Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[murali]

I feel bad abt flo's condition today. guys, stop pulling her.
she had a bad premonition that things are going to go bad in this race.
then she thought AC will lose 3 min.
by her estimates, AC gained 30 sec. i guess she will normalize tomorrow.


i am surprised to see so many "neutral" posters today.
I am more neutral than them. so plz STFU. looked as if ppl are interested to wait for the football match by trolling here.

I agree that AC lost more than he wud have liked. 157sec is a bit too much. Should he be worried? yes. But has he just got braziled? definitely no.

AC is a born fighter. He will claw back, but it wud be foolish to expect him to make up the entire 157 sec on a single stage. ppl can gain 2 min, ppl can lose 2 min, but no one makes up 2 min. I think he will be looking at 6-7 stages to make 30 secs. in one of them, he is bound to get lucky and make over a min.


And please, a$$holes who want to demonstrate their abilities go to a decent p0rn site and flap instead of ruining an already bad day of others in this thread.

 

[murali]

I think it's clear Nibali has really good form right now. So a combination of both.

In the mountains I expect him to fare much better than at the Dauphine. This will not be easy for Contador.

we dont know the correct condition of Nibali. no one knows when he had planned to peak.
today he was just being opportunistic. today's show proves nothing as far as Nibali goes.

 

[inthepink]

Contador looked very shaky on cobbles today ...at times he couldn't follow the wheel in front of him...At one point the team went back for him
Some of the Saxo riders crashed today

It was always going to be a lottery. Froome lost big today and Saxo lost little IMO...Lots of riders crashed and if you are not a cobbles expert then it was very hard ride ...Nibali is fearless as seen on the descents but this does not make him a better climber that Contador ....Contador's main threat is out the race

Contador can take the time back but the last thing he should do is go all out now to win it back in a few days as it is a long 2.5 weeks to go
I expect it will be slowly slowly catchy monkey ...30 seconds here, 20 seconds there ....

I am confident he will do it

 

[Dr. Juice]

This man is always pure class. Off and on the bike.

AC: "Desde aqui quiero dar animos a Chris Froome, meses de trabajo y se acabo todo. Una gran perdida para el Tour. Nos vemos el proximo año.
From here I want to give support to Chris Froome, months of work and everything gone.A big loss for the Tour. See you here next year. "

 

[Cimber]

Agreeing with the general gist of your post, but I'm not yet 100% convinced about the bolded. He hasn't shown anything this TdF.

Well we havent hit his turf yet (the mountains) but on all stages besides today he has been able to positionhimself nicely to avoid any crashes or other problems. However, in Dauphine he showed great form gapping Froome and dropping Nibali like a stone. I think he will still prove to be the best climber in the peloton. And he of course needs that to make up lost time

 

[Alcanelo]

Yeah very nice tweet by Bertie....also he tweeted about today saying he lost time but survived without falling and "the tour starts now". That's significant for me.

Today was worrying but I think Bertie stayed extra safe as he saw what happened to Froome...Niabli is gutsy as hell and took his chance....2"37 isn't a massive deficit...if Bertie has the legs in the mountains is very achievable...Nibbles might have peaked a little too early also...if he holds up this energy/form it'll be remarkable.

 

[Cimber]

Yeah very nice tweet by Bertie....also he tweeted about today saying he lost time but survived without falling and "the tour starts now". That's significant for me.

Today was worrying but I think Bertie stayed extra safe as he saw what happened to Froome...Niabli is gutsy as hell and took his chance....2"37 isn't a massive deficit...if Bertie has the legs in the mountains is very achievable...Nibbles might have peaked a little too early also...if he holds up this energy/form it'll be remarkable.

I think a lost of GC riders have just been looking forward to getting past England and the cobbles alive.

I dont think Nibali has peaked to early (he wasnt convincing in Dauphine fx), but I also dont think you can make predictions about his high mountain form judging from two semi Classic stages (stage 2 and stage 5)

 

[No_Balls]

I think it's clear Nibali has really good form right now. So a combination of both.

And as i said, it is to early to predict that. Sure, he might be in good form for the moment, but will that last after today in say two and a half weeks from now?

There are not that many moments in modern times where a rider has defended the jersey since second stage. Nibali might as well has compromised his form/interests after his effort here.

In the mountains I expect him to fare much better than at the Dauphine. This will not be easy for Contador.

Well, he better. Don't say it will be easy, but you guys make it up to be a walk in the park (guess it goes in both direction) which is clearly naive.

 

[maxmartin]

Contador looked very shaky on cobbles today ...at times he couldn't follow the wheel in front of him...At one point the team went back for him
Some of the Saxo riders crashed today

It was always going to be a lottery. Froome lost big today and Saxo lost little IMO...Lots of riders crashed and if you are not a cobbles expert then it was very hard ride ...Nibali is fearless as seen on the descents but this does not make him a better climber that Contador ....Contador's main threat is out the race

Contador can take the time back but the last thing he should do is go all out now to win it back in a few days as it is a long 2.5 weeks to go
I expect it will be slowly slowly catchy monkey ...30 seconds here, 20 seconds there ....

I am confident he will do it

Frank Andrea called it two days ago

 

[Miburo]

Frank Andrea called it two days ago

What did he call?

 

[rhubroma]

And as i said, it is to early to predict that. Sure, he might be in good form for the moment, but will that last after today in say two and a half weeks from now?

There are not that many moments in modern times where a rider has defended the jersey since second stage. Nibali might as well has compromised his form/interests after his effort here.



Well, he better. Don't say it will be easy, but you guys make it up to be a walk in the park (guess it goes in both direction) which is clearly naive.

Well if the Dauphine is any indication, and for that matter his early season, he seems to have peaked at just the right moment.

For this reason I expect a solid mountain and TT performance form lo Squalo and thus even a super Contador, given today's cycling, will be challanged to dethrone him before Paris.

At the same time the Tour has only just begun, but Nibali couldn't have dreamed of a better start and he knows he has arrived in the form he wanted at this year's event.

So his moral will be sky high with it.

 

[Dedelou]

And as i said, it is to early to predict that. Sure, he might be in good form for the moment, but will that last after today in say two and a half weeks from now?

There are not that many moments in modern times where a rider has defended the jersey since second stage. Nibali might as well has compromised his form/interests after his effort here.



Well, he better. Don't say it will be easy, but you guys make it up to be a walk in the park (guess it goes in both direction) which is clearly naive.

This is an important point. We know for sure what Nibali gained today by riding the way he did. He kept his jersey and the lead in the Tour, a heavy burden to bear for the next 16 stages. What we don''t yet know is what each rider today had to give to achieve what the placed. Did Nibali spill too much on the road today? was it keep the jersey at all cost because he fears he is going to loose it? or a show of strength to test his competitor. Was this planned or spontaneously executed? Did Alberto, an very experienced GT winner, temporize on favor of safety or was he , as some have implied, too weak to lower the time gap? The next 16 days will tell us the story , but as Alberto just said: The tour starts tomorrow.. I am sure he will prove that each day with some action.

 

[Angliru]

lol said a guy with only 10 posts

I'm no expert and I've got quite a few posts. Since when does post count qualify someone for some elite cycling knowledge status (if that is what you're implying)?

 

[murali]

I'm no expert and I've got quite a few posts. Since when does post count qualify someone for some elite cycling knowledge status (if that is what you're implying)?

forget abt tht AH. he is clearly a rookie.


tomorrow will be a rest day for the GC guys?

 

[rhubroma]

This is an important point. We know for sure what Nibali gained today by riding the way he did. He kept his jersey and the lead in the Tour, a heavy burden to bear for the next 16 stages. What we don''t yet know is what each rider today had to give to achieve what the placed. Did Nibali spill too much on the road today? was it keep the jersey at all cost because he fears he is going to loose it? or a show of strength to test his competitor. Was this planned or spontaneously executed? Did Alberto, an very experienced GT winner, temporize on favor of safety or was he , as some have implied, too weak to lower the time gap? The next 16 days will tell us the story , but as Alberto just said: The tour starts tomorrow.. I am sure he will prove that each day with some action.

This post expresses why cycling can be so facsinating.

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

I suspect that over the comming weeks the alliance between AC and Nibbles fans created to fight against the dawg will break down into pices. I warn you AClivers, we will throw some nasty insults in the race threads

 

[Miburo]

I suspect that over the comming weeks the alliance between AC and Nibbles fans created to fight against the dawg will break down into pices. I warn you AClivers, we will throw some nasty insults in the race threads

Let's face, a battle between nibali and contador, prob the 2 most aggresive top GC rides will be very exciting.

Btw if it's true that Contador didn't wanna take too many risks, it means he must be really confident in his climbing abilities. Will be really interesting.

Oh yea the vuelta: Froome, quintana, jrod and Contador. HYPED!!

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

Let's face, a battle between nibali and contador, prob the 2 most aggresive top GC rides will be very exciting.

Btw if it's true that Contador didn't wanna take too many risks, it means he must be really confident in his climbing abilities. Will be really interesting.

Oh yea the vuelta: Froome, quintana, jrod, Valverde, Aru, Pozzovivo and Contador. HYPED!!

fixed it for you

 

[Miburo]

fixed it for you

NOOOOOOO WAY????

Aru is in it?

Vuelta '14 best GT EVER

 

[trevim]

I suspect that over the comming weeks the alliance between AC and Nibbles fans created to fight against the dawg will break down into pices. I warn you AClivers, we will throw some nasty insults in the race threads

You should start praying so that your italian kid doesn't get humiliated too much by mighty Velasco, just go back to that Nibbles thread

[It will be an awesome fight between these two, Talansky and Don Alejandro]

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

NOOOOOOO WAY????

Aru is in it?

Vuelta '14 best GT EVER

No reason to think that he wont. Very light race schedule + been posting pic of him training hard with Tiralongo in the moutnians. Think he will be ready to go for it

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

You should start praying so that your italian kid doesn't get humiliated too much by mighty Velasco, just go back to that Nibbles thread

[It will be an awesome fight between these two, Talansky and Don Alejandro]

get ready to see the mighty Velasco getting dropped '13 style

 

[inri2000]

Yes. We can't know that, of course, but that was a very reasonable assumption to make. Like that Froome would smash Contador last year.



Fair enough. What I said doesn't apply if you really believe this (it's a a minority position though, contrary to what the bookmaker odds imply. perhaps you're not assessing contador's chances as objectively as people who have no emotional stake in the outcome.).

My cound comment was a bit uncalled for. apologies.

LaFlo, emotional and not objective? Why I never

 

[LaFlorecita]

LaFlo, emotional and not objective? Why I never

We will see, my friend I trust my fangirl instincts. but I hope I'm wrong

 

[trevim]

get ready to see the mighty Velasco getting dropped '13 style

Keep dreaming while I keep having nightmares about Ax-3-Domaines