Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Oly **** this is Contador 14' right there, sharp as fck. Look at those leg muscles

 

[Jack_89]

Berto looks good and ready.

Regardless of the photos , I maintain the same conviction : he will destroy all

 

[Red Rick]

Contador ignored orders to double training load in januari and februari and instead doubled coffee intake. Seems legit

 

[Carols]

I believe that DFA123, rhubroma and I are in agreement on the major points. Alberto can win the Giro. Porte is better than he has ever been before and could mount a real challenge. Alberto needs to dispose of him as quickly as possible and to do that needs to come in near peak, rather than play catch up. And that battling a Porte that is this strong may jeopardize Alberto's run at the Tour win.

It's hard to determine from just pictures but Alberto looks darned fit, cut and ready . Porte looks better than he ever has in his entire life . Alberto will prevail .

 

[ILovecycling]

Re: Re:

with all due respect to Porte lovers, the New and Improved Porte belongs to clinic, not here.

In the del Trentino, he made just 32 sec to Cunego. that means he is not in any kind of "magical" form. (you can argue that he might not have put extra effort, but i dont believe any such nonsense.)

I think AC made tactical error earlier in TA. he left too many things too late. (and NIP and thomas charged to finish despite a bad crash)

things are not going to be like that in Giro. everyone will work together to tire out sky train, then do their business.

Nope stop it.Its not clinic here.We presume it all about racing not anything else here in rr section (also I believe them)


Btw avatar bets thatcporte beats AC are on the table guys,but beware that Im undefeated

I'm not taking that bet, because I think AC will win (just that Porte has a chance if Contador tries to ride the Giro at 90%) .

I will offer you an avatar bet though that Porte finishes above either Uran or Aru - despite the fact the latter two have far superior GC records.

Nahh Aru is injured and Uran is inconsistent.He has slight edge on Porte imo but nothing significant.

 

[Electress]

Re:

I believe that DFA123, rhubroma and I are in agreement on the major points. Alberto can win the Giro. Porte is better than he has ever been before and could mount a real challenge. Alberto needs to dispose of him as quickly as possible and to do that needs to come in near peak, rather than play catch up. And that battling a Porte that is this strong may jeopardize Alberto's run at the Tour win.

It's hard to determine from just pictures but Alberto looks darned fit, cut and ready . Porte looks better than he ever has in his entire life . Alberto will prevail .

I think it'd be easy to underestimate Porte, but I think there's been a fair amount of hype around him, too tbh. Yes, he's better, but he's still got a lot to prove over 3 weeks. Frankly, I don't care if he goes in with some scrutiny on him. More the merrier from my point of view. Won't matter to AC; might matter to Porte.

Alberto looks sharp. I wouldn't bet against him.

 

[Mozart92]

Aru is sick, not injured. He will recover in a few days.

 

[SkyTears]

Re:

Aru is sick, not injured. He will recover in a few days.

You don't recover so fast from -5kg and days of sitting on WC
Aru will not do Giro, Contador can face Nibali imo

 

[Jspear]

Re: Re:

Aru is sick, not injured. He will recover in a few days.

You don't recover so fast from -5kg and days of sitting on WC
Aru will not do Giro, Contador can face Nibali imo

You are wrong....imo

 

[Jelantik]

Re: Re:

Aru is sick, not injured. He will recover in a few days.

You don't recover so fast from -5kg and days of sitting on WC
Aru will not do Giro, Contador can face Nibali imo

i believe Giro is still at least 2 weeks. Aru is sick not dead . kidding. Agreed with contador last pic. His leg..remind me of his giro win.

 

[greenedge]

As I mentioned earlier in the thread; the real standout result for me was right at the start of the season, when he won the Nationals time trial against a really high quality field. To win that, despite having lost weight, suggests that his power-weight ratio has moved on to a whole new level. Similarly to how it did for Froome and Wiggins before their GT victories.

His Nationals victory was impressive, but the last 20 or so KM was hilly terrain.

 

[DFA123]

As I mentioned earlier in the thread; the real standout result for me was right at the start of the season, when he won the Nationals time trial against a really high quality field. To win that, despite having lost weight, suggests that his power-weight ratio has moved on to a whole new level. Similarly to how it did for Froome and Wiggins before their GT victories.

His Nationals victory was impressive, but the last 20 or so KM was hilly terrain.

It wasn't that hilly though. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the gradients in the second half were mostly 1-2%, with just three steeper climbs which were less than 500m. Porte's average speed was 47.3km/h, so it was certainly a course where you would expect overall power to be more important than w/kg. Incredible that he beat Dennis and put over two minutes into Hepburn and Rogers.

The course wasn't too disimillar to the time trial that will be in the Giro this year - although the Giro one is longer. Will be interesting to see how he goes there; if he can take any time, or at least limit his losses, against Uran and Contador.

 

[ray j willings]

Bertie is going to smash it at the Giro.
The Porte challenge will fade quite quickly once the big climbing starts.

 

[movingtarget]

Re: Re:

I believe that DFA123, rhubroma and I are in agreement on the major points. Alberto can win the Giro. Porte is better than he has ever been before and could mount a real challenge. Alberto needs to dispose of him as quickly as possible and to do that needs to come in near peak, rather than play catch up. And that battling a Porte that is this strong may jeopardize Alberto's run at the Tour win.

It's hard to determine from just pictures but Alberto looks darned fit, cut and ready . Porte looks better than he ever has in his entire life . Alberto will prevail .

I think it'd be easy to underestimate Porte, but I think there's been a fair amount of hype around him, too tbh. Yes, he's better, but he's still got a lot to prove over 3 weeks. Frankly, I don't care if he goes in with some scrutiny on him. More the merrier from my point of view. Won't matter to AC; might matter to Porte.

Alberto looks sharp. I wouldn't bet against him.

Porte'e best result in a GT is seventh place a long time ago. He is a better rider now but if Contador is ever going to win another GT it will be the Giro. Porte has to improve to even make the podium. Contador will be shorts odds to win another Giro. Only illness or injuries will beat him.

 

[Carols]

Re: Re:

I believe that DFA123, rhubroma and I are in agreement on the major points. Alberto can win the Giro. Porte is better than he has ever been before and could mount a real challenge. Alberto needs to dispose of him as quickly as possible and to do that needs to come in near peak, rather than play catch up. And that battling a Porte that is this strong may jeopardize Alberto's run at the Tour win.

It's hard to determine from just pictures but Alberto looks darned fit, cut and ready . Porte looks better than he ever has in his entire life . Alberto will prevail .

I think it'd be easy to underestimate Porte, but I think there's been a fair amount of hype around him, too tbh. Yes, he's better, but he's still got a lot to prove over 3 weeks. Frankly, I don't care if he goes in with some scrutiny on him. More the merrier from my point of view. Won't matter to AC; might matter to Porte.

Alberto looks sharp. I wouldn't bet against him.

Porte'e best result in a GT is seventh place a long time ago. He is a better rider now but if Contador is ever going to win another GT it will be the Giro. Porte has to improve to even make the podium. Contador will be shorts odds to win another Giro. Only illness or injuries will beat him.

No one is saying Alberto can't win. The major concern is what battling Porte will take out of him and what he will have left for the Tour. At least IMO.

 

[movingtarget]

Re: Re:

I believe that DFA123, rhubroma and I are in agreement on the major points. Alberto can win the Giro. Porte is better than he has ever been before and could mount a real challenge. Alberto needs to dispose of him as quickly as possible and to do that needs to come in near peak, rather than play catch up. And that battling a Porte that is this strong may jeopardize Alberto's run at the Tour win.

It's hard to determine from just pictures but Alberto looks darned fit, cut and ready . Porte looks better than he ever has in his entire life . Alberto will prevail .

I think it'd be easy to underestimate Porte, but I think there's been a fair amount of hype around him, too tbh. Yes, he's better, but he's still got a lot to prove over 3 weeks. Frankly, I don't care if he goes in with some scrutiny on him. More the merrier from my point of view. Won't matter to AC; might matter to Porte.

Alberto looks sharp. I wouldn't bet against him.

Porte'e best result in a GT is seventh place a long time ago. He is a better rider now but if Contador is ever going to win another GT it will be the Giro. Porte has to improve to even make the podium. Contador will be shorts odds to win another Giro. Only illness or injuries will beat him.

No one is saying Alberto can't win. The major concern is what battling Porte will take out of him and what he will have left for the Tour. At least IMO.

I don't give Contador any chance of winning the Tour. I just don't think the double is possible anymore. Possible to make the podium of the Tour at best I think. Even if he sees off Porte and even if he has a margin of a few minutes on Aru and Uran he still has to ride a three week race on a hard course and if he is leading going into the final week he will have to defend his lead against attacks that will surely come. The Tour is a stressful race and faster with all the other pressures as the biggest bike race in the world against a fresh Froome and Quintana. I think the recovery time between races is against him and even Contador has admitted that himself. Of course if Froome and Quintana turn up at the Tour and have bad luck or are not in the best of form, that changes things completely but you always need some luck to win a GT especially avoiding illness and bad falls re last year's Tour for Froome and Contador.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

I don't give Contador any chance of winning the Tour. I just don't think the double is possible anymore. Possible to make the podium of the Tour at best I think. Even if he sees off Porte and even if he has a margin of a few minutes on Aru and Uran he still has to ride a three week race on a hard course and if he is leading going into the final week he will have to defend his lead against attacks that will surely come. The Tour is a stressful race and faster with all the other pressures as the biggest bike race in the world against a fresh Froome and Quintana. I think the recovery time between races is against him and even Contador has admitted that himself. Of course if Froome and Quintana turn up at the Tour and have bad luck or are not in the best of form, that changes things completely but you always need some luck to win a GT especially avoiding illness and bad falls re last year's Tour for Froome and Contador.

So why did you say you don't give him any chance to win the Tour?

Contador thinks it is possible, and that's all I need to know. I think he is very realistic about his chances, he says it will be very difficult but certainly not impossible.

 

[Jelantik]

Porte just sealed the win with Konig in third place. He definitely has been in flying form and together with his trusted lieutenant (konig), Sky is going to give Contador the run for his money. Even though I was wondering if Porte has been peaking in a very long time, can he sustain the 3 weeks when it matters? If history to repeat itself (wiggins and froome), there's a possibility he can hold it for 3 weeks.

On the other hand, Contador didn't even show anything stellar this year (other than a spark at ruta de sol), and he hasn't been racing since. I think Contador probably knows that Porte is a threat now. And he can't let Porte get the upper hand from the start. He is going to give Contador a headache. Even if Contador can fend off Porte, he probably have to full gas and possibly it will cost his energy comes to tour again the fresh Froome, Quintana and Nibali. I think that's what I'm worry about. A strong Porte plus Konig will push Contador to the limit to deliver the Giro win, and cutting Contador's reserve for TDF.

Btw, does anyone know what Rogers has been up to? He made his first appearance on Catalunya, but abandon the race due to sickness. Since then, I haven't seen him in any line up in any race that TS participates. Looks like Giro-Tour double plan as well for Rogers. Last year he made first appearance at LBL (if my memory serves), this year his name isn't there. Interesting. He only has one race that he completed so far this year. How is he going to get the race mileage? a new different approach to his training in the making? (simulating a race in the training, without going to a race)?

 

[Netserk]

I don't think Porte will have enough steam for the whole Giro, but he can hit the ground running and push Alberto really, really hard in the first two weeks, so that he's more tired for the Tour. I think that's the plan for Sky. You simply don't race so much and win so much from January all the way to the start of the Giro if you want to be at your best in the third week.

 

[Carols]

Re: Re:

I don't give Contador any chance of winning the Tour. I just don't think the double is possible anymore. Possible to make the podium of the Tour at best I think. Even if he sees off Porte and even if he has a margin of a few minutes on Aru and Uran he still has to ride a three week race on a hard course and if he is leading going into the final week he will have to defend his lead against attacks that will surely come. The Tour is a stressful race and faster with all the other pressures as the biggest bike race in the world against a fresh Froome and Quintana. I think the recovery time between races is against him and even Contador has admitted that himself. Of course if Froome and Quintana turn up at the Tour and have bad luck or are not in the best of form, that changes things completely but you always need some luck to win a GT especially avoiding illness and bad falls re last year's Tour for Froome and Contador.

So why did you say you don't give him any chance to win the Tour?

Contador thinks it is possible, and that's all I need to know. I think he is very realistic about his chances, he says it will be very difficult but certainly not impossible.

Exactly! Only by believing something is possible can one ever accomplish it It may be Very Difficult, but possible

 

[sir fly]

Has he prepared for the allergies?
If I remember correctly, Contador is sensitive on the pollen.
Or was it just another PR spin in order to augment the Giro accomplishment?

 

[ray j willings]

If anyone is going to do the double it's Bertie. Bertie's plan for the tour if Chaos theory limbs and tinymanofpower get through the first week will be to take it on when he needs to. Energy saved his key for Bertie so when and if he attacks I think he will make it stick and I reckon he will go for a surprise stage as well . I have no idea what I am talking about "pop corn and drink ready for insulting reply's " I just want Bertie to win. The others are chickens for not riding the giro. The energy bit is good though

Its been such a nice day today.

 

[Miburo]

Re:

Has he prepared for the allergies?
If I remember correctly, Contador is sensitive on the pollen.
Or was it just another PR spin in order to augment the Giro accomplishment?

Look at this tool, watches cycling for 2 years and thinks he knows what he's talking about.

Contador's allergies issue has been known for more than 5 years, never was an issue for the giro.

Do research next time

 

[SeriousSam]

Who thinks Porte is inevitably going to have a meltdown losing minutes and wrecking his chances, like he always does, based on a sample of 3 or so observations and the belief that riders cannot change their characteristics?

Let's do an avatar bet.

 

[ray j willings]

Re: Re:

Has he prepared for the allergies?
If I remember correctly, Contador is sensitive on the pollen.
Or was it just another PR spin in order to augment the Giro accomplishment?

Look at this tool, watches cycling for 2 years and thinks he knows what he's talking about.

Contador's allergies issue has been known for more than 5 years, never was an issue for the giro.

Do research next time

What tool his he. Spanner , hammer. maybe a nice set of hex keys.
I reckon sir fly not only should know about Bertie's allergies but I would like him to explain the meaning of our existence.
It's not worth getting worked up about someone's allergy's.