Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[Jagartrott]

Riis: "Evertything and everybody were ready. He (Contador) would have smashed them all monday. He would have taken a minute, maybe a minute and a half, on Nibali"

What a stupid and disrespectful thing to say.

 

[IronCQ]

I dont really understand what you people are talking about. Winner is the first. Sometimes he is not the strongest. Sheer strenght isn't enough. Winner is the best. They are two different concepts. The best in that time. Not Overall. If you can't accept the fact that you (or your favs) can be beaten, you are not a sportman. You just talk, but facts are facts and woulda coulda shoulda are the words losers use to justify. If you win you are the best (admitting you are racing fairly).
About the fact Contador could (not would) have put 1' or 1'30'' on the others...yep, probably with a secret engine. That would have been purely out of this world, if you consider simply the watts involved. Riis should start to shut up and respect riders who are in the field, still there. And not a word from Alberto about "Iwould blablabla..." He knows how good he is. And he is a classy man. So he gives kudos and prepares for his comeback. All the rest is pure speculation and I what I see is taking speculation ad facts and facts as bull****.
Simply stupid.

 

[ILovecycling]

When he criticized Alberto? I read about that but I don't know what he specifically said. But he was right to criticize him because we all know what Alberto can do and last year he was just a shadow of himself (and still got 4th!).

Read it.

If Contador has got a tibial plateau fracture ( http://elpais.com/elpais/2014/07/15/inenglish/1405419338_987772.html ), he needs to forget about the Vuelta and concentrate on recovering properly as these fractures aren't to be messed with:

"The tibial plateau is one of the most critical load-bearing areas in the human body; fractures of the plateau affect knee alignment, stability, and motion. Early detection and appropriate treatment of these fractures are critical in minimizing patient disability and reducing the risk of documented complications, particularly post traumatic arthritis"

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1249872-overview

His fissure is not load-bearing tho.Big difference imo

What a stupid and disrespectful thing to say.

I agree,but I accept it.They were with him every freakin day.Watched him closely from early winter.The dissapointment must be devastating.

 

[ILovecycling]

What an excellent summary by Dr.Juice,excellent...yea,thats why we love him.

 

[Jack_89]

What a stupid and disrespectful thing to say.

He said ''want'' not ''make or do'' this difference.
there is a small difference

 

[LaFlorecita]

I dont really understand what you people are talking about. Winner is the first. Sometimes he is not the strongest. Sheer strenght isn't enough. Winner is the best. They are two different concepts. The best in that time. Not Overall. If you can't accept the fact that you (or your favs) can be beaten, you are not a sportman. You just talk, but facts are facts and woulda coulda shoulda are the words losers use to justify. If you win you are the best (admitting you are racing fairly).

I would have been able to accept that my favorite got beaten... If he actually got beaten!!!! Instead he crashed out, and now someone else is walking away with what IMO was my favorite's victory. And this isn't just some stupid race, it's the Tour, and with this win Nibali enters the group of best GC riders of all time. **** that.

About the fact Contador could (not would) have put 1' or 1'30'' on the others...yep, probably with a secret engine. That would have been purely out of this world, if you consider simply the watts involved. Riis should start to shut up and respect riders who are in the field, still there. And not a word from Alberto about "Iwould blablabla..." He knows how good he is. And he is a classy man. So he gives kudos and prepares for his comeback. All the rest is pure speculation and I what I see is taking speculation ad facts and facts as bull****.
Simply stupid.

You are forgetting now that Saxo were planning something big, probably an attack on Chevrères. And in case you haven't noticed, Alberto himself has also said that he thinks he would have won this Tour, because he was in his best form EVER. I am 100% sure he is ****ed off as hell that someone else is winning his Tour. He'll congratulate Nibali but it won't be sincere. So why don't you stop the BS.

 

[Jagartrott]

Nibali put almost 3 minutes on Contador on the cobbles stage. To claim that Contador was the best at this Tour is speculative at best and adds nothing. I can understand people are disappointed, but respecting the riders that are still there (including one that won both Giro and Vuelta) is common decency.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Nibali put almost 3 minutes on Contador on the cobbles stage. To claim that Contador was the best at this Tour is speculative at best and adds nothing. I can understand people are disappointed, but respecting the riders that are still there (including one that won both Giro and Vuelta) is common decency.

Sorry, but if everyone on the team is sure Contador would have beaten Nibali, I believe them.

And I respect Nibali, but I think it's ****ty that he becomes one of the best GC riders ever this way.

 

[Cimber]

Independent Sport‏@IndoSport·48 mins
Nicolas Roche: 'Some people seemed more worried about whether Alberto's bike was broken than his leg'

 

[IronCQ]

And this isn't just some stupid race, it's the Tour, and with this win Nibali enters the group of best GC riders of all time. **** that.

Right, they were deliverd with ease. He didn't have to pedal to get them. Just sit in front of a keyboard writing sentences.

I am 100% sure he is ****ed off as hell that someone else is winning his Tour

"His"? That's the most unrespectful things you can write for Alberto and all the other contenders.
Guess next year they will give him the yellow jersey the first day and then they all go home to have holidays...

 

[ILovecycling]

Nibali put almost 3 minutes on Contador on the cobbles stage. To claim that Contador was the best at this Tour is speculative at best and adds nothing. I can understand people are disappointed, but respecting the riders that are still there (including one that won both Giro and Vuelta) is common decency.

But its not really common that your TWO biggest rivals who are better in climbing crash out...
And we are not disappointed we are really fvcked! We waited for this 2 years since that vuelta when there was 80% Froome and no Nibali.

 

[Cimber]

Nibali put almost 3 minutes on Contador on the cobbles stage. To claim that Contador was the best at this Tour is speculative at best and adds nothing. I can understand people are disappointed, but respecting the riders that are still there (including one that won both Giro and Vuelta) is common decency.

Cobbles =/= mountains

I respect Nibali very much and before the Tour I hoped that he or Contador would win, but a win is always better/sweeter when you ride against the best opponents. But it is not Nibali's fault that Froome and Contador crashed out. And he definately deserves huge respect, and I do hope he stays in yellow till Paris.

However, that doesnt mean that people, riders and DS cant have and state their opinions about what would have happened and who might be stronger in the mountains. We already got a little preview of the strength on saturday.

 

[Cimber]

But its not really common that your TWO biggest rivals who are better in climbing crash out...
And we are not disappointed we are really fvcked! We waited for this 2 years since that vuelta when there was 80% Froome and no Nibali.

I agree. This tour is pretty feked imo now that both Froome and Contador are out. Its not the same. But it really isnt Nibali's fault though. Respect to him for beating the rest of the pack. But I am still gutted and it has taken more than the esge of this Tour for me.

 

[Cimber]

Tinkoff Saxo‏@tinkoff_saxo·32s
The 2nd bike of @albertocontador broke during contact with a Belkin car - not because of the crash #TDF #tinkoff4tdf

 

[ILovecycling]

Right, they were deliverd with ease. He didn't have to pedal to get them. Just sit in front of a keyboard writing sentences.



"His"? That's the most unrespectful things you can write for Alberto and all the other contenders.
Guess next year they will give him the yellow jersey the first day and then they all go home to have holidays...

Lol you probably didnt follow pro cycling closely before 2012.If he was in form,nobody had chance.He is born with talent as a GT rider...Nibali never proved level anywhere near contador 2011 in form year.
And if AC says he was in form of his life?Why would he lie...

 

[BlurryVII]

Quotes from N.Roche : ""The plan was to ride flat out over the last three climbs and break up the race"
The race was going to be epic, no doubt Alberto was about to to pull off something stellar
His face on Gerardmer could tell us, he was in such a great shape, perhaps his best ever or as 2009. Now I think of it and I wish he had attacked much harder that day just to show Nibali and everyone he was about to win this anyway.
My Tour is over.
Let's just hope Rodriguez gets his top form back by the 3rd week so he can show as well to everyone he is superior to the... maillot jaune .

 

[Jagartrott]

We already got a little preview of the strength on saturday.

Seriously? Taking two seconds on Nibali who may have had the wrong gear?


Nothing wrong with being a fan, but in the Tour so far, Contador did not prove that he would've been stronger than Nibali, so all the talk now is sour grapes as far as I'm concerned. Swallow your disappointment and fight another day.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Quotes from N.Roche : ""The plan was to ride flat out over the last three climbs and break up the race"
The race was going to be epic, no doubt Alberto was about to to pull off something stellar
His face on Gerardmer could tell us, he was in such a great shape, perhaps his best ever or as 2009. Now I think of it and I wish he had attacked much harder that day just to show Nibali and everyone he was about to win this anyway.
My Tour is over.
Let's just hope Rodriguez gets his top form back by the 3rd week so he can show as well to everyone he is superior to the... maillot jaune .

Good post!

 

[Cimber]

Good write by Roche:

http://www.independent.ie/sport/oth...then-plan-a-went-out-the-window-30431225.html

On the team bus this morning, the stage plan was to let breaks go in the early part and then simply ride flat out over the last three climbs and break up the race

We were all confident that our team leader Alberto Contador would be very close to taking the yellow jersey of race leader at the end of the stage. That was Plan A.

In fact, we were so confident in Alberto's chances of winning this Tour, we didn't have a Plan B.

 

[BlurryVII]

Seriously? Taking two seconds on Nibali who may have had the wrong gear?


Nothing wrong with being a fan, but in the Tour so far, Contador did not prove that he would've been stronger than Nibali, so all the talk now is sour grapes as far as I'm concerned. Swallow your disappointment and fight another day.

That wrong gear story is totally made up, it's quite ridiculous. Nibali always looks down when he is in the red, I rewatched the final of that stage just about 4 or 5 times .
Contador would have been much, much stronger than Nibali All day, every day. The spaniard didn't get the triple crown by winning against the likes of Velits, Pinot, Mosquera, 36 yrs old Evans, Uran, TVG, Bardet, Porte .

 

[LaFlorecita]

Seriously? Taking two seconds on Nibali who may have had the wrong gear?

If you'd paid attention you would have noticed Nibali was right at the max, while Contador was just cruising. Nibali said "I couldn't follow Contador when he accelerated", Contador said "I was just testing". So it definitely showed Contador was stronger.

Nothing wrong with being a fan, but in the Tour so far, Contador did not prove that he would've been stronger than Nibali, so all the talk now is sour grapes as far as I'm concerned.

See above.

Swallow your disappointment

Impossible

and fight another day.

Oh, I'm sure if Alberto ever manages to come back to to super form, he'll put Nibali in his place, a couple minutes down, right where he belongs. That is a big if though.

 

[Eshnar]

That wrong gear story is totally made up, it's quite ridiculous. Nibali always looks down when he is in the red, I rewatched the final of that stage just about 4 or 5 times .
Contador would have been much, much stronger than Nibali All day, every day. The spaniard didn't get the triple crown by winning against the likes of Velits, Pinot, Mosquera, 36 yrs old Evans, Uran, TVG, Bardet, Porte .

he won it against the likes of Leipheimer, Sastre, Riccò, Bruseghin, Evans (the same Evans, huh)...
All of them will be remembered for generations as mythical GT riders.

 

[Cimber]

Seriously? Taking two seconds on Nibali who may have had the wrong gear?


Nothing wrong with being a fan, but in the Tour so far, Contador did not prove that he would've been stronger than Nibali, so all the talk now is sour grapes as far as I'm concerned. Swallow your disappointment and fight another day.

I am a Nibali and Contador fan. But Contador was freewheeling cos he thought the stage win was up for grasp so he wanted to wait for the sprint. Nibali had to dig deep to keep up with a relatively easy going Contador.

Contador is a horrible sprinter but his accelaration still dropped Nibali.

Nibali is a great climber when in form, but he doesnt match an in form Contador (or Froome). But he still deserves the Tour win know that both the others ahve crashed out. Not at least cos of what he did on the cobbles. But its a bit naive to claim Nibali could have outclimbed Contador and Froome. But maybe he could have limited his losses enough so that the time advantage of the cobbles would be enough. That was the battle I would have liked to see. Contador slowling digging into the time gap but just little by little so that it would stay interesting untill the last TT. That would have been my favorite scanario. Personally I think that Contador would have taken much more time than that before the TT but, alas we will never know. A damn shame for the ace, a damn shame for Froome a damn shame for Contador, and ultimately also a damn shame for Nibali

 

[LaFlorecita]

That wrong gear story is totally made up, it's quite ridiculous. Nibali always looks down when he is in the red, I rewatched the final of that stage just about 4 or 5 times .
Contador would have been much, much stronger than Nibali All day, every day. The spaniard didn't get the triple crown by winning against the likes of Velits, Pinot, Mosquera, 36 yrs old Evans, Uran, TVG, Bardet, Porte .

Again a very good post go you! We know the truth, Nibali will probably win, but he'll never come even close to Alberto. Alberto is almost a stage racing Legend while Nibali is merely very good.

 

[LaFlorecita]

he won it against the likes of Leipheimer, Sastre, Riccò, Bruseghin, Evans (the same Evans, huh)...
All of them will be remembered for generations as mythical GT riders.

Who?