Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[Escarabajo]

Not sure what would be the key mountain stage. It usually changes from race to race. The majority of times, lately, the queen stage have not been the most important day to our disappointment. But I am sure that the most important stage for the Giro would be the ITT. It is just too long. If Contador performs well in this TT the race would be over before the mountains start.

 

[Red Rick]

Contador won't go for broke on the first mountain stage. That finish is totally unsuited to attacks at any point. Last climb is 5.4% average, with a flat penultimate kilometer, almost no climbing before that. Steepest part is 8km out and on a 4-5% gradient he's not gonna outclimb the skytrain for that long. Would be a waste of energy in a Giro where he needs to conserve said energy as good as possible.

He may put in a little dig in a surprise attack in the medium mountains if the circumstances are right, otherwise he'll likely wait till after the tt.

But then again this is Contador we're talking about, he may just cause mayhem on a windy flat stage in the first week just for the sake of it

 

[Jelantik]

Re:

Contador won't go for broke on the first mountain stage. That finish is totally unsuited to attacks at any point. Last climb is 5.4% average, with a flat penultimate kilometer, almost no climbing before that. Steepest part is 8km out and on a 4-5% gradient he's not gonna outclimb the skytrain for that long. Would be a waste of energy in a Giro where he needs to conserve said energy as good as possible.

He may put in a little dig in a surprise attack in the medium mountains if the circumstances are right, otherwise he'll likely wait till after the tt.

But then again this is Contador we're talking about, he may just cause mayhem on a windy flat stage in the first week just for the sake of it

I would think that he might test his opponent first. If he knows that he is in superior from against everyone, he might just attack them whenever he feels. But that might be the younger Contador. This Contador v.2.0 is more mature and calculated. Especially since he has to tackle the Tour too. I think his tactic are going to play crucial role on how not only he can win the Giro, but still coming out of Giro with still plenty left for the Tour. I guess that's what makes it complicated.

 

[Electress]

Re:

Contador won't go for broke on the first mountain stage. That finish is totally unsuited to attacks at any point. Last climb is 5.4% average, with a flat penultimate kilometer, almost no climbing before that. Steepest part is 8km out and on a 4-5% gradient he's not gonna outclimb the skytrain for that long. Would be a waste of energy in a Giro where he needs to conserve said energy as good as possible.

He may put in a little dig in a surprise attack in the medium mountains if the circumstances are right, otherwise he'll likely wait till after the tt.

But then again this is Contador we're talking about, he may just cause mayhem on a windy flat stage in the first week just for the sake of it

And for this reason, he is just the best guy to watch. Even with a more calculated 'mature'' Contador v2.0, you just can never know what he might do if he's got the measure of his opponents.

For my own peace of mind, I really hope that it becomes clear pretty early on that he's in dominant form. I do not want to have the fear for two weeks that he's left a lot to do with uncertain form in the last week of the Giro...

 

[SeriousSam]

Neutral observers will naturally be hoping that Contador has to play catch up and attack. After all, not being dominant brings out greatness like fuente de. Whereas being in control and attempting the double will bring out track stands and cautious, measured wheel following.

Normally I'd be righ there with the neutral observers, wanting to be entertained, even if I'm a fan, but not this time, because that would sadly diminish his Tour form. It would be a shape if we don't get a Contador close to top form at the biggest GT everyone else is targeting.

 

[ferryman]

Re:

Neutral observers will naturally be hoping that Contador has to play catch up and attack. After all, not being dominant brings out greatness like fuente de. Whereas being in control and attempting the double will bring out track stands and cautious, measured wheel following.

Agreed, you are very insightful and very clever.

Normally I'd be righ there with the neutral observers, wanting to be entertained, even if I'm a fan, but not this time, because that would sadly diminish his Tour form. It would be a shape if we don't get a Contador close to top form at the biggest GT everyone else is targeting.

Again, agreed, not much arguing with you on that. You are the man with the insight (sorry trolling)....

 

[Jelantik]

I would prefer to be the bias observer. I don't want to see contador doing the fuente de and throwing hell marry. I would prefer a show of his dominant form and put everyone in their place. Even if it means everyone ends up fighting for second place and makes it boring race for some, so be it. As long as he win the pink jersey at the end. Because I can't stand to watch contador get destroyed by fresh froome, quintana and nibali at TDF. He needs a much as energy reserve when he finishes the Giro.

oooaaahhh.... saturday can't come quickly!!!

 

[contador977]

Re:

There was no way Armstrong could have known Heras would have beat Beloki. Armstrong did try and get Heras a win if he could.
Get your facts right before making non founded accusations ,,,,here's the stage and you can see that Heras was no way a sure thing to win it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kqh4a4kooEE

Armstrong didnt try and get Heras a win. Based on what? Get your facts straight. And dont believe everything Phil and Paul are saying during the broadcast. Im aware of the dialect they have about Armstrong wanting to give Heras the win. 1) I didnt see him let up after he attacked and 2) He should have let Heras attack first. This is the only way to attempt to give Heras a win. Beloki would have to set the pace as Armstrong isnt going to chase a team-mate. Heras could move up the road gain 15-20s....Armstrong could attack Beloki, bridge to HEras and trade pulls to the finish line with Beloki gone. Conclusion there was no attempt at giving Heras the stage.

 

[Squirbos_19]

Personally I'm a bit worried about Contador's Giro. I hope he wins as I'm a fan, but his season so far just hasn't been very convincing. Now I know people will say he's keeping form for the Giro-Tour double, but in 2011 he still won 2 stage races before the Giro. Then he possibly could have podiumed the Tour if he didn't crash, so he had the form from early season to the tour. I think he's going to be pushed to his absolute limit in the Giro, and if he doesn't win it, this season is a failure.

Richie Porte has been flying all season and I see no reason why he can't keep it for the Giro. With the long TT, he'll put a fair bit of time into Contador. I really hope Contador's got his form right, because I honestly think if he isn't 100% he won't win the Giro.

Anyway I hope he's good enough and we get some entertaining racing because I'd love to see him win another Giro, his palmares would look much better with 2 Giro wins.

edit: I do like that Contador only has 19 race days whereas Porte has 33. This should favour Contador in the last week of the Giro.

 

[Miburo]

Contador nv planned doing the tour in 2011 since there was cas in juin 2011

 

[Jack_89]

The same things, the same (weak) arguments, the same words.
thank god the Giro is about to begin

 

[ray j willings]

Re: Re:

There was no way Armstrong could have known Heras would have beat Beloki. Armstrong did try and get Heras a win if he could.
Get your facts right before making non founded accusations ,,,,here's the stage and you can see that Heras was no way a sure thing to win it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kqh4a4kooEE

Armstrong didnt try and get Heras a win. Based on what? Get your facts straight. And dont believe everything Phil and Paul are saying during the broadcast. Im aware of the dialect they have about Armstrong wanting to give Heras the win. 1) I didnt see him let up after he attacked and 2) He should have let Heras attack first. This is the only way to attempt to give Heras a win. Beloki would have to set the pace as Armstrong isnt going to chase a team-mate. Heras could move up the road gain 15-20s....Armstrong could attack Beloki, bridge to HEras and trade pulls to the finish line with Beloki gone. Conclusion there was no attempt at giving Heras the stage.

If Heras was up the road or could have attacked then Armstrong would have let him go.
He cannot let Beloki go or let him win. Beloki was not dropped and at that point Heras could not drop him or he would have. Armstrong was there to win the tour and Heras was there to help him.
There was no way Armstrong could be assured Heras would win that stage. Your making a lot of assumptions but none of them realistic. Armstrong has on many times tried to give his team mates a victory and even let rivals take the win on a stage. Get your facts right not just making assumptions that have no truth whatsoever.

 

[HelloDolly]

Daniel Friebe
‏@friebos
Contador to @AS_Ciclismo again: "If Tinkov thought he could do without Bjarne, it's because he also thought that was how to improve things."

So Contador doesn't need Riis afterall and doesn't deny Tinkov's view that the team is better off wthout Riis....What about all the exclamations that Contador would be upset at losing Riis or that he owed Riis for standing by him in 2010-2012 ...

 

[Angliru]

Re:

Daniel Friebe
‏@friebos
Contador to @AS_Ciclismo again: "If Tinkov thought he could do without Bjarne, it's because he also thought that was how to improve things."

So Contador doesn't need Riis afterall and doesn't deny Tinkov's view that the team is better off wthout Riis....What about all the exclamations that Contador would be upset at losing Riis or that he owed Riis for standing by him in 2010-2012 ...

 

[The Hitch]

Good post angliru

 

[HelloDolly]

Excuse my lack of knowledge but what is the point of re posting my post immediately after I posted it and then saying the repost is a good post ?? Is this some insider code ?? Maybe address the issues raised instead??/

 

[Miburo]

Sarcasm cause angliru prob tried to reply to your post but failed for whatever reason

 

[Jspear]

Re:

Daniel Friebe
‏@friebos
Contador to @AS_Ciclismo again: "If Tinkov thought he could do without Bjarne, it's because he also thought that was how to improve things."

So Contador doesn't need Riis afterall and doesn't deny Tinkov's view that the team is better off wthout Riis....What about all the exclamations that Contador would be upset at losing Riis or that he owed Riis for standing by him in 2010-2012 ...

Or maybe AC just doesn't want to upset the man that pays his salary....

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Good post angliru

 

[Carols]

Re: Re:

Daniel Friebe
‏@friebos
Contador to @AS_Ciclismo again: "If Tinkov thought he could do without Bjarne, it's because he also thought that was how to improve things."

So Contador doesn't need Riis afterall and doesn't deny Tinkov's view that the team is better off wthout Riis....What about all the exclamations that Contador would be upset at losing Riis or that he owed Riis for standing by him in 2010-2012 ...

Or maybe AC just doesn't want to upset the man that pays his salary....

This....with a guy like Oleg it would be downright foolish to take him on. Bjarne is proof of that!

 

[hfer07]

Re: Re:

Daniel Friebe
‏@friebos
Contador to @AS_Ciclismo again: "If Tinkov thought he could do without Bjarne, it's because he also thought that was how to improve things."

So Contador doesn't need Riis afterall and doesn't deny Tinkov's view that the team is better off wthout Riis....What about all the exclamations that Contador would be upset at losing Riis or that he owed Riis for standing by him in 2010-2012 ...

Or maybe AC just doesn't want to upset the man that pays his salary....

Indeed.

Riis's absent for Contador is as critical as Bruyneel's back in the Disco & Astana times- which means nothing at all. Riis is obviously far better DC as far as tactical & team management approach, but then again, Contador has already gone through many problematic affairs with his past teams that he knows best how to handle those thing with care & diplomacy , so he can avoid getting dragged into conflicting positions that could come back and bite him-specially when he's ready for retirement...

 

[Electress]

Re:

Daniel Friebe
‏@friebos
Contador to @AS_Ciclismo again: "If Tinkov thought he could do without Bjarne, it's because he also thought that was how to improve things."

So Contador doesn't need Riis afterall and doesn't deny Tinkov's view that the team is better off wthout Riis....What about all the exclamations that Contador would be upset at losing Riis or that he owed Riis for standing by him in 2010-2012 ...

Contador has basically said nothing about what he thinks about anything. He's just said what he believes Oleg must think. It's totally neutral. Whose to say whether or not Contador actually agrees with Oleg or not?

 

[SeriousSam]

Re: Re:

Again, agreed, not much arguing with you on that. You are the man with the insight (sorry trolling)....

It's ok. I don't really engage in trolling myself, preferring instead to have honest and genuine discussions, but I don't take offense when other people do it.

 

[Angliru]

Re: Re:

Daniel Friebe
‏@friebos
Contador to @AS_Ciclismo again: "If Tinkov thought he could do without Bjarne, it's because he also thought that was how to improve things."

So Contador doesn't need Riis afterall and doesn't deny Tinkov's view that the team is better off wthout Riis....What about all the exclamations that Contador would be upset at losing Riis or that he owed Riis for standing by him in 2010-2012 ...

Thanks HItch. I've obviously mastered this new cn system. The consequences of hastily hitting enter while trying to squeeze in my work at the same time.

What I was intending to post is the following:

My reading of his statement is simply it his interpretation of Tinkov's reasoning behind his firing of Riis, not his actually supporting the decision and not acknowledging either way that he or the team is better off without Riis.

 

[Jelantik]

Re:

Daniel Friebe
‏@friebos
Contador to @AS_Ciclismo again: "If Tinkov thought he could do without Bjarne, it's because he also thought that was how to improve things."

So Contador doesn't need Riis afterall and doesn't deny Tinkov's view that the team is better off wthout Riis....What about all the exclamations that Contador would be upset at losing Riis or that he owed Riis for standing by him in 2010-2012 ...

Hmm.. that's not how I read his comment. He is just stating the fact. I don't think he is saying that he doesn't need Bjarne after all. HIs answer is more diplomatic in my opinion. At the end of the day, you'd better say something to support the person who writes you a paycheck, and it doesn't matter whether you agree or not. That's just a reality. You don't need to be a bike rider. If you work in a company and you don't want to get fired or decide to quit because you disagree with the decision, then you are most likely to say something that supports the decision. Even though it doesn't mean you agree either.