Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[Vino attacks everyone]

Valverde will drop like all the time in the Tour and Nairo will not pace him up.

this
No chance in hell that Quintana will be pacing Valverde this Vuelta. If Valverde is going to win this race he has to do it on his own and cover all the attacks as best that he can while Quintana fly away with Aru

 

[Netserk]

He has said Quintana will have to pace Valverde?

However if Valverde is still in red before stage 6 and they are 5 riders in the front group (Both Quintana and Valverde) do you think Quintana will be allowed to attack?

 

[ILovecycling]

dawg will go full-alien mode in stage 6.Im sure.

edit: that means Bala end.

 

[Carols]

There is a Quintana thread and a Valverde thread Back to the Main Man.

So he did have pain yesterday I hope he isn't riding on an unhealed fracture because that just means its going to fracture some more . He just wants to ride so he may be ignoring the warning signals his body is giving him and that may be to his long term detriment......

 

[Rollthedice]

He has said Quintana will have to pace Valverde?

However if Valverde is still in red before stage 6 and they are 5 riders in the front group (Both Quintana and Valverde) do you think Quintana will be allowed to attack?

Plausible scenario and the answer is no. Dawg will do the attacking.

 

[No_Balls]

There is a Quintana thread and a Valverde thread Back to the Main Man.

So he did have pain yesterday I hope he isn't riding on an unhealed fracture because that just means its going to fracture some more . He just wants to ride so he may be ignoring the warning signals his body is giving him and that may be to his long term detriment......

I am no doctor but i'm reasonably sure that was there any warning signals they've would be worse than what he mentions in the interview. A little "discomfort" and "aching" should be considered normal after all - first flat out TTT in your first race after a broken tibia. It would have been another thing had he felt unbearable pain.

He'll be fine.

 

[BlurryVII]

There is a Quintana thread and a Valverde thread Back to the Main Man.

So he did have pain yesterday I hope he isn't riding on an unhealed fracture because that just means its going to fracture some more . He just wants to ride so he may be ignoring the warning signals his body is giving him and that may be to his long term detriment......

nah, he would've never started the race, he isn't crazy.
He said he trained very intensively before this Vuelta, no way he'd have done that with an unhealed fracture or wound.
I mean he digged deep before this Vuelta in training. That is nothing else but a positive sign.

The main question is: Will he have the form to win?

He knows what he's doing, I'd go as far as saying he knows where he is form wise.
I mean he probably climbed Bola del Mundo full gas, he trained in sierra nevada where he did some (personal) record times in past years, so he probably clocked himself, and he knows his numbers/wattage ---> he knows more about his form than what he pretends.

 

[Jspear]

There is a Quintana thread and a Valverde thread Back to the Main Man.

So he did have pain yesterday I hope he isn't riding on an unhealed fracture because that just means its going to fracture some more . He just wants to ride so he may be ignoring the warning signals his body is giving him and that may be to his long term detriment......

All the riders had pain in their legs after the ttt.

 

[Carols]

All the riders had pain in their legs after the ttt.

LOL...he had pain at the fracture site.....big difference.....

 

[ILovecycling]

LOL...he had pain at the fracture site.....big difference.....

Dont forget it also could be Saxo PR bs talk

I will remind you the...
1st rule of cycling, dont believe tinkoff saxo PR

 

[murali]

Dont forget it also could be Saxo PR bs talk

I will remind you the...
1st rule of cycling, dont believe ANY PR

I fixed the typo there.

 

[murali]

In Tour, we had Nibali fans spamming here, now it seems piti/narito fans have hijacked this thread.

This thread is dedicated to Alberto Contador, and not for some road side strays. So, other people's fans: KEEP OUT of this Thread.

Please. (i need to add that please to not sound rude)

 

[Carols]

Dont forget it also could be Saxo PR bs talk

I will remind you the...
1st rule of cycling, dont believe tinkoff saxo PR

Wow I shouldn't believe a man who broke his leg a few weeks back when he says the site is painful after hard riding. You are very distrusting

 

[Miburo]

Of course let's believe every word of a man who said a few weeks ago there's no way he'll ride the vuelta.

Contador only races to win, if you think he's riding this vuelta with serious pain then you're in for a surprise. He's not gonna ride this vuelta so he can get crushed by froome and quintana.

That happened to him in 2013 and Contador doesn't seem the man to make a mistake twice.

You'll see thursday, he won't lose much. That is my believe.

 

[Dr. Juice]

He is still feeling pain from time to time. Hopefully it doesn't get worse under stress. It would be a shame if he feels pain on stage 6. Maybe they should give him Tramadol on that particular stage - from the team car - for the last hour. Universal painkiller for moderate to severe pain.
The next critical stages are 3-4 days later, if he doesn't feel pain for 3 or 4 days in a row it means everything goes right. The most important thing is no pain on stage 6 and in the second half of the Vuelta.

 

[arvc40]

Excellent riding from Contador today, all things considered. Onwards

 

[cineteq]

Excellent riding from Contador today, all things considered. Onwards

IMO, a silly participation if Contador is not there for the win. What does he have to prove?

 

[Hugo87]

He didn't lost any seconds today (besides the ones from the bonus sprint finish), so a very good day for him, smart move being at the front early in the sprint knowing his strength wasn't at best.

 

[BlurryVII]

Yeah definitely, that finish didn't suit him at all, he still looked great. Mathews won, Bouhanni is 8th, that really shows it was made for a Sprinter - puncher kind of rider.
Bring on stage 6

Edit: Valverde crashed and lost his red jersey, just like in 2012
He didn't lose as much time though

 

[Carols]

Edit: Valverde crashed and lost his red jersey, just like in 2012
He didn't lose as much time though

I was waiting for you to say that, I certainly thought it!!!!!

Major difference between now and 2012 is Alberto wasn't coming off a broken leg then......

He was in very good position until final 800 meters, that was good to see at least. Another day down.

I hope his leg is doing okay...... He was favoring the leg on the boat this AM and looked very unhappy

 

[burning]

His team is atrocious when the road goes up, I think that's his biggest concern, he won't be able to defend anything with that team.

 

[Jagartrott]

he still looked great.

You really think that? I thought he looked like he was in pain.
How high is the pressure from his fans, the Spanish media and his boss to compete here? And how healthy is it to compete so fast after that crash?

 

[Carols]

His team is atrocious when the road goes up, I think that's his biggest concern, he won't be able to defend anything with that team.

Indeed. As soon as the team roster came out it was obvious he would have to attack and defend alone should he have anything to defend once the road went up.

 

[BlurryVII]

You really think that? I thought he looked like he was in pain.
How high is the pressure from his fans, the Spanish media and his boss to compete here? And how healthy is it to compete so fast after that crash?

He was in pain at Montevergine di Mercogliano as well at the giro 2011, he dropped a bit because it was not hard enough, and everyone was sprinting like crazy towards the finish line .
I'm not saying he'll be in giro form, but he always looks in pain in these kind of uphill sprinting finishes.

 

[ggusta]

IMO, a silly participation if Contador is not there for the win. What does he have to prove?

I agree, someone cajoled him into participating for the home country fans I believe. I don't think it's something he'll look back on as a wise decision, hope he proves me wrong.