're right. Just do your damn job, sometimes it will be easier than you think it should be, oftentimes it will be harder. You're paid very well to do a job by your employers. They haven't asked you to do anything that's outside your job description. Suck it up and be a f**king man. If you don't like it, move on. You're not a superstar and haven't yet brought enough success to your organization that you have the leverage to plan your own program.

That said, I think it was a stupid decision by TS.

 

[yespatterns]

You seem to be under the impression that any rider can ride back to back GT's. It's not that simple. 3 Weeks of racing takes a lot out of you. Even more when you are one of the riders contending for a high GC and have to be at the top of your game and working hard on nearly every stage.

You say is is missing a opportunity to do well, how's he going to do well if he's, like he says, too tired from the Giro? In fact, IMO, the Saxo management should be taking into account how much they realistically expect him to be able to do at the age of only 24 after finishing the Giro in 6th.

It's his body that they are forcing through these hard efforts. If he doesn't feel he's ready to tackle such a challenge then he has every right to object if he feels they are not taking into account his health or whether he's ready to do back to back GT's.

And i get this, but maybe he'd be better served taking it up with management or his agent, not the public press. Speaking from personal experience, the hardest times were the ones that led to the greatest rewards/promotions/raises/cred. I think he's a fool for whining in the public sector even if he has an adequate reason. I think he is missing a chance to to be great (or at least fufilling the obligation of riding for a pro team), simply put. Maybe he's feeling like he should be on a different team (leading it at his preference), and this is his coming out party. Not sure. I was a fan of his till this, now im wondering.

 

[LaFlorecita]

I don't get all this hate you guys are giving Majka, IMO I don't see his statements as that bad. He could have done without saying he doesn't think they care about his health. But all he's doing is expressing some frustration at being called up last minute to ride the Tour.

Try to look at it from his point of view. He just completed a difficult 3 week GT. He probably thought he would now get the chance to take some time and get a deserved rest. But now only a week before Tour start he suddenly is told he has to go race another 3 weeks in the hardest of GT's. If it was me in this position I would be pretty pi$$ed just like he is.

Not 1 week before the start. Weeks ago he was told he might have to start.