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Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

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E

Energy Starr

Nov 23, 2013
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He has a better shot this year than 2011, in my opinion. He had a heavier early season schedule and also was 2nd in mountains class in 2011 Giro, making me think he rode it much harder. I cannot find his 2011 schedule between the Giro and the Tour though. I happen to think the 4 day Route de Sud is a good idea as the only race between the two this year. Do I think he will do it...no. But I think (and hope) he can.
 
Wallace

Wallace

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ninjadriver said:
Red Rick said:
Menchov in 2008 is what tells me more than Contador in 2011. He had a similar build up to Contador this year. Good/decent in the Giro and very good in the Tour.

To be fair, almost nobody has tried it in the last few years, but you should realise you can't come in all guns blazing in the Giro. Those who tried it, were mostly not real contenders who were relatively great in the Giro and then completely broke down in the Tour
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RR: Menchov finished 5th in the 2008 Giro, not 1st, and I would assume that his Rabobank squad was far better than Contador's TinkoffSaxo disaster at the 2015 Giro, which left Alberto scrambling up the Mortirolo in a debilitating effort and gapping off of Landa and Aru in stages 18 and 20.

At the 2008 TDF, where Menchov finished 3rd, Astana and Contador didn't even race.

I think Menchov in 2008 is a far different animal than Contador 2011 and Contador 2015.

My only argument for your argument was that Menchov undoubtedly was intimidated and exhausted in the 2008 Giro by the best climber in history, Riccardo Ricco (I'm actually serious about Ricco being the best climber).
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Now that's just silly. The best climber in history was Eddy M, pre-accident, when he could go the front and just ride the entire European peloton off his wheel. No one has ever been nearly that dominant.

Meanwhile, I don't understand why everyone seems to be underestimating Nibali. If Contador wins the Tour (and I hope he does) it won't be because he goes alien and destroys everyone: it'll be because he's so smart and knows when to conserve his energy, when to best go on the attack and how to take advantage of every situation that comes his way. Nibali is the only other gt rider with real tactical smarts, and he also can ride in all the conditions they'll face in the first week of the Tour. Froome thinks that tactics and staring at his power meter are the same thing (although to be fair to him, he's getting smarter about this) and Quintana is unknown in this regard. There's a lot more to winning GTs than just being the guy who can get up an incline fastest. If that's all there was to it, this would be a really, really boring sport. Which is why these so-and-so is the best climber discussions are so beside the point and boring. If Contador had really wanted to show everyone that he can go uphill faster than anyone else in the Giro I have no doubt he could have, but why waste the energy when he might need it at some other point (as in, the next GT). That he let Aru and Landa have their stage wins shows he was never in any doubt that either of them would mount a serious attack on the overall.
 
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The fridge in the blue trees

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Wallace said:
If Contador had really wanted to show everyone that he can go uphill faster than anyone else in the Giro I have no doubt he could have, but why waste the energy when he might need it at some other point (as in, the next GT). That he let Aru and Landa have their stage wins shows he was never in any doubt that either of them would mount a serious attack on the overall.
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What I don't get with some Contador "fans" is: Why do you think he's a genius? He isn't.... He knows that going 1' faster or slower on the Finestre will have ZERO impact on his TdF performance. He knows that being 1' behind Landa is worse than being with Landa too. If he had been able too, he would have stayed with Landa. He wasn't, so he rode up in his tempo and rode home the Giro like that.
 
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damian13ster

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The fridge in the blue trees said:
Wallace said:
If Contador had really wanted to show everyone that he can go uphill faster than anyone else in the Giro I have no doubt he could have, but why waste the energy when he might need it at some other point (as in, the next GT). That he let Aru and Landa have their stage wins shows he was never in any doubt that either of them would mount a serious attack on the overall.
Click to expand...


What I don't get with some Contador "fans" is: Why do you think he's a genius? He isn't.... He knows that going 1' faster or slower on the Finestre will have ZERO impact on his TdF performance. He knows that being 1' behind Landa is worse than being with Landa too. If he had been able too, he would have stayed with Landa. He wasn't, so he rode up in his tempo and rode home the Giro like that.
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Shhh, you are going down a dangerous path here. You are trying to introduce common sense here. It is not going to end well for you
 
TourOfSardinia

TourOfSardinia

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The fridge in the blue trees said:
What I don't get with some Contador "fans" is: Why do you think he's a genius? He isn't.... He knows that going 1' faster or slower on the Finestre will have ZERO impact on his TdF performance. He knows that being 1' behind Landa is worse than being with Landa too. If he had been able too, he would have stayed with Landa. He wasn't, so he rode up in his tempo and rode home the Giro like that.
Click to expand...
Contador likes a proper road to ride on where there is a tradional grip of bike onto road.
He doesn't usually go well on stirato or pave'. That's what got him on Finestre
Sky/Astana should plan to attack him on Stage 4 of TdF Seraing to Cambrai
- especially if there is high wind and rain.
 
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Singer01

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Question for all 'pro' contador people. what is your dream, realistic scenario for the remainder of his career (no winning all 3 grand tours in the same year people).

as someone who is deeply ambivalent about him (i adore his riding style, but he broke my heart) i would love to see him -
Win the tour 2015 for the double
win the tour/vuelta double 2016 (first person to do all 3 doubles)
then do a farewell tour in 2017, ride all 3 tours, but just stage hunt and be as flamboyant as hell.

though if he did get to 10 official grand tour wins i'm positive he'd try for one more in 2017.
 
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riodouro

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Re: TDF or Vuelta???

ninjadriver said:
riodouro wrote:

"As an Alberto Fan, i dont see any way he can disappoint me, he is always entertaining, he publicly respects his adversaries qualities, they respect him. Even if Alberto Cracks on Tour, even if he doesn't make podium, i dont see how can he disappoint, already won a tour this year, very entertaining too. Hopefully from 2015 forward there will be more GT specialists trying Doubles/Triples GT per Year, more interesting to me. The day he actually ends his career will be a sad day, nothing lasts for ever. But then again i hope he will be a DS some day, so is not that bad, and haters will hate that."

* * * * *

NINJADRIVER:

Given the 21st century failed history of riders attempting to double 2 consecutive same calendar year Grand Tours, and what looked to me like Contador almost cracking on stages 18 and 20 of the Giro, and the fierce field scheduled to ride the TDF with Froome, Quintana and Nibali, wouldn't you rather Contador skip the TDF and win the Vuelta instead???

I give Contador zero shot to win the TDF, given the Giro exhaustion and what looks like a weak TinkoffSaxo climbing squad. Basso and Kreuziger were horrible at the Giro. The fact that Contador took on Astana by himself is a testament to his championship verve and generational greatness.
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Is Contador's (and Oleg's) will, and for that only, i suport him.
He is trying to give espectators some drama, something interesting to watch, if it works it ill be awsome, heck do the Vuelta too, even just to be there complementing fans, why not ?
Their are trying to change the sport, from Olegs point of view GT specialists must race each other in more races during the hole year, not just like 2014 Tour anticlimax Froome and Contador crashing out , as a fan its very frustating to hait another hole year to watch Contador vs Froome and Nibaly, Quintana, and on this foruns, people are previewing some of them to crash.
He and is team are getting so much exposure for this, other teams will want a share of that.
I i dont give him zero shot, if Sky+Astana+Movistar all round up against him ok Zero Shot, they will have to fight each other anyway so...
 
Squirbos_19

Squirbos_19

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Re:

Singer01 said:
Question for all 'pro' contador people. what is your dream, realistic scenario for the remainder of his career (no winning all 3 grand tours in the same year people).

as someone who is deeply ambivalent about him (i adore his riding style, but he broke my heart) i would love to see him -
Win the tour 2015 for the double
win the tour/vuelta double 2016 (first person to do all 3 doubles)
then do a farewell tour in 2017, ride all 3 tours, but just stage hunt and be as flamboyant as hell.

though if he did get to 10 official grand tour wins i'm positive he'd try for one more in 2017.
Click to expand...

I'm not convinced he'll have the form to win the Tour this year, unless at least one of Froome, Quintana or Nibali abandon. I think he'll definitely podium but he'll lack that bit extra to win, or he might attack like crazy to go for the win which may or may not work.

He'll go Tour-Vuelta in 2016, if he wins the Vuelta he will probably retire, but I hope he retires after winning the 100th Giro in 2017.
 
BYOP88

BYOP88

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TourOfSardinia said:
The fridge in the blue trees said:
What I don't get with some Contador "fans" is: Why do you think he's a genius? He isn't.... He knows that going 1' faster or slower on the Finestre will have ZERO impact on his TdF performance. He knows that being 1' behind Landa is worse than being with Landa too. If he had been able too, he would have stayed with Landa. He wasn't, so he rode up in his tempo and rode home the Giro like that.
Click to expand...
Contador likes a proper road to ride on where there is a tradional grip of bike onto road.
He doesn't usually go well on stirato or pave'. That's what got him on Finestre
Sky/Astana should plan to attack him on Stage 4 of TdF Seraing to Cambrai
- especially if there is high wind and rain.
Click to expand...

Lets see how Froome handles the pave. Probably better if he keeps his head up instead of looking at the stem when on the pave, that's if he makes it to those sections.
 
ILovecycling

ILovecycling

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Re:

Singer01 said:
Question for all 'pro' contador people. what is your dream, realistic scenario for the remainder of his career (no winning all 3 grand tours in the same year people).

as someone who is deeply ambivalent about him (i adore his riding style, but he broke my heart) i would love to see him -
Win the tour 2015 for the double
win the tour/vuelta double 2016 (first person to do all 3 doubles)
then do a farewell tour in 2017, ride all 3 tours, but just stage hunt and be as flamboyant as hell.

though if he did get to 10 official grand tour wins i'm positive he'd try for one more in 2017.
Click to expand...
How has he broken you heart if I can ask? :)
 
Miburo

Miburo

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Eh i'm certain contador won't retire next year. He'll prob go to alonso's team. I think it'll be set up in '16.

Contador at that point still has a few really good years left.

These days, riders can perform better ‏at 33+ than in the past, it seems. Look at purito, piti and evans.

And Contador usually stopped racing after july in the last 10 years, he never overraced himself.
 
T

The_Cheech

May 12, 2015
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Re: Re:

BYOP88 said:
There's more chance of Flo and Michelle Cound meeting when the Tour starts in Utrecht and becoming BFFL than this Alonso team happening.
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Not until Alonso/McLaren-Honda get the car up to par anyway.

I don't see Fernando deviating his attention from that.
 
P

pastronef

Aug 19, 2011
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Re: Re:

BYOP88 said:
ILovecycling said:
SeriousSam said:
Is this mystical Alonso team actually going to come into being?
Click to expand...
No
Click to expand...


There's more chance of Flo and Michelle Cound meeting when the Tour starts in Utrecht and becoming BFFL than this Alonso team happening.
Click to expand...

we can do it,
we can make it happen!

let's start a thread, let's start a Flo/Cound friendship awareness thread! :D
 
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