Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[Carols]

"Estoy muy contento por como va la preparacion. Ayer cuando gano todo el mundo decia "esta muy fuerte". Yo tengo un planning: voy mas lento que otros anos a estas alturas pensando en el Giro y todo va perfecto"

Google says:
I am very happy with the preparation goes. Yesterday when I win everyone said "is very strong." I have a planning: I'm slower than other years at this point thinking about the Giro and everything is perfect "

Okay, works for me. He is centered and may be disappointed, but will stick to his plan .

 

[BlurryVII]

My Spanish isn't brilliant but here is my attempt at translating for the benefit of the forum:

"I'm really, really, extremely massively satisfied with my preparation. It's so awesome I only lost 28 seconds in 1km today"

"Yesterday when I won, everyone was like "whoa he is strong!". But really, my plan has been to go really slow here because I'm targeting the Giro. Yes, I don't care about coming second and losing to Chris here at all. It's all about the Giro. Just training. "

You are either a troll, or you don't know spanish at all. Go hide yourself.

 

[BlurryVII]

Google says:
I am very happy with the preparation goes. Yesterday when I win everyone said "is very strong." I have a planning: I'm slower than other years at this point thinking about the Giro and everything is perfect "

Okay, works for me. He is centered and may be disappointed, but will stick to his plan .

Yeah that's basically it. Slower build up than other years.

Second sentence, he should have committed himself a bit more yesterday, didn't go as fast as he could. You never know what can happen.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Second sentence, he should have committed himself a bit more yesterday, didn't go as fast as he could. You never know what can happen.

For christ's sake Alberto.

 

[SDub_Vo2Max]

As I said in the Andalucia thread...Froome and Contador both not at 100%. When you are at 85% better and worse days can happen. There was a lot of acid in the legs of Alberto today. He wasn't fluid even before Froome accelerated.

I don't think he lied when he said he was a couple of kg too heavy at this point of the season and that he didn't knew how that would translate onto the steep gradients (yesterday).
It seems like he has a good base form...good endurance....good aerobic power. Yesterday was a 20 min effort just within the aerobic limit (like in a TT).
Today was an all-out anaerobic effort, all or nothing...going absolutely in the red and he still lacks a bit in that respect.

'Acid' in the legs have nothing to do with it. Exercise science has disproved the lactic acid myth. More likely he was fatigued from tears in microfibers.

 

[Jelantik]

I feel like Contador will be very hurt from this loss, because he was enjoying the race in first place, probably thinking it was in the bag and now he is losing for 2 seconds.
Even if it's only andalucia, and he has to take it easy at this point in the season , it's a harsh psychological hit.
I think this will cause him to train harder and put more intensity than planned from now on to Tirreno just to beat/crush Froome in Italy and that might not be ideal for the double.

Well I think it's more in the 'moment' kind of thing. Your adversary attacks, the first insticnt of him is to follow Froome. Froome didn't follow contador yesterday, and rode within himself. Today Contador seemed to get in the moment, so he followed Froome, just to find out he probably forced to be in his limits really quick. I watched Contador and he seemed a little more struggling after Froome dropped him.

As far as the winning. Yes it's kinda hurt to loose just 1 second. Reminding me of the lost of 2014 Dauphene. Not that both are in the same situation. But he was in the race leader jersey and he lost it just before the last day .

Contador said that he wanted to see where he is compared to Froome. So now he got it. So all and all, don't be so pesimistic that early yet. It's still a long season and after all this is the first season.

It's just too bad, Froome started the same winning way in the last 3 years now by winning his first race with supposedly not really a good form.

 

[Jelantik]

Nope. I'm not going to watch Alberto finish 2nd over and over again.

Well I don't blame you. Just like the rest of the fans, of course I want him to win. So we got so emotionally invested that we just want to see him win period.

But don't forget too, he is attempting the impossible of Giro/Tour double in the modern era. That's the goal. So to put it on perspective, I don't mind him comes second, as long as he win when it "matters" .. translation.. winning the Giro and Tour.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Well I don't blame you. Just like the rest of the fans, of course I want him to win. So we got so emotionally invested that we just want to see him win period.

But don't forget too, he is attempting the impossible of Giro/Tour double in the modern era. That's the goal. So to put it on perspective, I don't mind him comes second, as long as he win when it "matters" .. translation.. winning the Giro and Tour.

the thing is, winning or losing this race doesn't influence the outcome of the other races. It's not because he lost this race, he's more likely to win the double. If he'd won the race, he wouldn't have a higher chance of losing the race. So in the end the only thing that matters, right now, is that he lost this race.

 

[Arredondo]

My sympathies are with you. I love Purito but am very glad he isn't my #1 favorite. That would be so difficult to bear....

In the end, it's nicer to support someone who loses a lot and winning sometimes, then someone who wins all the time. Because victory tastes sweater then.

My personal opinion though.

 

[Jspear]

Copied from the Nibbes thread, so they can't blame for talking about AC in their thread.

why don't we come back to this statement after Giro. Just to clarify, by "out" I mean out of the race leader contention, not "out" of the race itself. His recovery is getting worse day by day, that is just the clock of the biology, no one can alter it besides some special food. So maybe he can win the Giro (that is still a big if), I doubt he will have anything left to win the Tour.

So why in the world do you think it is a "big if" for him to win the Giro?

 

[LaFlorecita]

I updated the "career highlights" post if anyone is interested. the link is in the OP.

 

[Jspear]

I updated the "career highlights" post if anyone is interested. the link is in the OP.

Cool, thanks! It's a good database to have.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Copied from the Nibbes thread, so they can't blame for talking about AC in their thread.


So why in the world do you think it is a "big if" for him to win the Giro?

please don't bring him over to this thread.

 

[BlurryVII]

Copied from the Nibbes thread, so they can't blame for talking about AC in their thread.


So why in the world do you think it is a "big if" for him to win the Giro?

Because he is a stupid hater, simple as.

And how the hell did he come out with the conclusion that AC's recovery is getting worse day by day? That's fascinating actually.

 

[BlurryVII]

By the way, where's nibali at ? Getting ready for the Tirreno beat down?

Oh I forgot, Nibali has now adopted the lance armstrong Tour approach, so he has that excuse whenever he loses during the season. July is gonna be fun.

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

By the way, where's nibali at ? Getting ready for the Tirreno beat down?

Oh I forgot, Nibali has now adopted the lance armstrong Tour approach, so he has that excuse whenever he loses during the season. July is gonna be fun.

Well, an approach that gives you 7 tour victories is an approach one would be stupid not to consider

 

[BlurryVII]

Well, an approach that gives you 7 tour victories is an approach one would be stupid not to consider

Yeah but first Nibali isn't anywhere near Armstrong's level, second that approach is just a made up excuse to justify Nibali's futur and past losses in one week races.

But you and me know very well that even if he tried, he would still lose against the field that is shaping up for Tirreno.

 

[LaFlorecita]

he seems happy.. that makes me feel a little less horrible

hopefully he can hang on to the jersey but Froome is just 2 points behind :-(

 

[infeXio]

"I'm satisfied with this tour, and of course especially with my performance yesterday. But at this moment of the season there will always be greater variations between the daily shape on each stage. Yesterday, I had a great feeling - today, I didn't have the same legs".

"After the stage yesterday, people said that I was perhaps in too good a shape at this moment in my race schedule. But everything is going according to the plan and I'm on track with my preparations ahead of my season goals", comments Alberto Contador, who sits 2nd in the GC after today's stage, while leading the points classification.

http://www.tinkoffsaxo.com/news/contador-second-gc-cold-mountain-stage-battle-andalucia/

 

[Jspear]

"I'm satisfied with this tour, and of course especially with my performance yesterday. But at this moment of the season there will always be greater variations between the daily shape on each stage. Yesterday, I had a great feeling - today, I didn't have the same legs".

"After the stage yesterday, people said that I was perhaps in too good a shape at this moment in my race schedule. But everything is going according to the plan and I'm on track with my preparations ahead of my season goals", comments Alberto Contador, who sits 2nd in the GC after today's stage, while leading the points classification.

http://www.tinkoffsaxo.com/news/contador-second-gc-cold-mountain-stage-battle-andalucia/

Thanks for posting. This makes sense...his form fluctuating and everything right now.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Alberto Contador ‏@albertocontador 31m31 minutes ago
Asi llegue a meta,nos toco comer un poco de barro!like this I arrived to the finish line, we had to eat some mud!

 

[arvc40]

Shame Contador had bad form today but that's the way it goes. Ups and downs. Tomorrow he may feel great again but maybe its to late in this race. I expected Froome to be ahead of Contador at this event so no surprise he has performed well today. Froome certainly ahead with regards to race weight. Onwards and Upwards !

 

[sir fly]

"I'm satisfied with this tour, and of course especially with my performance yesterday. But at this moment of the season there will always be greater variations between the daily shape on each stage. Yesterday, I had a great feeling - today, I didn't have the same legs".

"After the stage yesterday, people said that I was perhaps in too good a shape at this moment in my race schedule. But everything is going according to the plan and I'm on track with my preparations ahead of my season goals", comments Alberto Contador, who sits 2nd in the GC after today's stage, while leading the points classification.

http://www.tinkoffsaxo.com/news/contador-second-gc-cold-mountain-stage-battle-andalucia/

That's the whole truth. And applies to everybody.
On the other hand, Sky's a bit in front of the opposition. With Tinkoff's double in mind it makes sense. GT squads can peak slowly towards the goals and stay as fresh as possible for the prime nursing they'll have to provide.

 

[Arredondo]

Shame Contador had bad form today but that's the way it goes. Ups and downs. Tomorrow he may feel great again but maybe its to late in this race. I expected Froome to be ahead of Contador at this event so no surprise he has performed well today. Froome certainly ahead with regards to race weight. Onwards and Upwards !

Froome will focus on the Tour, which is in July. Contador for the Giro, which starts in may.

Why the **** is everyone talking about Froome is ahead in race weight?

 

[Jelantik]

"Yesterday, I had a great feeling ? today, I didn?t have the same legs?.

"I think I should have tightened the screws a bit more yesterday," he said with a laugh. "Now I am thinking about those two seconds. In cycling you never know.

"It is a very strong attack,really strong. He did not stop, did not stop, did not stop, and I saw that the best I could do was to recover a little and that is what I preferred to do. He could not control the difference because in the end you do not calculate the time in such a short distance. I knew that he was likely to take the lead.

yes. he is kinda sorta regretting maybe freewheeling. and yes, froome was stronger than him. and yes he has a bad day too.

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