Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[Vino attacks everyone]

Meh, I think Nibali is one of the few riders who's an even worse sprinter than Contador

AC will pull the last km for gc, Nibali will go for stage

 

[Jelantik]

can we come to stage 4, please.



i personally think AC will attack in the final climb and descent like a rocket. probably he will send someone up in the early break, but not sure abt it.

Froome is expected to set a very high tempo to shed as many riders (in other teams) as possible and descent behind porte or thomas to the finish.

Nibali will attack. i dont know from where.

Kelderman will follow the main group and attack later.


Anyother possible tactics for the top-4?

If Contador attacks it's probably to test his leg. The climb isn't steep enough in my understanding. So I don't think he will be the first one to attack. Out of the 4, I think the first attack will come from Nibali. He needs to show something for himself. Some reassurance that he got the tactical savvy even if his form isn't there. If that happens, Contador will follow or let Froome closes and he follows. And so does Van Der Broeck. If the attack successfully split the group, Kelderman and Van der Broeck might want to keep the pace high all the way down since they are chasing for position.

 

[Jspear]

can we come to stage 4, please.



i personally think AC will attack in the final climb and descent like a rocket. probably he will send someone up in the early break, but not sure abt it.

Froome is expected to set a very high tempo to shed as many riders (in other teams) as possible and descent behind porte or thomas to the finish.

Nibali will attack. i dont know from where.

Kelderman will follow the main group and attack later.


Anyother possible tactics for the top-4?

Personally I think that AC, Froomie, Nibali, Talansky, Kelderman, and company will all come in on the same time. I'd give a stage like this to a breakaway. I know Froome has said he expects some action, but the profile doesn't look hard enough to make any serious attacks. Still I'd be happy if I was wrong and someone like Nibali tried to get away on the decent. Even then I think Contador will just follow Froome.

 

[Jelantik]

Personally I think that AC, Froomie, Nibali, Talansky, Kelderman, and company will all come in on the same time. I'd give a stage like this to a breakaway. I know Froome has said he expects some action, but the profile doesn't look hard enough to make any serious attacks. Still I'd be happy if I was wrong and someone like Nibali tried to get away on the decent. Even then I think Contador will just follow Froome.

I think some team like Orica and Giant Shimano won't let that happen. So I don't think the break away will be successful. It might be possible that someone will be doing the Roger's Giro stage 6 attack.

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

Just watched the 2nd stage over again. Holy ****. AC and Froomeboys attack lasted for like 20 seconds when they went full gas with 5km to go

 

[GuyIncognito]

Just watched the 2nd stage over again. Holy ****. AC and Froomeboys attack lasted for like 20 seconds when they went full gas with 5km to go

In Contador's defense, he was drafting a motorbike

 

[orangerider]

The dilemma is that Contador will need to put time into Froome in the mountains, not just not get dropped.

Saturday he needs to try to win the stage me thinks and put in a good attack. At a certain point he can't just let the Briton lay down the law if he wants to beat him.

But it's not just about the mountains in the Tour. Far from it. Lots of time can be lost on the flats. And when a team gives the middle finger to the strongest time trial rider who can serve as the most versatile engine on any terrain, then Froome's even in more trouble.

 

[Butterhead]

But it's not just about the mountains in the Tour. Far from it. Lots of time can be lost on the flats. And when a team gives the middle finger to the strongest time trial rider who can serve as the most versatile engine on any terrain, then Froome's even in more trouble.

Well, it havent been decided yet, not fully, lets see if not the pressure gets to high for DB so he have to stamp his authority on CF and brings Wiggo after all.
I am pretty confident we will see him in the tour
Either way, both solutions will course problems, whatever he rides it or not.

 

[Kokoso]

Crap compared to what he is capable of I guess

Anyway, back to the topic - what happened there, don't you know?

 

[rhubroma]

But it's not just about the mountains in the Tour. Far from it. Lots of time can be lost on the flats. And when a team gives the middle finger to the strongest time trial rider who can serve as the most versatile engine on any terrain, then Froome's even in more trouble.

I agree with that, but I was talking about where it is obvious he needs to gain, not loose, time, all other variables notwithstanding.

It's not possible to predict when a GC contender will have a crash, puncture, or simply get caught behind in the low lands, whereas in the mountains Bertie needs to fly and gain time he will undoubtedly loose in the ITT.

 

[Cimber]

I agree with that, but I was talking about where it is obvious he needs to gain, not loose, time, all other variables notwithstanding.

It's not possible to predict when a GC contender will have a crash, puncture, or simply get caught behind in the low lands, whereas in the mountains Bertie needs to fly and gain time he will undoubtedly loose in the ITT.

Agree, and according to interviews he aims to peak in the 3rd week, which is the week where Froome last year showed weakness. So if he can follow Froome till the 3rd week and limit hos losses in the TT to under 2 mins then anything can happen.

 

[Jelantik]

Looks like Sagan is going to join TS and Bertie welcomes him. I hope he is really genuine. The last time I heard his interview welcoming Amstrong, things didn't go so well at TDF. 2 stars on the same team aiming for TDF yellow and green never has a good ending story. Ask Wiggins and Cav. What do you guys think about Sagan goes TS? I personally don't like it.

 

[ILovecycling]

Me neither.
Apart from Alberto there are leaders like Majka and Kreuziger (Roche,Rogers) and it won't be good for them either.
It would be better for Sagan obviously,but for the others,hell no

 

[Netserk]

I think it's fine. Sagan hardly needs the big train in the Tour.

 

[ILovecycling]

I think it's fine. Sagan hardly needs the big train in the Tour.

Its not about the train,but about the focus of the team imo.Tinkoff would like to buy him domestiques to ride with him etc

 

[Jelantik]

Its not about the train,but about the focus of the team imo.Tinkoff would like to buy him domestiques to ride with him etc

Agreed. Then everyone has to ride in front on sprint page and control the peloton on the mountain stage. That's a lot of work. Even, having 8 guys just for one GC guy seems not enough. I think Contador just says the right thing now. Gosh, Oleg, why can't you buy some new raw talents instead of a big star?

 

[murali]

Sagan to the team is a bad idea.
There may be stages where he doesnt need support riders. but a stage will always prop up where the riders will have to ride a tough stage for AC, followed by a tougher stage for sagan. that doesnt make sense.

Also, the wiggins/Cav experiment failed horribly. I entirely blame sky for ruining Cav's chances in tht TdF.

the "he doesnt need train" logic is completely bogus. no one wins a stage without teammates, unless it is Vino

 

[Afrank]

Saying he doesn't need a train isn't so much saying he can do fine and still win things without teammates, but more saying he's not the kind of rider that needs a full sprint train that takes up every spot on the team and is dedicated to him. Riders like Cav and Greipel need large trains to take them into the finish and teams dedicated almost entirely to them, Sagan doesn't.

I'm unsure about Sagan at Saxo. Not so much because of the conflict with Contador at the Tour, but more because of the support he'll have in the classics.

 

[trevim]

Saying he doesn't need a train isn't so much saying he can do fine and still win things without teammates, but more saying he's not the kind of rider that needs a full sprint train that takes up every spot on the team and is dedicated to him. Riders like Cav and Greipel need large trains to take them into the finish and teams dedicated almost entirely to them, Sagan doesn't.

I'm unsure about Sagan at Saxo. Not so much because of the conflict with Contador at the Tour, but more because of the support he'll have in the classics.

It can't be much worse than what he gets in Cannondale. Bodnar is one of the few decent domestiques there.

 

[Jelantik]

I'm unsure about Sagan at Saxo. Not so much because of the conflict with Contador at the Tour, but more because of the support he'll have in the classics.

you don't think Matti, Benna, Nicky and probably Kreuziger too for ardennes aren't good support for him?

 

[Jspear]

It can't be much worse than what he gets in Cannondale. Bodnar is one of the few decent domestiques there.

Tinkov wouldn't just sign Sagan for the classics. He has repeatedly said he wants the best team....he would make sure he either already had good support riders for Sagan or he would sign some other good domestiques for Sagan as well.

 

[del1962]

you don't think Matti, Benna, Nicky and probably Kreuziger too for ardennes aren't good support for him?

He is probably more thinking the cobbles, I dont recall Sagan doing much in the Ardennes

 

[Afrank]

It can't be much worse than what he gets in Cannondale. Bodnar is one of the few decent domestiques there.

you don't think Matti, Benna, Nicky and probably Kreuziger too for ardennes aren't good support for him?

True, it will definitely be better then what he has at the moment. He'll have decent enough support in those guys. But I can't help thinking he would get more a little more (and higher quality) support somewhere else. BMC for one I still think would be a good team for him.

It would be good if Tinkoff would sign some other doms along with him. Like Gatto and Marcato for starters. Both can be very good when on form.

 

[murali]

Is today going to be another boring day that can be skipped?

or will AC have a chance today?

 

[Miburo]

Is today going to be another boring day that can be skipped?

or will AC have a chance today?

Why would you ever think Contador will attack on a stage like this in the freaking dauphine?

Contador btw barely does any attacking in the dauphine regardless. His racing style is completely in the dauphine compared to other races.