Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[Carols]

Re:

Why the hell do people care who the best climber is? It doesn't matter

Because for whatever reason they have a psychological need to attempt to cheapen Contador's victory. And a desire to dampen the spirits of those who are enjoying it. Hopefully they find some happiness in their lives.

 

[The Hitch]

Re:

Eh, Lemond hasn't been too kind on Alberto in the past, I'm happy to see things have changed.

He hasn't? I remember not long after Contador was banned Lemond saying he wouldn't ban riders from minor drugs which clearly implicitly saying he wouldn't ban Contador, one of the few personalities in the sport at the time who said that.

 

[The Hitch]

Re: Re:

What's hypocritical about that? You might want to consider characteristics on which Lance differs from Contador and Pantani to make sense of it. Maybe you'll have a light bulb moment!

I am well aware that Lance was/is an real douchbag. Still, without dragging this into the clinic, Lance, Pantani and Contador are all the same in the sense that they are destroying the sport. Good guy, bad guy the effect is still the same on young riders trying to realize their dreams. I don't see how they are worth any praise from a guy who takes so much pride in being clean. It's really weird. Makes me wonder how trustworthy Lemond really is, or alternatively how strong characteristic he really has.

I kind of agree with you. Lemond has shown double standards. All and all he seems to be quite out of touch with the sport, something made evident in his ES appearances last year.

People are complex. He was a good guy on a lot of things but I also thing he is wrong on a lot of things and hardly one of the wise men right now.

 

[The Hitch]

Re: Re:

What's hypocritical about that? You might want to consider characteristics on which Lance differs from Contador and Pantani to make sense of it. Maybe you'll have a light bulb moment!

I am well aware that Lance was/is an real douchbag. Still, without dragging this into the clinic, Lance, Pantani and Contador are all the same in the sense that they are destroying the sport. Good guy, bad guy the effect is still the same on young riders trying to realize their dreams. I don't see how they are worth any praise from a guy who takes so much pride in being clean. It's really weird. Makes me wonder how trustworthy Lemond really is, or alternatively how strong characteristic he really has.

If we took your position seriously, not to praise people that are like Lance, Contador, Pantani in terms of that which cannot be talked about, then we can praise no one with any confidence. Certainly no winner.

While I agree that we can not praise many riders with certainty, I think it's safe to say there are riders we can praise without being a hypocrite. Since, in fact, we all know those three all has one thing in common, don't we?

Yep. They do all have one thing in common. They won on Plateau de Beile on route to winning the Tour de France. They are the only 3 riders to have accomplished this.

 

[ILovecycling]

Re: Re:

Eh, Lemond hasn't been too kind on Alberto in the past, I'm happy to see things have changed.

He hasn't? I remember not long after Contador was banned Lemond saying he wouldn't ban riders from minor drugs which clearly implicitly saying he wouldn't ban Contador, one of the few personalities in the sport at the time who said that.

Interesting, I havent known that, but like you said, double standards.

 

[FCKAC]

He may still win Giro, but no way he can win Tour in his current condition.

 

[Jspear]

Re:

He may still win Giro, but no way he can win Tour in his current condition.

Of course he can't win the Tour with this form...AC knows that and has said as much.

 

[FCKAC]

Re: Re:

He may still win Giro, but no way he can win Tour in his current condition.

Of course he can't win the Tour with this form...AC knows that and has said as much.

The problem is he is old. I doubt he can be any better than his Giro form in the coming months.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Something must be wrong... a hunger bonk, or he is ill

 

[Ramira]

Re: Re:

He may still win Giro, but no way he can win Tour in his current condition.

Of course he can't win the Tour with this form...AC knows that and has said as much.

The problem is he is old. I doubt he can be any better than his Giro form in the coming months.

He's not old. He's 32, that's still pretty much in the peak years for a stage racer.

Evans was 34 when he won the Tour, Sastre was 33, Wiggins was 32.

 

[Ramira]

Re:

Something must be wrong... a hunger bonk, or he is ill

It's clearly not a full bonk, considering he's not lost any time since the descent started (he's actually gained some), he might have had a small energy issue, which he was able to resolve by eating a bit (see Froome 2013).

Edit: The only problem is that Contador is far to clever and experienced to forget to eat, still it's the most likely explanation.

 

[Jspear]

Re: Re:

He may still win Giro, but no way he can win Tour in his current condition.

Of course he can't win the Tour with this form...AC knows that and has said as much.

The problem is he is old. I doubt he can be any better than his Giro form in the coming months.

He's not old. He's 32, that's still pretty much in the peak years for a stage racer.

Evans was 34 when he won the Tour, Sastre was 33, Wiggins was 32.

Basically its prime time for the double.

 

[Alcanelo]

I hope this puts to bed the dummies who suggested he has to go full gas today to win a stage for the fans...

 

[FCKAC]

Is this the first time AC winning a GT without winning any stages?

 

[indianfanboy]

Re:

Is this the first time AC winning a GT without winning any stages?

2008 he didnt win a stage

 

[Alcanelo]

9 GT's. Job done.

 

[Arredondo]

Just a bad day.

Landa the best climber this Giro, Contador the best overall.

 

[Red Rick]

Contatroll strikes again

 

[LaFlorecita]

HALLELUJAH

NINE

 

[BigMac]

Meh, congratulations.

 

[Carols]

Well the man showed immense courage today, that was pretty ugly for a while. You can only function for so long without any support against an entire team like Astana.

Giro saved, now Tinkov needs to do the right thing by this guy. Find him a decent team!

 

[Brod710]

Will be interesting to hear what he has to say about today.

 

[rm7]

Dont think there's anything wrong with Contadors form. He has been really strong the whole race, one stage doesn't change that. Must really be some kind of energy issue. He suddenly had a crises, because he was very good in the first part of the climb.

 

[Alcanelo]

Considering he popped his shoulder and many thought he'd abandon, what more could anyone ask for?

 

[Red Rick]

Really want to hear his explanations, never seen something like this before