Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[Red Rick]

He's basically letting them cut out unnecessary fat before the winter really started

Stuff will go on next year

 

[HappyLoser]

I'm guessing Froome will still be targeting the Tour as no. 1 - whether it suits him or not, it's suits Team Sky's target audience much better. they are not a media company for nothing. But I can't see them going 'all eggs in one basket' again...

Sky's main problem is their roaster. Sky has no second GT leader... C'mon, Wiggo can't survive so many uphill finishes. Porte is no real GT rider, he always has a "bad day". Nieve is just another dom in Sky train. Roche, Poels, Konig... we don't really know how they will respond to SKY's training programme.

Sky have only Froome and he tried Vuelta after abandoning Le Tour but it didn't work. His supreme TT skills disappeared, and he didn't have legs a few times. Yes, Froome will ride TdF 2015, whatever he says now.

 

[sir fly]

I'm not meeting Alberto

Then you must be planning an abduction of Froome & co.?

 

[ILovecycling]

This is becoming a massive challenge if froome will do giro.I don't think so,but if its true it willbe an epic wn if he beats quintana ...

Barring crashes

 

[Electress]

Sky's main problem is their roaster. Sky has no second GT leader... C'mon, Wiggo can't survive so many uphill finishes. Porte is no real GT rider, he always has a "bad day". Nieve is just another dom in Sky train. Roche, Poels, Konig... we don't really know how they will respond to SKY's training programme.

Sky have only Froome and he tried Vuelta after abandoning Le Tour but it didn't work. His supreme TT skills disappeared, and he didn't have legs a few times. Yes, Froome will ride TdF 2015, whatever he says now.

Whole-heartedly agree. I also think they have a rather rigid mindset and cannot see them relinquishing 'the Tour is the be-all-and-end' thinking.

 

[Jelantik]

As expected, UCI & WADA contested Kreuziger's case to CAS. This is not good, he could get ban for 2 years like pelizotti's case. UCI/WADA never lost case in CAS when it comes to biological passport. <sigh>Contador need to start planning without including Kreuziger anymore. I wonder who he's number two besides Majka? You can't expect Majka to ride 100% for both Giro/Tour.

 

[Netserk]

He doesn't need a super team in the Giro. Basso and Kiserlovski. I've read Rogers might ride both. Majka should not ride the Giro and be completely fresh for the Tour.

 

[Electress]

Question: Given the parcours, should AC aim to peak at the Giro if Froome rides it and try to sustain it, or aim to peak at the Tour?

 

[damian13ster]

If Froome does Giro?
Peak at the Giro, otherwise his hopes of a double will be over in May

 

[Jspear]

Question: Given the parcours, should AC aim to peak at the Giro if Froome rides it and try to sustain it, or aim to peak at the Tour?

If he is serious about the double and Froome does ride the Giro, then he will need to peak to beat Froome. Whether he tries to sustain that peak or not is a whole other issue. If Froome rides he will have to be in 100% top shape.

 

[Jelantik]

Apparently there's no love for Froome in Nibali's world...

Nibali points to Contador as his great rival because "he has more experience and more class. He is able to win a Tour without a team, unlike Froome who never would have won without the Sky team."

oh wow! snap..

http://www.cyclingquotes.com/news/nibali_it_would_be_unfair_to_deny_us_a_worldtour_license/

 

[Miburo]

Apparently there's no love for Froome in Nibali's world...



oh wow! snap..

http://www.cyclingquotes.com/news/nibali_it_would_be_unfair_to_deny_us_a_worldtour_license/

Contador won GT's with amazing teams and **** teams.

Giro 2011 and vuelta 2014 come to mind but let's face it, froome would have won the tour 2013 even with a bad team.

 

[Carols]

Apparently there's no love for Froome in Nibali's world...

LOL that Nibali is a smart guy . He knows who has Class and who came from Nowhere suddenly after showing zero talent for years.

 

[Jack_89]

"Looking at the route for the Tour, it would be a risk because the climbs in the 2015 Tour will be harder and more selective. It is a very difficult course that will involve the whole team. I have to agree on my schedule with Fabio Aro. It should be no problem," he says.



Nibali outlined his ideal schedule in the French sports daily.



"Tirreno-Adriatico, Milan-San Remo, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Critérium du Dauphiné, and maybe also Tour of California, but that's not a certainty. I don't like the time difference and it would really not be compatible with the preparation for the Tour."

So Nibali will not ride Giro....

Tour of California is not in in the same time of Giro?

 

[Carols]

Tour of California is not in in the same time of Giro?

I'm pretty sure he means the time difference between Euro and California. It is something like 10 hours or more. He has always complained about the jet lag and acclimatizing when he rode it previously.

 

[Electress]

Apparently there's no love for Froome in Nibali's world...

Nibali points to Contador as his great rival because "he has more experience and more class. He is able to win a Tour without a team, unlike Froome who never would have won without the Sky team."

Wow - that's harsh. I don't disagree, but still…

 

[Pricey_sky]

Apparently there's no love for Froome in Nibali's world...



oh wow! snap..

http://www.cyclingquotes.com/news/nibali_it_would_be_unfair_to_deny_us_a_worldtour_license/

Nibali chatting rubbish, Froome would have been able to win the Tour with a weak team in 2013 such was his dominance over the competition. In fact I could argue he Sky team of that Tour wasn't strong anyway apart from Porte.

 

[murali]

Nibali chatting rubbish, Froome would have been able to win the Tour with a weak team in 2013 such was his dominance over the competition. In fact I could argue he Sky team of that Tour wasn't strong anyway apart from Porte.

he won 2013 becoz the opposition wasnt good enough and his team was among the strongest. also, remember that movistar and katusha were doing lots of work where they shouldnt hav been doing. an AC, who peaked too early, made things easy for them. the dawg wudnt hav won the tour if nairo was the designated leader of movistar. what i mean to say is that a lot of factors aligned perfectly for Froome to take tht win; similar to wiggins.

 

[BlurryVII]

an AC, who peaked too early, made things easy for them. the dawg wudnt hav won the tour if nairo was the designated leader of movistar.

I'll have to disagree on that one. Designated leader or not, Nairo wouldn't have won. He wouldn't have followed Froome on AX 3 (without attacking on paillere) just like he couldn't on Ventoux. And he lost way too much time on the windy Mont saint michel TT to be able to keep hoping.
AC was bad all season because of the messed up winter and racing schedule, never peaked, and couldn't do anything about it anyway.
Of course, Porte made it a LOT easier since pretty much everyone was dropped before froome's move but in 2013 circumstances, Froome would have won even without him or in a bad team, we would've seen 2 or 3 more attacks from him overall.

 

[Pricey_sky]

he won 2013 becoz the opposition wasnt good enough and his team was among the strongest. also, remember that movistar and katusha were doing lots of work where they shouldnt hav been doing. an AC, who peaked too early, made things easy for them. the dawg wudnt hav won the tour if nairo was the designated leader of movistar. what i mean to say is that a lot of factors aligned perfectly for Froome to take tht win; similar to wiggins.

You could also say lots of factors aligned perfectly for Nibali last Tour. Sky weren't the strongest in 2013 but didn't need to be so for Nibali to say he only won due to the Sky team is utter rubbish. Yes Movistar should have Quintana leader but Froome still put enough time into him over Ventoux and the iTT, also would still have beat him over Ax-3 when Froome was at his strongest that year.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Nibali chatting rubbish

What else is new?

 

[LaFlorecita]

You could also say lots of factors aligned perfectly for Nibali last Tour. Sky weren't the strongest in 2013 but didn't need to be so for Nibali to say he only won due to the Sky team is utter rubbish. Yes Movistar should have Quintana leader but Froome still put enough time into him over Ventoux and the iTT, also would still have beat him over Ax-3 when Froome was at his strongest that year.

Indeed, Froome won because his opposition was 1) very young, 2) peaked in 3rd week or 3) was sub par but at least he beat them, in Nibali's case his opponents simply crashed out

 

[ILovecycling]

lol nibali is the last one who should talk this ****

 

[PirazziAttacksVino]

What else is new?

Is an abandon so hard to digest that you automatically start hating the rider who in the end won the race?

 

[Jspear]

I'll have to disagree on that one. Designated leader or not, Nairo wouldn't have won. He wouldn't have followed Froome on AX 3 (without attacking on paillere) just like he couldn't on Ventoux. And he lost way too much time on the windy Mont saint michel TT to be able to keep hoping.
AC was bad all season because of the messed up winter and racing schedule, never peaked, and couldn't do anything about it anyway.
Of course, Porte made it a LOT easier since pretty much everyone was dropped before froome's move but in 2013 circumstances, Froome would have won even without him or in a bad team, we would've seen 2 or 3 more attacks from him overall.

Good post.
It's funny, it seems no matter how a certain rider wins the Tour (or any race I guess) there is always some sort of way to diminish it or say "well if this or if that."