Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[SeriousSam]

I want Contador and Schleck to ride like it's 2010 again. With their bellys filled with anger
And Andy to gift the stage because the team doesn't renew with his brother and he wants to go back to Riis.

Contador and Schleck 2010 level climbing does not beat the Dawg.

 

[Poursuivant]

http://www.youtube.com/#/watch?v=2KATucvlq9c&desktop_uri=/watch?v=2KATucvlq9c

Legendary interview

'I don't know I cannot explain because ehhh.... I remember the night before with my teammate Jesus Hernandez in the room... tomorrow maybe we can attack.'

'In the descent I said Alberto try or not in the next climb.... try or not. I'm not sure but for the radio say hey, in the front, full gas, full gas in the front. And in the moment Bjarne says full gas in the front full gas in the front. In this moment I am not sure if I attack or not. But after 1 k of climb I said Alberto, this is the moment, maybe you cannot.... maybe you don't win, but if you don't try you never know this. And then attack.'

'But I am very happy because sometimes I said uff, maybe Alberto you cannot win, but I said no no, I need to fight for the victory, the second place is not good.'

What a legend

He speaks good English.

 

[fantomas]

Really Bjarne is back? Awesome that will def help Alberto!

Yup, he is. Maybe for some fireworks at Palhieres?

 

[fantomas]

Contador and Schleck 2010 level climbing does not beat the Dawg.

Has Froome ever ridden fast for Ks and Ks like they did in 2010?

 

[The Hitch]

Funny stuff.

A point of correction, though. Froome speaks fluent English and was born in Kenya - a former Brit colony. Contador is Spanish through-and-through.

That said, it should be exciting to see these two go toe-to-toe in the mountains. I anticipate Contador will attack relentlessly while Froome does everything he can to stay with him or - even more hopefully - counter attack. Froome's TT advantage should be the factor that forces Contador to let it all go on the climbs.

That Contador vs. Schleck track-standing was entertaining, but nowhere near as entertaining as watching the best turn themselves inside-out to see who is the better man this year.

I dont expect Contador to attack at all. Theres a reason he brought Kreuziger Roche Rogers in and keeps talking about them in every interview since January and why they all made the TDF their goal for the season.

And i doubt its just to go solo the whole time like he did when he had mediocre climbers like eh, porte for example, in the team.

In fact i expect the plan is that if Froome attacks far out then Rogers Roche and Kreuziger will do pace work to try and bring him back or at least to save Contador some energy in the chase.

 

[Publicus]

I dont expect Contador to attack at all. Theres a reason he brought Kreuziger Roche Rogers in and keeps talking about them in every interview since January and why they all made the TDF their goal for the season.

And i doubt its just to go solo the whole time like he did when he had mediocre climbers like eh, porte for example, in the team.

In fact i expect the plan is that if Froome attacks far out then Rogers Roche and Kreuziger will do pace work to try and bring him back or at least to save Contador some energy in the chase.

Agree with this. Unlike years past AC has not relied on his own strength to neutralize moves so far (@ the TdF), but has had Roche or Roman take up the chase. Hopefully he continues to utilize their strength and marshall his own until needed.

 

[fantomas]

Why would Froome attack from far out?

 

[trevim]

Why would Froome attack from far out?

To prove a point, just like Contador tries to do on the first mountain stage.

 

[fantomas]

To prove a point, just like Contador tries to do on the first mountain stage.

I think that's highly inlikely. Sounds like certain suicide.

 

[Publicus]

Why would Froome attack from far out?

The Dawg wants to dominate Contador and others. That's what his little attack off the front the other day was all about. He mentioned in an article about one of his worst days on the bike at Tirreno-Adriatico where Contador had attacked and was joined by Nibali. He apparently refused to let AC when that stage and mustered the energy to counterattack and pass them both for the stage victory. He was especially proud of his accomplishment. I dont relay the story as a bad thing, so much as to give us a glimpse into how Froome thinks. No way he passes up this opportunity to stamp his authority all over this race IMO

 

[fantomas]

The Dawg wants to dominate Contador and others. That's what his little attack off the front the other day was all about. He mentioned in an article about one of his worst days on the bike at Tirreno-Adriatico where Contador had attacked and was joined by Nibali. He apparently refused to let AC when that stage and mustered the energy to counterattack and pass them both for the stage victory. He was especially proud of his accomplishment. I dont relay the story as a bad thing, so much as to give us a glimpse into how Froome thinks. No way he passes up this opportunity to stamp his authority all over this race IMO

But why would that make him go on a suicidal quest? He will do his thing and attack 2-3-4 Ks out. At the most. More likely he will attack with 300 m to go and put in a few seconds on Alberto.

 

[Afrank]

Contador and Schleck 2010 level climbing does not beat the Dawg.

Maybe if he's lucky he could hang on their wheels for a couple K before they rode away from him.

Realistically though, Froomes never really had to go head to head with one of the best climbers in the world on a very difficult climb. So we don't know how he would have fared. Personally, I think Andy and Alberto would have beat him.

 

[movingtarget]

I dont expect Contador to attack at all. Theres a reason he brought Kreuziger Roche Rogers in and keeps talking about them in every interview since January and why they all made the TDF their goal for the season.

And i doubt its just to go solo the whole time like he did when he had mediocre climbers like eh, porte for example, in the team.

In fact i expect the plan is that if Froome attacks far out then Rogers Roche and Kreuziger will do pace work to try and bring him back or at least to save Contador some energy in the chase.

I don't expect Froome to go crazy on the first MTF. Rogers has inside knowledge of Sky and Contador will be hoping that Rogers does as well in the Tour as last year. He looked good in the Dauphine apart from one bad day. As for Kreuziger he is unpredictable. He often gets dropped when you don't expect him to and then does something on a harder stage. Roche has looked good so far but will it last ? If Porte was a mediocre climber, Roche was and is worse.

 

[Jelantik]

Really Bjarne is back? Awesome that will def help Alberto!

AWESOME!!! the master tactician is going in the car. Wonder what tactic they will do?? I'll keep saying this again, Froome will be itching to showboat tomorrow. He loves the fact that he has been far superior than contador. Makes the battle even sweeter if he got defeated or even if contador can match him side by side when he attacks.

Froome: .. whaaatt the ***??
contador: Whaz up yo?

again, this is another fan's disillusion

 

[Jelantik]

andy said it.

On Sky, the Luxembourger said the he thought the team was beatable.

“I don’t think they’re too strong. They’re beatable,” he said. Asked how he would do it, he was quick to point to others. “Not necessarily me … I believe Katusha’s strong. Saxo Bank is also really strong. It’s a long journey to Paris, and it’s not only about Sky.”

so it's natural if contador believes he can beat froome. Even andy thinks sky team are beatable.

 

[ThirdWorld]

I don't expect Froome to go crazy on the first MTF. Rogers has inside knowledge of Sky and Contador will be hoping that Rogers does as well in the Tour as last year. He looked good in the Dauphine apart from one bad day. As for Kreuziger he is unpredictable. He often gets dropped when you don't expect him to and then does something on a harder stage. Roche has looked good so far but will it last ? If Porte was a mediocre climber, Roche was and is worse.

porte was a mediocre climb when was riding at saxo bank... but he moved to sky and the miracle happened...

 

[airstream]

I don't expect Froome to go crazy on the first MTF. Rogers has inside knowledge of Sky and Contador will be hoping that Rogers does as well in the Tour as last year. He looked good in the Dauphine apart from one bad day. As for Kreuziger he is unpredictable. He often gets dropped when you don't expect him to and then does something on a harder stage. Roche has looked good so far but will it last ? If Porte was a mediocre climber, Roche was and is worse.

Hitch simply can not forgive Porte that he did nothing for Saxo in 2011 (Riis resused to increase his salary and Porte rode for minimal WT payment according to terms of original contract) and then dared to become a great climber on Sky that did justice to his skills.

 

[Publicus]

But why would that make him go on a suicidal quest? He will do his thing and attack 2-3-4 Ks out. At the most. More likely he will attack with 300 m to go and put in a few seconds on Alberto.

There's nothing suicidal about it IMO. He's owned Contador on the road all year, throwing down the gauntlet under these circumstances is hardly suicidal from Froome's position.

 

[LaFlorecita]

I just get redirected to the front page on youtube if I click on fleurs link - here's a working link; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KATucvlq9c

Could be, copied it from my phone and removed the m.

 

[Cimber]

Hitch simply can not forgive Porte that he did nothing for Saxo in 2011 (Riis resused to increase his salary and Porte rode for minimal WT payment according to terms of original contract) and then dared to become a great climber on Sky that did justice to his skills.

It was clear he was living to sky. They already tried to get him out of his contract a year earlier so if you know the rider is definately changing team there is no reason to increase his salary. Would only make sense if he agreed to prolong his contract at the same time. And would be rather unproffesional if he underperformed at Saxo on purpose, and I dont think that is the case.

The reason to why his perfomance jumped significantly can be several. 2010 and 2011 were both quite chaotic at Saxo, maybe fit in better socialt on Sky, those infamous maginal gains and lastly issues that is best discussed in the SKY thead in the other forum.

Which the reason(s) is/are is down to personal conviction i guess

 

[xrayvision]

Saxo have a plan for today, Dan Frost were interviewed last night, but couldn´t and wouldn´t reveal anything, as he said, also SKY reads the internet...

 

[airstream]

It was clear he was living to sky. They already tried to get him out of his contract a year earlier so if you know the rider is definately changing team there is no reason to increase his salary. Would only make sense if he agreed to prolong his contract at the same time. And would be rather unproffesional if he underperformed at Saxo on purpose, and I dont think that is the case.

The reason to why his perfomance jumped significantly can be several. 2010 and 2011 were both quite chaotic at Saxo, maybe fit in better socialt on Sky, those infamous maginal gains and lastly issues that is best discussed in the SKY thead in the other forum.

Which the reason(s) is/are is down to personal conviction i guess

I don't think he improved much in 2012 compared to 2010 when he showed great climbing level for a GT neophyte and a guy who never rode such passes. So Porte's growth doesn't surprise me. In 2011 he may have disliked to ride for a guy fanned by troubles and uncertainty.

 

[Cimber]

I don't think he improved much in 2012 compared to 2010 when he showed great climbing level for a GT neophyte and a guy who never rode such passes. So Porte's growth doesn't surprise me. In 2011 he may have disliked to ride for a guy fanned by troubles and uncertainty.

His Giro climbing in 2010 was descent but no where close to the same ball park as now and his placering in the GC was mainly cos of the break they let go.

Would say that Majkas perfomance in this years Giro was much more impressive than Portes in 2010 despite same GC placement

 

[airstream]

His Giro climbing in 2010 was descent but no where close to the same ball park as now and his placering in the GC was mainly cos of the break they let go.

Would say that Majkas perfomance in this years Giro was much more impressive than Portes in 2010 despite same GC placement

He was among 15 best climbers. For 1st GT and first year in Europe it's super yet.

 

[Cimber]

He was among 15 best climbers. For 1st GT and first year in Europe it's super yet.

It was definately not bad at all but he wasnt young rider though new to europe, and there is a huge leap from what he did in the Giro to what he might dó in the Tour. Btw Andy was far better and far younger in his 1st GT, also Giro, finishing 2nd, only beaten by no other than Di Luca