Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[ILovecycling]

Re: Re:

How I see ITT results

Uran winning
Porte 1'
Alberto 1'10''
Cataldo 1'20''
Konig 1'50''
Fabio 1'55''

It's an extremely long time trial. The gaps will be much bigger than that - I for one expect Porte to take pink if he goes in with the 24 second deficit that he has now.

Of course its a Guess, but Im think it will be something like this.Like I said, I dont think gaps will be more than 2 minutes between those guys.

 

[ILovecycling]

Re:

Porte is overrated as a TTer, especially since he has lost weight. Porte won't take pink from Contador.

Signed.

 

[Mr.White]

Re:

Porte is overrated as a TTer, especially since he has lost weight. Porte won't take pink from Contador.

Agree on that, but Uran could be dangerous

 

[red_flanders]

Re:

Porte is overrated as a TTer, especially since he has lost weight. Porte won't take pink from Contador.

Previously, losing weight has made Sky riders better TT'ers. I'm curious to see what happens with Porte.

 

[Jelantik]

Re: Re:

Big smiles again on the podium, he is Happy . One more nasty day to get through and then some rest. He should be good by the ITT. Aru and Porte must be saying....geez if we couldn't get rid of him now, when are we going to be able to?

Porte is surely keeping his powder dry for the TT now, as for Aru who knows? He needs to take time on Alberto and Porte as he will lose a fair amount on Wednesday.

Porte is definetely not as strong as it seems. He is lurking but at the end when he attacks, hard like he did at one point today, he can't make any difference.

He is trying the catalunya thing on contador. well back then, contador wasn't at least as good as the giro.

But.. i won't put a judgement that quick yet on Porte. Maybe he indeed is keeping his powder dry until ITT (and not loose any more time on the mountain). Definitely sky is applying wiggin's mantra. Destroy in ITT, then stay close. So far he has managed that. He even claimed he felt good.

Bertie ... hhhh.. i wish there's no crash, so we can really see how he and Aru just trade jabs to each other today. Tomorrow is another tough day for Bertie. Astana is going to start their demolishing engine like stage 3. Should be thrilling finale. Please no more stupid spectator ruining the show!

Astana has Landa and Cataldo in top 5. But seriously, are they going to steal the podium instead of Aru? Btw, uran is like night and day! he will be dangerous. I silently wish that uran beats Porte on ITT and week 3.. Haha. That would be nice.

 

[Jack_89]

Re:

Porte is overrated as a TTer, especially since he has lost weight. Porte won't take pink from Contador.

I agree. Everbody talks about as he is Wiggins

 

[Miburo]

Aru is gonna lose way way way more than 2 min on uran.

This ain't a 30km ITT BUT 60 KM!!!

 

[Jelantik]

Re: Re:

This shoulder thing may end up being a good thing for him when it comes to the double attempt...

Makes sure he takes it a little more easy and restrain his energies...

This is an interesting point, actually I said the exact opposite 2 days ago but I changed my mind. Probably because I want to believe the better outcome .We will see...like I said before the Giro, Im not worried about the Giro but Im worried about June.(also wondering if he really rides Sud)

july is still a long time. I won't bother with that for now. Focus in the Giro first (keep the eye on the donut hole before you eat the donut ). So far we haven't seen Contador stomp his feet on Aru, Porte and Uran yet. And to make it even more complicated, he injured his shoulder. If it was 100% Contador, i might be able to breath easy. Right now, it will depend on how tomorrow fares, and how well he recovers on his rest day. His strength is in his recovery. But if he can't sleep well, there goes his strength. (so far he has been saying about not having a typical good sleep like he used to)

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Porte is overrated as a TTer, especially since he has lost weight. Porte won't take pink from Contador.

I agree.

 

[Electress]

Tomorrow worries me, because it's unpredictable and Astana can really capitalise on the strength of their team. If he gets through this ok, well, I'll breath a little easier. Don't know about the riders, but I feel I need rest day!

 

[rm7]

What do people think of Contadors level from the first MTF compared to today?

To be honest i think he had some attacks in him today, but as the danish commentators said "dont play with fire", as dont push your luck with a bad shoulder. Also the mountain wasn't steep enough i think to really make a difference. There was a lot of advantage when you were riding on someone elses wheel. Was there a headwind today?

Well i hope Contador gets better in the 3rd week, because i'm not totally confident right now that he'll be able to drop Porte if he looses the pink jersey in the ITT.

He just have to follow Aru's after the ITT, no need to use energy trying to drop him.

The perfect scenario would be that Contador still have pink after the next ITT. Then he should just do Vuelta 2014 style, the way he handled Froome. No need to waste energy to win with a bigger margin.

If he doesn't have pink after the ITT, he need to drop Porte ASAP really, and just cruise control. Otherwise he'll use too much energy.

 

[lenric]

Porte's trick in the sleeve is the TT. He's expecting to gain loads of time on Contador and on Aru. Which he won't. Even if he gains time, it won't be that much, at least on Contador.

Thing is, many people want Contador to attack, attack, demolish everyone... but he doesn't need to. He's la maglia rosa, he doesn't need to attack. He needs to save himself to a final attack in the last week, strong enough to win il giro and he still has to save his fuel to le Tour.

I doubt he's in that much pain, I doubt he doesn't have the horsepower to demolish his rivals. He's just being paced by them, because that's what he needs and what he learned from 2011. To control

 

[SeriousSam]

Re:

Porte is overrated as a TTer, especially since he has lost weight. Porte won't take pink from Contador.

Wiggins didn't start to annihilate the TTs until he was his skinny climbing 2012 self. Froom's extaordinary skininess doesn't stop him from outtting Martin.

Better believe that Porte's flat TT is the best it has ever been, even if he lost weight so his climbing is also the best it has ever been.

 

[ILovecycling]

Re:

Aru is gonna lose way way way more than 2 min on uran.

This ain't a 30km ITT BUT 60 KM!!!

If Aru has improved how he has said, it should be 2 minutes and max, not more.If its 3 minute orso then he hasnt improved a lot.

 

[Jelantik]

Another good news for TS. Peter sagan lost only 2 seconds and reliquished his yellow jersey to Julian A Felipe.. MONSTROUS RIDE BY PETER IN MT. BALDY!!!! I'm talking mount freakin' Baldy for a non climber .. OOOOOhh..soo crazzyyy. He came to the line 47 seconds later than Julian A Felipe, just a little late by 2 seconds. Can't believe it,he beats Henao, Gesink in GC!! Thanks to the change ITT route the day before. He thrown a kitchen sink today to defend his lead. What a great ride by him. He suffered like a dog!! Tomorrow, he has a chance to snatch the yellow jersey via sprint bonus second. Hope for a good news all around for Sunday. (Alberto in Giro and Peter in TOC). Finger crossed.

 

[Jelantik]

Re:

Porte is overrated as a TTer, especially since he has lost weight. Porte won't take pink from Contador.

I really hope so. I know people are talking about Porte will take lots of time to Aru and Contador. And the way he rides so far looks like that he is confident to do so. But the ITT is almost at the end of second week, so everyone will be tired. Depending who still got the best reserve, the result might surprising. But on paper, Uran will be stronger than Porte. And Porte is stronger than Aru and Contador.

 

[ILovecycling]

Another good news for TS. Peter sagan lost only 2 seconds and reliquished his yellow jersey to Julian A Felipe.. MONSTROUS RIDE BY PETER IN MT. BALDY!!!! I'm talking mount freakin' Baldy for a non climber .. OOOOOhh..soo crazzyyy. He came to the line 47 seconds later than Julian A Felipe, just a little late by 2 seconds. Can't believe it,he beats Henao, Gesink in GC!! Thanks to the change ITT route the day before. He thrown a kitchen sink today to defend his lead. What a great ride by him. He suffered like a dog!! Tomorrow, he has a chance to snatch the yellow jersey via sprint bonus second. Hope for a good news all around for Sunday. (Alberto in Giro and Peter in TOC). Finger crossed.

Should be bumped!

 

[SkyTears]

Contador should prepare to be last domestique for the new climbing god Sagan.

 

[nepetalactone]

Re: Re:

Porte is overrated as a TTer, especially since he has lost weight. Porte won't take pink from Contador.

I really hope so. I know people are talking about Porte will take lots of time to Aru and Contador. And the way he rides so far looks like that he is confident to do so. But the ITT is almost at the end of second week, so everyone will be tired. Depending who still got the best reserve, the result might surprising. But on paper, Uran will be stronger than Porte. And Porte is stronger than Aru and Contador.

I'm not convinced... Has Porte ever performed well in a TT after two weeks in a GT? Contador surely has... Has Porte ever performed well in a 60km TT?

 

[ILovecycling]

Re:

Contador should prepare to be last domestique for the new climbing god Sagan.

Lol ..I dont think so, but he will be very useful at Tour

 

[SeriousSam]

Re: Re:

Porte is overrated as a TTer, especially since he has lost weight. Porte won't take pink from Contador.

I really hope so. I know people are talking about Porte will take lots of time to Aru and Contador. And the way he rides so far looks like that he is confident to do so. But the ITT is almost at the end of second week, so everyone will be tired. Depending who still got the best reserve, the result might surprising. But on paper, Uran will be stronger than Porte. And Porte is stronger than Aru and Contador.

I'm not convinced... Has Porte ever performed well in a TT after two weeks in a GT? Contador surely has... Has Porte ever performed well in a 60km TT?

Has anyone? 60km TTs are rare.

 

[Carols]

Anyone who thinks Alberto wasn't hurting needs to see this picture. I've Never seen him look like that

http://www.cyclingquotes.com/news/contador_time_is_on_my_side/

Many of the quotes in the article have appeared elsewhere but I haven't seen this one anywhere else:

Today was a very important test for me. Today was crucial. I saved it without problems, and I'm happy. The Giro d'Italia has just started. I'm pretty confident. I'll go better on the bike tomorrow. Time is on my side.

As far as the ITT if his shoulder is good and he can maintain his position he should do quite well, IMO. It is still a week away, plenty of time for assessments of everyone's condition before the ITT.

 

[nepetalactone]

Re: Re:

Porte is overrated as a TTer, especially since he has lost weight. Porte won't take pink from Contador.

I really hope so. I know people are talking about Porte will take lots of time to Aru and Contador. And the way he rides so far looks like that he is confident to do so. But the ITT is almost at the end of second week, so everyone will be tired. Depending who still got the best reserve, the result might surprising. But on paper, Uran will be stronger than Porte. And Porte is stronger than Aru and Contador.

I'm not convinced... Has Porte ever performed well in a TT after two weeks in a GT? Contador surely has... Has Porte ever performed well in a 60km TT?

Has anyone? 60km TTs are rare.

Hence the reason I didn't say, "Contador surely has."

All I'm trying to get at is there isn't really any data supporting a strong TT from Porte at this length and at this point in a GT. So he won the Aus TT champs in Jan? Meh...

Contador is in pink and if he remains in pink will start last, he has performed well in (and won) TTs deep into GTs, including TTs at >50km.

Granted that was a long time ago, but at least there is a precedent. I'm not saying Contador will take considerable time in the TT, but I'd find it less surprising than Porte.

 

[rm7]

Based on this years TT form from Contador and Porte, they're actually very even. Porte was okay in the national championsships where he beat Rohan Dennis on a hard hilly course I think, and the mountain ITT in Paris-Nice. The flat ones he haven't been much better than Contador.

I think Porte will be around 30 seconds ahead after the flat part, and then Contador will gain maybe 10 seconds in the hilly part. Porte will beat Contador with 20-30 seconds at most, but it could be very close. It's 2 weeks in a GT where Porte might be more tired.

And Uran haven't been TT'ing very well this year either. Actually Contador beat him in TA 10 km flat ITT.

Aru only have one TT performance this year, at the mountain ITT in Paris-Nice, but i guess he wasn't in a very good shape there.

I think it'll be very close beetween the three, AC/Porte/Uran and Aru 1:30-2 minutes after them.

My guess would be:

Uran
Porte + 20 sec
Contador + 30 sec
Aru + 1:45 min

 

[movingtarget]

Yes Porte has an overrated TT next to Martin and Wiggins. There is nothing to indicate this year that Porte will do a mediocre TT. Aru will have to do his best TT just to stay in touch. I don't think there is much difference between Contador and Porte in the TT but Uran's TT could be the interesting one especially if he can hold it together in the mountains.