Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[thehook]

IMHO I think Froome will not dominate the TT. I just don't think he has the form of last season. For whatever reason (clinic edit).

AC will lose time to Froome. But AC has 28sec on him. Not sure of the distance at the top of the climb to finish. I think AC can match him uphill or hold him very close on the 2nd half. I look at the Dauphine to make that assumption.

Quintana I feel could get hurt time wise on the second half of the TT. Not sure if he can roll the big gear on the run in.

Uran is my dark horse. Not to win. But to begin to move up in GC.

Valverde to me is riding on borrowed time here. So I don't think he will improve much.

And I'm just curious to see what Chavez does.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

You guys shouldn't generalize. I said i would lie too about my preparation just like Contador and i never said he lied about his injury.

I really don't know how good he'll be tomorrow, he might beat Froome but Froome might beat him with 1 minutes, really no clue at all.

Of course he would about his preparation.

 

[Red Rick]

In 2012, Froome got dropped on a harder climb, and he lost like half a minute to Contador in the tt. I'd say Froome is climbing worse than he was at this stage in the Vuelta two years ago. Small chance he's gonna make up that much time.

People seem to forget that Contador is a superb tt'er when he's on form. He may not be superb, but when he's attacking like yesterday he's not gonna TT on the level of Valverde

 

[TANK91]

It was obviously not as serious as first diagnosed. So what. Get over it. The thing you and the rest of the Froome fans can't stomach is the fact that a fit Contador is simply better than your boy. That's sport. That's Contador.

Pleased go back some pages and see what i have wrote bout Contador talk about jump the gun, i have doubt how serious?, i also said pages back i hope he wins and goes for the record. I also saidhe is the best rider this year no GT completed and still top the WT. I dont care if your and administrator you sir are an idiot. Please do also go back and look in the TDF threads when i was gutted about him abandoning. Contador is better than Froome i have said it lol.

 

[sultanofhyd]

Contador losing a minute to Froome in the TT is nonsense. Tomorrow's route is tailor made for Contador, it suits him even better than the Annecy TT. I won't be surprised if he wins the stage outright.

This was the result in the mountain TT last year in the TDF when Froome was in the best form of his life and Contador in his worst.

http://www.cqranking.com/men/asp/gen/race.asp?raceid=24045

This was the profile.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Contador losing a minute to Froome in the TT is nonsense. Tomorrow's route is tailor made for Contador, it suits him even better than the Annecy TT. I won't be surprised if he wins the stage outright.

This was the result in the mountain TT last year in the TDF when Froome was in the best form of his life and Contador in his worst.

http://www.cqranking.com/men/asp/gen/race.asp?raceid=24045

This was the profile.

Tomorrow's ITT is much easier.

 

[infeXio]

I have my doubts about how he'll perform tomorrow. The slightest lack of form tends to yield quite bad results in TTs, and tomorrow's route doesn't exactly have a huge amount of climbing.

Looking forward to watching it regardless

 

[Dr. Juice]

I have my doubts about how he'll perform tomorrow. The slightest lack of form tends to yield quite bad results in TTs, and tomorrow's route doesn't exactly have a huge amount of climbing.

Looking forward to watching it regardless

If he is in 2012 form he could go fine. He should be good in the first part then defend himself in the second. Let's see if he has the consistent power to push the gears. The first part should suit him and the second is always slightly downhill, which helps climbers in pushing big gears.

If he has a bad day, he might just lose out to Quintana and lose 1.30 to Froome, which I hope is not the case.

 

[No_Balls]

No more stage hunting

Spain’s Alberto Contador, the winner of the Vuelta a España in 2008 and 2012, has finally confirmed in a press conference on Monday that he feels in good enough condition to try to capture his home Grand Tourt for a third time in 2014. It is the first time since the race departed from Jerez 10 days ago that the Tinkoff-Saxo rider has definitively stated that he now feels confident enough, following his Tour de France injuries and recovery, to go for the overall in this year's Vuelta.

In a good mood, chatting to journalists both before and after a press conference in which he spoke at length, Contador explained that he feels that even if his form is an incognito compared to other top favourites like Chris Froome (Sky) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar) he feels confident enough to say he will now battle for the overall.

About 2012 and now:

He paused to think for a little when asked if he felt better than in 2012, when he last won the Vuelta, on the first rest day, before answering “No. Joaquim was really on top of his game then and we have yet to see how he is going and how I am going here in the really hard stages. But I think he’s in better shape than he was in 2012.”

http://m.cyclingnews.com/news/contador-confident-he-can-battle-for-vuelta-a-espana-title

 

[Dr. Juice]

No more stage hunting



About 2012 and now:



http://m.cyclingnews.com/news/contador-confident-he-can-battle-for-vuelta-a-espana-title

That's kind of contradictory no? " He ( Purito) was on top of his game back then" first. And then the last sentence " But I think he's in better shape than in 2012" .
Surely a translation error.

 

[metaCYCLE]

That's kind of contradictory no? " He ( Purito) was on top of his game back then" first. And then the last sentence " But I think he's in better shape than in 2012" .
Surely a translation error.

...or mind-games on the next level: mind-knitting!

 

[LaFlorecita]

http://sporza.be/cm/sporza/wielrenn...ontador?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=dlvr.it

De Jongh says Alberto's injury was real and says "there will always be cynics". He just recovered extremely quickly. He still feels pain while walking, but on the bike it doesn't bother him anymore. He couldn't build a good base due to his injury, so they'll go day by day.

 

[jens_attacks]

i think it's obvious to everyone that the injury was real and he's at least to me far from the level of the tour. but he is a champ and will win this damn bike race

 

[LaFlorecita]

That's kind of contradictory no? " He ( Purito) was on top of his game back then" first. And then the last sentence " But I think he's in better shape than in 2012" .
Surely a translation error.

...or mind-games on the next level: mind-knitting!

What I thought: He doesn't feel better than in 2012. Yet Purito is supposedly stronger than back then. In 2012 Alberto could not drop Purito. We have yet to see if he can this year, but it looked good yesterday. Huh?

 

[Jack_89]

“The truth is that I am not better. The difference between now and 2012 is that two years ago there was a particularly strong rider, Joaquim Rodriguez, who always responded to changes of pace and attacked me on the final meters of each stage. We’ve not yet seen mountain stages like those, but I think he was better in 2012”, explains the leader of Tinkoff-Saxo.

 

[No_Balls]

That's kind of contradictory no? " He ( Purito) was on top of his game back then" first. And then the last sentence " But I think he's in better shape than in 2012" .
Surely a translation error.

Perhaps. Or even part of the mindgames as metaCYCLING is speaking about. Here he is laying an even greater pressure on Purito (willing or unwilling) who's supposed to perform even better then 2012 - where he was in top shape

I've also noticed the change of attitude concerning Froome. Sure, he is still there among the favorites, but AC is about to destroy him mentally and here speaks more of Purito and Quintana. Nairo can play the game and says he fears Contador more then Froome and has letting the world now that Contador is the favorite now.

I think they know Dawg is not at the top of his game.

 

[Helvellyn]

What I thought: He doesn't feel better than in 2012. Yet Purito is supposedly stronger than back then. In 2012 Alberto could not drop Purito. We have yet to see if he can this year, but it looked good yesterday. Huh?

He dropped Purito on stage 6 and I would also class stage 9 as a dropping as well, even though he clawed his way back. We haven't seen much to suggest Purito is on scintillating form at present.

 

[peloton]

Your are so patroninsing and condescending . How is that a rant ??? I am entitled to my opinions without being belittled by you

What is the problem with this sycophantic thread is you and others are not interested in debate but in total adulation... You cannt stomach that others may have apoint of view that is contrary to yours so you try and demean them rather than enter debate




And I didn't call his injury a bluff ...I spoke about the extent of his injury ....can you read English....I am not new to the sport ..again nothing but total adulation will do or it insult time
No point on being on here becasue no one really wants to enter debate
its Everything about Contador = great
Everything about Froome & SKY = rubbish

And I am a Contador fan btw

Well English is not my native language, sorry about that.

On the bold part, why do you post on this thread, and bring Froome into it?

 

[murali]

i think it's obvious to everyone that the injury was real and he's at least to me far from the level of the tour. but he is a champ and will win this damn bike race

Precisely what my gut says.

if and when AC wins this race, he still wont be in his best form. but a 90% AC is far better than many of today's GC riders.

I dont read much into jrod's form right now. He always peaks for the final set of mountain finishes.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Just found this pic on tweeter

 

[Angliru]

i think it's obvious to everyone that the injury was real and he's at least to me far from the level of the tour. but he is a champ and will win this damn bike race

Not everyone based on numerous posts that I've read since the end of stage 9.

 

[pastronef]

Just found this pic on tweeter

that's Pais Vasco 2009. some heckler on the road, or maybe some rival team pi$$ing him off?

 

[BlurryVII]

"Por ejemplo, los puntos internos que me pusieron están ahora saliendo del cuerpo y aunque no tiene mayor importancia, no va todo perfecto"

He said this today in interview, what the hell does that mean? It sounds like really bad

 

[ferryman]

Just found this pic on tweeter

I'm bursting, toilet break anyone

 

[hfer07]

"Por ejemplo, los puntos internos que me pusieron están ahora saliendo del cuerpo y aunque no tiene mayor importancia, no va todo perfecto"

"For example, the internal stitches I had, are just coming of my body-and even is not really important, not "everything" is going perfect"