Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[rhubroma]

I don't understand why people think Contador can't be the guy he was five years ago, when last year demonstrated emphatically he can. Only a crash marred an otherwise stellar performance, while he won the Vuelta coming back from injury.

He himself has said he intentionally started the season a notch below last year, when he was not riding the double and wanted to reassert himself after a poor 2013.

Let us then wait and see how he goes at the Giro and Tour, before making drastic conclusions.

 

[Miburo]

Re:

I don't understand why people think Contador can't be the guy he was five years ago, when last year demonstrated emphatically he can. Only a crash marred an otherwise stellar performance, while he won the Vuelta coming back from injury.

He himself has said he intentionally started the season a notch below last year, when he was not riding the double and wanted to reassert himself after a poor 2013.

Let us then wait and see how he goes at the Giro and Tour, before making drastic conclusions.

Maybe he can maybe he can't. It's a fact that we haven't seen the best contador in a gt since 2011. There are many circumstances that can be called as an excuse, but it's still 4 years ago.

I think he can still be the same, but i just believe in the guy. We'll see next month. No excuses.

 

[ray j willings]

IMO I thought right up until his crash last year Bertie was looking back to his best. He looked fantastic in the early races of that year and Nibs could not follow his wheel in the small battle they did have at the tour. I think looking at the way Nibs surrendered to damage limitation on such a short stage meant he could not follow Bertie. Bertie IMO would have won the tour quite easy. This year is a ?
If he his on top form then we should have a great GT season.

 

[Miburo]

Maybe he was at his best but we can't be sure since we haven't really seen him perform in the race.

 

[ray j willings]

Re:

Maybe he was at his best but we can't be sure since we haven't really seen him perform in the race.

Your right.
I have to admit I am not overly confident from what I have seen this year.
But Bertie is one mad sick rider who is not scared to blow a race apart.
That's why even if he goes into the tour to tired to win overall he will do something that will light up the race.
A true champion who just loves to race. "He don't need no earpiece"

 

[rhubroma]

Re: Re:

I don't understand why people think Contador can't be the guy he was five years ago, when last year demonstrated emphatically he can. Only a crash marred an otherwise stellar performance, while he won the Vuelta coming back from injury.

He himself has said he intentionally started the season a notch below last year, when he was not riding the double and wanted to reassert himself after a poor 2013.

Let us then wait and see how he goes at the Giro and Tour, before making drastic conclusions.

Maybe he can maybe he can't. It's a fact that we haven't seen the best contador in a gt since 2011. There are many circumstances that can be called as an excuse, but it's still 4 years ago.

I think he can still be the same, but i just believe in the guy. We'll see next month. No excuses.

Oh, but I think he was at a 2009 Tour and 2011 Giro level at last year's Tour.

You have to consider that at those previous races the competition was not as stiff as last year with Froome before he crashed out and with a Nibali who reached his absolute maximum. Bjarne even said that Contador was never as good as he was going into the Tour last year.

Unfortunately crashes ruined the spectacle. The only thing to hope for is that Contador has gotten his preparation right this year. If he is super at the Giro then he will have. It will be entirely another matter seeing if that can be carried through the Tour, however.

But this is what makes his bid so exciting and praiseworhty.

 

[Jelantik]

it's hard to judge his form this year. Last year was easy because we saw him flying in his early season. This is why it's intriguing why we have so many theory of how his form might look like and what to make of his early season form. But something that's troubling for me is that.. the entire squad hasn't been that stellar either. The string of bad luck seems to follow TS team up until now. So I hope it's just merely bad luck and it has nothing to do with new training regime or new diet etc. Because if that's the case, I'm a little worry about how his form will be, jugging from how the entire squad have performed so far (Majka said that he was tired coming to the race).

I have no doubt that he'll be ready. But being ready and being good enough to fend his rivals let a lone in the Giro and then the tour are another thing. He has to have a monstrous form and better than last year to pull that off. And that's why it makes it very intriguing the debate of Contador's form. I guess we'll just have to wait until May to see how his form actually looks like

 

[Miburo]

I don't really care that much if he wins the tour, i just wanna see him again in pink.

The best color in cycling.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

I don't really care that much if he wins the tour, i just wanna see him again in pink.

The best color in cycling.

Yes I agree. I really want to see him win the Giro again. Giro is my favorite race
And Alberto looks really good in pink

 

[sir fly]

Re: Re:

I don't really care that much if he wins the tour, i just wanna see him again in pink.

The best color in cycling.

Yes I agree. I really want to see him win the Giro again. Giro is my favorite race
And Alberto looks really good in pink

Yeah, yeah...
Sour grapes, sweet lemon...

 

[rm7]

I actually have a question for some of the "nerds" in here. It's not intended to be clinic stuff at all, so i'm sorry if it's gonna look like that.

But when we see riders like Nibali, Schleck, Armstrong doing these super peaks at the tour without performing in the spring at all (ex. Schleck maybe, always there for the ardenes), how do they pull it of regarding to training in the winther?

Contador 2013 never reached a good level at all, but i dont really get it. Example Contador wasn't THAT bad in the spring, he was a level beyond Froome. How couldn't he raise his level through training blocks in May and June? I know he maybe didn't have the best winter preparation, but he wasn't anything like Nibali and Lance in the spring if you know what I mean.

Nibali seems to be at a VERY bad level in the spring (like last year), and then he will suddenly raise his level from 70 % to 100 % in one month. Why couldn't Contador go from maybe 75 % to 100 % in 2013? His form in spring was better than the super peak guys in normally are in the spring.

 

[Carols]

Re:

I actually have a question for some of the "nerds" in here. It's not intended to be clinic stuff at all, so i'm sorry if it's gonna look like that.

But when we see riders like Nibali, Schleck, Armstrong doing these super peaks at the tour without performing in the spring at all (ex. Schleck maybe, always there for the ardenes), how do they pull it of regarding to training in the winther?

Contador 2013 never reached a good level at all, but i dont really get it. Example Contador wasn't THAT bad in the spring, he was a level beyond Froome. How couldn't he raise his level through training blocks in May and June? I know he maybe didn't have the best winter preparation, but he wasn't anything like Nibali and Lance in the spring if you know what I mean.

Nibali seems to be at a VERY bad level in the spring (like last year), and then he will suddenly raise his level from 70 % to 100 % in one month. Why couldn't Contador go from maybe 75 % to 100 % in 2013? His form in spring was better than the super peak guys in normally are in the spring.

Alberto usually carries a very high base level and does two peaks, a small one early and a major one for his main objective. The super peakers (Andy, and geez I hope Nibali doesn't start doing it every year) have a much lower base level and then do one major peak.

This year is very different for him as he didn't do his small spring peak but is instead trying to hold back form for the double. Whether he can judge this correctly is something we will all just speculate about until we see him at the Giro!

2013 he just totally blew his prep, never peaked I don't think, but he put that right last year so now we just need to see the unveiling of this attempt at the double.

 

[Dedelou]

Re: Re:

I actually have a question for some of the "nerds" in here. It's not intended to be clinic stuff at all, so i'm sorry if it's gonna look like that.

But when we see riders like Nibali, Schleck, Armstrong doing these super peaks at the tour without performing in the spring at all (ex. Schleck maybe, always there for the ardenes), how do they pull it of regarding to training in the winther?

Contador 2013 never reached a good level at all, but i dont really get it. Example Contador wasn't THAT bad in the spring, he was a level beyond Froome. How couldn't he raise his level through training blocks in May and June? I know he maybe didn't have the best winter preparation, but he wasn't anything like Nibali and Lance in the spring if you know what I mean.

Nibali seems to be at a VERY bad level in the spring (like last year), and then he will suddenly raise his level from 70 % to 100 % in one month. Why couldn't Contador go from maybe 75 % to 100 % in 2013? His form in spring was better than the super peak guys in normally are in the spring.

Alberto usually carries a very high base level and does two peaks, a small one early and a major one for his main objective. The super peakers (Andy, and geez I hope Nibali doesn't start doing it every year) have a much lower base level and then do one major peak.

This year is very different for him as he didn't do his small spring peak but is instead trying to hold back form for the double. Whether he can judge this correctly is something we will all just speculate about until we see him at the Giro!

2013 he just totally blew his prep, never peaked I don't think, but he put that right last year so now we just need to see the unveiling of this attempt at the double.

Carol responded to you with the tech stuff above and I want to add that even the greatest champions remain human and their performance is affected by "external " pressures and events that do not necessarily enhance the benefits of the training method they select in a particular season. I happen to believe that "external adversity" always stimulated Alberto to provide us with great performances. (troubles with Astana- the brain injuries- amstrong's and Bruynel betrayal). But in 2013, (and mind you, i am not implying complaisance here ) with a new domestic life, and other out of sport obligations his performance never rose to the level needed to win races. And then again, since i don't know him intimately, my whole theory could be mistaken.

 

[ILovecycling]

Re: Re:

I don't really care that much if he wins the tour, i just wanna see him again in pink.

The best color in cycling.

Yes I agree. I really want to see him win the Giro again. Giro is my favorite race
And Alberto looks really good in pink

Yeah Giro is gret,otoh as of me I want to see him winning MR and actually trying planned double.Thats all I want cuz that would be legendary!


Btw have you lost an avatar bet? I dont think you would pick tomeke avatar voluntary

 

[DBotero]

Re: Re:

I don't really care that much if he wins the tour, i just wanna see him again in pink.

The best color in cycling.

Yes I agree. I really want to see him win the Giro again. Giro is my favorite race
And Alberto looks really good in pink

Contador must have heard something about the pink discussion since he retweeted this pic

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

I don't really care that much if he wins the tour, i just wanna see him again in pink.

The best color in cycling.

Yes I agree. I really want to see him win the Giro again. Giro is my favorite race
And Alberto looks really good in pink

Yeah Giro is gret,otoh as of me I want to see him winning MR and actually trying planned double.Thats all I want cuz that would be legendary!


Btw have you lost an avatar bet? I dont think you would pick tomeke avatar voluntary

Yes I lost a bet with Netserk

 

[infeXio]

Re: Re:

I don't really care that much if he wins the tour, i just wanna see him again in pink.

The best color in cycling.

Yes I agree. I really want to see him win the Giro again. Giro is my favorite race
And Alberto looks really good in pink

Contador must have heard something about the pink discussion since he retweeted this pic

That version of the Maglia Rosa is so much better than the one they've been using in the recent years

 

[BeagRigh]

Re: Re:

I don't really care that much if he wins the tour, i just wanna see him again in pink.

The best color in cycling.

Yes I agree. I really want to see him win the Giro again. Giro is my favorite race
And Alberto looks really good in pink

Contador must have heard something about the pink discussion since he retweeted this pic

That version of the Maglia Rosa is so much better than the one they've been using in the recent years

Agree, though I still thinking matching shorts, helmets and bikes should be saved for the final day. I liked Nibali's attitude to this, was a bit disapointed with Quintana last year...

 

[May0maniac]

Re: Re:

I don't really care that much if he wins the tour, i just wanna see him again in pink.

The best color in cycling.

Yes I agree. I really want to see him win the Giro again. Giro is my favorite race
And Alberto looks really good in pink

Contador must have heard something about the pink discussion since he retweeted this pic

That version of the Maglia Rosa is so much better than the one they've been using in the recent years

I have to agree, this one looks way better.
This picture was taken durning the 2008 Plan de Corones MTT, if I'm not mistaken.

 

[Carols]

Re: Re:

Carol responded to you with the tech stuff above and I want to add that even the greatest champions remain human and their performance is affected by "external " pressures and events that do not necessarily enhance the benefits of the training method they select in a particular season. I happen to believe that "external adversity" always stimulated Alberto to provide us with great performances. (troubles with Astana- the brain injuries- amstrong's and Bruynel betrayal). But in 2013, (and mind you, i am not implying complaisance here ) with a new domestic life, and other out of sport obligations his performance never rose to the level needed to win races. And then again, since i don't know him intimately, my whole theory could be mistaken.

I didn't see any response, just this post. I'm sure I would find your response interesting, please repost!

Yes I totally agree, he is human and can sometimes use adversity to his benefit. He seems to keep his personal and professional life distanced. We never see his wife! Once in a while his dogs LOL! I dread the day he becomes a father because that might distract him. So hopefully the baby Contadors will wait until after 2016 . Meanwhile we need to see how the absence of Bjarne and the machinations of Oleg have affected his spirit and legs......

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

I don't really care that much if he wins the tour, i just wanna see him again in pink.

The best color in cycling.

Yes I agree. I really want to see him win the Giro again. Giro is my favorite race
And Alberto looks really good in pink

Contador must have heard something about the pink discussion since he retweeted this pic

That version of the Maglia Rosa is so much better than the one they've been using in the recent years

I have to agree, this one looks way better.
This picture was taken durning the 2008 Plan de Corones MTT, if I'm not mistaken.

I like both versions

 

[sir fly]

I think Tour of California jersey would suit him the best!

 

[Miburo]

Re:

I think Tour of California jersey would suit him the best!

Why are you trolling? What gain you've? Are you upset that contador rides the giro? Or have you lost discussions in this forum and decided that you're on troll mode from now on?

 

[Jspear]

Re: Re:

I think Tour of California jersey would suit him the best!

Why are you trolling? What gain you've? Are you upset that contador rides the giro? Or have you lost discussions in this forum and decided that you're on troll mode from now on?

He loses an avatar bet with me if AC rides the Giro.

 

[ray j willings]

Re:

I think Tour of California jersey would suit him the best!

Yeah that's a nice jersey. Bertie has won so many races, that could be another one to add to his vast collection of winners jerseys. Good suggestion