Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[maxmartin]

Astana was content to ride in at a leisurely pace. They wouldnt have done any more work than necessary to keep Nibali in yellow. So how does Lemond suggest you make them work?

that is a good point, I think Lemond is more worried Saxo can't keep riding this, but who knows? maybe a new sky train is born.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Holy crap, 5 years? Only because they were negated.

Yes I hope so and he looks strong enough to do it And Saxo looks strong enough to deliver him

No it is really 5 years ago... In 2010, 2011 and 2013 he didn't win any stages but I'm confident he will this year

 

[Publicus]

that is a good point, I think Lemond is more worried Saxo can't keep riding this, but who knows? maybe a new sky train is born.

I dont think the have to quite frankly. The upcoming mountain stages will be about attrition--the slopes themselves will sort lots of players out (tomorrow and Monday's stages look brutal). One thing im curious about is Nibali's ability to recover. He and Astana have worked really hard the last week(especially on stage 5)--that has to have cost them a great deal of energy. And reports are thst Fuglsang was suffering from a bug. I hope for their sake it is an isolated bug or it could get ugly for them.

 

[indianfanboy]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0Ml8yz5B-c

GCN's video on stage 14 at Risoul.

 

[maxmartin]

I dont think the have to quite frankly. The upcoming mountain stages will be about attrition--the slopes themselves will sort lots of players out (tomorrow and Monday's stages look brutal). One thing im curious about is Nibali's ability to recover. He and Astana have worked really hard the last week(especially on stage 5)--that has to have cost them a great deal of energy. And reports are thst Fuglsang was suffering from a bug. I hope for their sake it is an isolated bug or it could get ugly for them.

Horner said in the first mountain stage, everyone climbs well, it the next few days count. He also said he was pushing 400w to win the vuelta, but today he was pushing 400w to get dropped. lol

http://www.nbcsports.com/cycling/tour-de-france/rain-makes-things-tougher-tour

 

[mrhender]

that is a good point, I think Lemond is more worried Saxo can't keep riding this, but who knows? maybe a new sky train is born.

They will not keep riding like this..
As "funny" as it may seem todays effort was of defensive nature..

They are cleaning out the the GC msking sure of no unpleasant surprises..
Furthermore they where siganling that they will be there when the going gets tough..
No way they can/will keep dooing this..
It's about eliminating potentially ugly surprises and putting the hammer down to scare the others from beeing overambitious...

 

[Jelantik]

In the race, AC did ask VN to get to front to put more time into RP.

true true. So I'm not going to say other wise. But, I'm still sceptical that Nibali can follow contador when the the proper mountain comes. So I will hold my comment over Nibali for now

On the other hand, Contador didn't go full gas today. Some poster here asking about why he won't make more than 3. He said, the mountain today didn't suit his style and maybe he kept his powder for monday to get a bigger gap.

 

[maxmartin]

true true. So I'm not going to say other wise. But, I'm still sceptical that Nibali can follow contador when the the proper mountain comes. So I will hold my comment over Nibali for now

On the other hand, Contador didn't go full gas today. Some poster here asking about why he won't make more than 3. He said, the mountain today didn't suit his style and maybe he kept his powder for monday to get a bigger gap.

some one think different

Vinokourov - The Tour could be over after Planche des Belles Filles

“After this first week, I think that many riders have heavy legs, but Vincenzo is ready. He looks comfortable. He follows the favourites easily. The team is ready and motivated for the mountain,” he said.

http://www.letour.com/le-tour/2014/...-be-over-after-planche-des-belles-filles.html

 

[LaFlorecita]

some one think different

Vinokourov - The Tour could be over after Planche des Belles Filles

“After this first week, I think that many riders have heavy legs, but Vincenzo is ready. He looks comfortable. He follows the favourites easily. The team is ready and motivated for the mountain,” he said.

http://www.letour.com/le-tour/2014/...-be-over-after-planche-des-belles-filles.html

Well, obviously Vino will say that

 

[webvan]

Vino the biggest BS talker ever! If anything Nibali looks closer to a Vino/Tignes 2007 performance being paced up PDBF by Fugly than winning the TDF there for good!

 

[Jelantik]

I think TS has to ride like this. They can't wait until the proper mountains. 2:37 is a lot to claw back. The way they ride is basically getting ride of the over ambitous rider out of the way and put them in the place where they belong Now it's easier to see who's the real contender that contador must leapfrog for real. Considering Contador is going upward trajectory while some GC contender going downward, I guess it's considered a good day. I don't mind Contador chipping it here and there. It's good to see where everyone is and where he is compare to everyone.

Who knows, maybe TS boys are all going to be disappeared comes monday. But it's better making everyone tired before Monday, considering Contador greatest assest is his recovery.

 

[Jelantik]

some one think different

Vinokourov - The Tour could be over after Planche des Belles Filles

“After this first week, I think that many riders have heavy legs, but Vincenzo is ready. He looks comfortable. He follows the favourites easily. The team is ready and motivated for the mountain,” he said.

http://www.letour.com/le-tour/2014/...-be-over-after-planche-des-belles-filles.html

LOL.. of course vino will say that. I guess we are all just have to wait and see how the next two days will pan out.

 

[Justico]

It may seem as blasphemy but at this point i think Contador needs to drop Porte decisively Some italian press was saying Nibali cracked today, at the finish. Riis doubt's Nibali's podium chances , etc

I think he will make up the time to Nibali. The only other contender seems Porte.

I think his fans have all the reasons to be optimistic.

 

[Cimber]

It may seem as blasphemy but at this point i think Contador needs to drop Porte decisively Some italian press was saying Nibali cracked today, at the finish. Riis doubt's Nibali's podium chances , etc

I think he will make up the time to Nibali. The only other contender seems Porte.

I think his fans have all the reasons to be optimistic.

Porte might do podium, but he wont win. No way he will be able to hold on to Bertie's wheel and today was just a small appetizer. But yes AC needs a few minutes on Porte, but that should be doable. But I could very well see Porte finishing 3rd, unless he has that one day of total meltdown which he usually has in 3 week GT

 

[No_Balls]

They are cleaning out the the GC msking sure of no unpleasant surprises..
Furthermore they where siganling that they will be there when the going gets tough..
No way they can/will keep dooing this..
It's about eliminating potentially ugly surprises and putting the hammer down to scare the others from beeing overambitious...

"Today could not have gone better. We wanted to set a hard pace to clean out the overall classification of people who could cause us problems in the future by getting into breaks," Contador explained.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/con...o-flex-their-collective-muscles-in-the-vosges

 

[murali]

Porte is inconsistent. its just a waiting game with Porte. Despite having the strongest support-cast in this tour, he has not been able to capitalize in it. He also shud hav been behind nibali, instead of following valv.

The only thing going in favor of Porte is his supposed TT prowess.

Porte is still the product of marginal gain theory. He would only try to pace back to AC.


I want to see how monday pans out.

 

[lenric]

Actually there is a lot of truth to what he says. Whatever you think about Porte, hes a decent time trialist. Contador needs to leapfrog him and give himself some cushion to win the overall (assuming Ritche doesn't have a bad day). Valverde's non-performance today was pretty surprising. This was his kind of climb.

If someone can be decent on high mountain, then obviously he'll be good too in medium mountain. Assuming that, Contador would always beat Porte, since he's weaker than Porte. Valverde is Valverde, no match for Contador and he knows it.
The only GC contender who would be able to be on par with Contador is Nibali, and Contador is well aware of that.

Assuming all of this, Contador would only be worried with Nibali, because he knows he can drop everyone and have enough time in the TT, the rest is just politics.

 

[fantomas]

AC looked splendid today. Some may be fooled by his cadence to think he's struggling, but remember Pais Vasco:

Folowing Valverde; low cadence, many thought he was struggling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54pMKt1tvpI&t=1h33m40s

30 seconds later, BOOM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54pMKt1tvpI&t=1h34m10s

 

[webbie146]

AC looked splendid today. Some may be fooled by his cadence to think he's struggling, but remember Pais Vasco:

Folowing Valverde; low cadence, many thought he was struggling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54pMKt1tvpI&t=1h33m40s

30 seconds later, BOOM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54pMKt1tvpI&t=1h34m10s

His recovery might suffer in week 3 because of him adapting this kind of cadence.

 

[fantomas]

His recovery might suffer in week 3 because of him adapting this kind of cadence.

Or it might not. Neither of us know, but I am confident he and his team know, and that it won't. But we'll have to wait and see. I just wanted to point out, that he can up the cadence quite a bit.

 

[Publicus]

His recovery might suffer in week 3 because of him adapting this kind of cadence.

I don't think there's a substantial likelihood of that happening. He looked like he didn't put in much of an effort today. Relatively speaking of course.

 

[hfer07]

Alberto looked good & determined to ride- which is good for the spectacle. BTW gotta acknowledge that massive pull done by Mic Rogers today- It was impeccable. I see TS as a team completely better suited to aid Contador than Astana's team to Nibali- and that might make the difference this year.

 

[webbie146]

I don't think there's a substantial likelihood of that happening. He looked like he didn't put in much of an effort today. Relatively speaking of course.

I'm not just talking about today's particulair climb but in general the cadence he's been riding at while climbing. He used to keep spinning which helps recovery in a 3 week GT. I might be wrong though it does not necessary have to be a problem. We will see.

 

[LaFlorecita]

I'm not just talking about today's particulair climb but in general the cadence he's been riding at while climbing. He used to keep spinning which helps recovery in a 3 week GT. I might be wrong though it does not necessary have to be a problem. We will see.

Someone pointed out a while ago that Alberto used a bigger gear while climbing earlier in his career too.

 

[webbie146]

Someone pointed out a while ago that Alberto used a bigger gear while climbing earlier in his career too.

When? Before 2007? 2006?