Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[Taxus4a]

Re: Re:

Froome doesnt look good he normally comes to the Dauphine in top form.Sky looks inconsistent too..Alberto looks good for the Tour win IMO we'll have to wait and see where Quintana is

That doesn't mean anything, as we don't know anything about AC's form yet.

It's true that at the moment the favorites in this dauphiné all look pretty average, put on an attack and then crack.
But it's not about AC's rivals, it's about AC's form.

He will be in the best shape, as in the Giro, but with that he cant win the Tour, and normally wont be on the podium. I dont think he finish Tour, he will have something to quit.

I know lot of people if other people drop him will say he is not in his best shape. Landa droped him always he could attack on the Giro, if Contador wanst at his best there, no excuses to dont be at his best in le Tour, although I think that lot of people can be well in 2 GT in a row, except in his first attemp, and Contador is one of them.

If some people drop him like in Finestre, like in Galibier, (i dont count 2013, but maybe it is more close to his real level) ,maybe he is at his best of his life, but there are other good riders as well, even better.

 

[blackmamba]

Re: Re:

Froome doesnt look good he normally comes to the Dauphine in top form.Sky looks inconsistent too..Alberto looks good for the Tour win IMO we'll have to wait and see where Quintana is

I agree with you

As do I.

And whilst it is 'about ACs form', comparing these guys to ACs Giro form makes me more optimistic than I was. AC wasn't on top top form there, but I'm not convinced there's the mutant level from anyone else on show yet.

Contador will be much better in TDF than the giro as that has been the plan all along when they planned the giro-tour double, question is just how good will he be

Lol, I don't know about that but if he is "much better than he was at the Giro" then barring crashes, he is winning the Tour hands down.
But he can as well completely fade or show bad form from the start and get crushed, we just don't know at all.

Well if u have followed steven de jongh and contadors statement and the entire build up plan its always been the plan to be better at the tour than the giro however if he can do it and how good he will be and if its good enough vs quintana is another question which remains to be seen

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Froome doesnt look good he normally comes to the Dauphine in top form.Sky looks inconsistent too..Alberto looks good for the Tour win IMO we'll have to wait and see where Quintana is

That doesn't mean anything, as we don't know anything about AC's form yet.

It's true that at the moment the favorites in this dauphiné all look pretty average, put on an attack and then crack.
But it's not about AC's rivals, it's about AC's form.

He will be in the best shape, asin the Giro, but with that he cant win the Tour, and normally wont be on the podium. I dont think he finish Tour, he will have something to quit.

I know lot of people if other people drop him will say he is not in his best shape. Landa droped him always he could attack on the Giro, if Contador wanst at his best there, no excuses to dont be at his best in le Tour, although I think that lot of people can be well in 2 GT in a row, except in his first attemp, and Contador is one of them.

If some people drop him like in Finestre, like in Galibier, (i dont count 2013, but maybe it is more close to his real level) ,maybe he is at his best of his life, but there are other good riders as well, even better.

My brain just exploded trying to make sense of your post It seems like you're contradicting yourself multiple times.

 

[Taxus4a]

To sum up:

I know some people will say if contador is not into the 2-3 best riders of Le Topur that is becouse he rode Il Giro.

Contador can be at his best in Giro and Tour, although is not the best prearation for le Tour.

With his best, he is not going to be the stronger of le Tour IMO. he has some options, becouse always luck is very important. He was lucky in il Giro, Porte and Rigo were his most important rivals ( that is what he said at the begoning and I think so), and they have several problems. there was another good rival, but his team dont allow him to win and Contador knew very well how to handle with that. Anyway he deserved the victory...but here rivals are not the same. If he just cant put 2 minutes on Aru with a 60 km long and taking risky attacks with luck at the end as the day he met Hesjedal, with rivals as Froome, Quintana or Nibali he has difficult to win.

But of course you can count with him for the poidium, the course is good for him, he is not the main favourite, last year he was well at the begining, droping Nibali the only mountain stage he rode, and he won la Vuelta as well.

But lot of people think, if Contador is at his best, if he is like in the Giro or better, he will win, and for me is not like that.

 

[No_Balls]

Re:

That awkard moment when the summary is even worse then the previous post.

 

[blackmamba]

Re:

To sum up:

I know some people will say if contador is not into the 2-3 best riders of Le Topur that is becouse he rode Il Giro.

Contador can be at his best in Giro and Tour, although is not the best prearation for le Tour.

With his best, he is not going to be the stronger of le Tour IMO. he has some options, becouse always luck is very important. He was lucky in il Giro, Porte and Rigo were his most important rivals ( that is what he said at the begoning and I think so), and they have several problems. there was another good rival, but his team dont allow him to win and Contador knew very well how to handle with that. Anyway he deserved the victory...but here rivals are not the same. If he just cant put 2 minutes on Aru with a 60 km long and taking risky attacks with luck at the end as the day he met Hesjedal, with rivals as Froome, Quintana or Nibali he has difficult to win.

But of course you can count with him for the poidium, the course is good for him, he is not the main favourite, last year he was well at the begining, droping Nibali the only mountain stage he rode, and he won la Vuelta as well.

But lot of people think, if Contador is at his best, if he is like in the Giro or better, he will win, and for me is not like that.

You sir are *** and make no sense

Go read some physiology books and you might learn something if not 100

 

[ray j willings]

Bertie will win the tour

 

[cellardoor]

Re: Re:

That awkard moment when the summary is even worse then the previous post.

The general gist is this: When Contador pulls out of the Tour after losing 20 mins on the first mountain stage, it's not because he's tired from the Giro, but because that's just where his form is these days.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Bertie will win the tour

Indeed he will

 

[LaFlorecita]

Thanks for the clarification, Taxus

 

[BYOP88]

Re:

Thanks for the clarification, Taxus

He's right. Bertie will be leaving France before Paris, crying on Jesus' shoulder

 

[BlurryVII]

Re: Re:

That awkard moment when the summary is even worse then the previous post.

The general gist is this: When Contador pulls out of the Tour after losing 20 mins on the first mountain stage, it's not because he's tired from the Giro, but because that's just where his form is these days.

That's it basically, Taxus is trying to say that Contador will be at his absolute best and will end up in the Grupetto in the first mountain stage despite peaking, then will find an excuse to leave the Tour because even Greipel climbs faster than him.

Sums it up pretty good.

 

[ray j willings]

Re:

To sum up:

I know some people will say if contador is not into the 2-3 best riders of Le Topur that is becouse he rode Il Giro.

Contador can be at his best in Giro and Tour, although is not the best prearation for le Tour.

With his best, he is not going to be the stronger of le Tour IMO. he has some options, becouse always luck is very important. He was lucky in il Giro, Porte and Rigo were his most important rivals ( that is what he said at the begoning and I think so), and they have several problems. there was another good rival, but his team dont allow him to win and Contador knew very well how to handle with that. Anyway he deserved the victory...but here rivals are not the same. If he just cant put 2 minutes on Aru with a 60 km long and taking risky attacks with luck at the end as the day he met Hesjedal, with rivals as Froome, Quintana or Nibali he has difficult to win.

But of course you can count with him for the poidium, the course is good for him, he is not the main favourite, last year he was well at the begining, droping Nibali the only mountain stage he rode, and he won la Vuelta as well.

But lot of people think, if Contador is at his best, if he is like in the Giro or better, he will win, and for me is not like that.

You can see things that way " your way" but IMO Bertie won the Giro easy. He only used energy when he needed and did what he needed to win.
IMO he made Landa and Aru look the better climber's on certain days because he did not have to chase them down and waste energy.
Did you forget Berties TT performance ,that is a sign of Bertie on top form. He defeated Froome in a TT at the start of the season and dropped him from nearly 10km.
I understand your post and your views they are much appreciated, Cheers

 

[Carols]

Re: Re:

That awkard moment when the summary is even worse then the previous post.

The general gist is this: When Contador pulls out of the Tour after losing 20 mins on the first mountain stage, it's not because he's tired from the Giro, but because that's just where his form is these days.

That's it basically, Taxus is trying to say that Contador will be at his absolute best and will end up in the Grupetto in the first mountain stage despite peaking, then will find an excuse to leave the Tour because even Greipel climbs faster than him.

Sums it up pretty good.

ROTFL. What I don't understand is why people continue to read his posts

 

[indianfanboy]

This year's Tour is gonna be very unpredictable and it doesnt look like any of the teams have the strength to control the race like Sky did in 2013 or Astana last year...i think we will see a lot of stages like today's Dauphine stage in the Tour where it will be mano o mano from 50km out

 

[Fernandez]

In concern of Taxus, he is the typical basque countryman who doesnt like everything coming from Spain and praises like heaven everything coming from his land, I mean Mikel Landa for example. The poor guy thinks that the non winning anything Landa is better than the 9 GT winner Contador.

 

[Angliru]

Re: Re:

Froome doesnt look good he normally comes to the Dauphine in top form.Sky looks inconsistent too..Alberto looks good for the Tour win IMO we'll have to wait and see where Quintana is

That doesn't mean anything, as we don't know anything about AC's form yet.

It's true that at the moment the favorites in this dauphiné all look pretty average, put on an attack and then crack.
But it's not about AC's rivals, it's about AC's form.

He will be in the best shape, as in the Giro, but with that he cant win the Tour, and normally wont be on the podium. I dont think he finish Tour, he will have something to quit.

I know lot of people if other people drop him will say he is not in his best shape. Landa droped him always he could attack on the Giro, if Contador wanst at his best there, no excuses to dont be at his best in le Tour, although I think that lot of people can be well in 2 GT in a row, except in his first attemp, and Contador is one of them.

If some people drop him like in Finestre, like in Galibier, (i dont count 2013, but maybe it is more close to his real level) ,maybe he is at his best of his life, but there are other good riders as well, even better.

Someone on here was insistent that Contador wouldn't even finish the Giro, such that they were insisting that I go in on an avatar bet on it. I declined the offer but I don't think I've seen that person around here much since the Giro ended. I wish I could remember who it was.

I'm certain that he will finish the Tour. History shows that he doesn't just pull out of races unless he simply cannot physically continue.

 

[Angliru]

Re:

To sum up:

I know some people will say if contador is not into the 2-3 best riders of Le Topur that is becouse he rode Il Giro.

Contador can be at his best in Giro and Tour, although is not the best prearation for le Tour.

With his best, he is not going to be the stronger of le Tour IMO. he has some options, becouse always luck is very important. He was lucky in il Giro, Porte and Rigo were his most important rivals ( that is what he said at the begoning and I think so), and they have several problems. there was another good rival, but his team dont allow him to win and Contador knew very well how to handle with that. Anyway he deserved the victory...but here rivals are not the same. If he just cant put 2 minutes on Aru with a 60 km long and taking risky attacks with luck at the end as the day he met Hesjedal, with rivals as Froome, Quintana or Nibali he has difficult to win.

But of course you can count with him for the poidium, the course is good for him, he is not the main favourite, last year he was well at the begining, droping Nibali the only mountain stage he rode, and he won la Vuelta as well.

But lot of people think, if Contador is at his best, if he is like in the Giro or better, he will win, and for me is not like that.

I really wouldn't call multiple crashes and a serious lack of team support luck. He and his rivals all had similar obstacles to overcome and he's the one that ultimately came out on top.

 

[Angliru]

Re: Re:

That awkard moment when the summary is even worse then the previous post.

Be kind. Your post definitely made me laugh though. I did understand his summary better than the original post.
Admittedly I do have trouble making sense of some his/her posts but I have comprehension issues on occasion so it may just be me.

 

[Taxus4a]

Re: Re:

That awkard moment when the summary is even worse then the previous post.

The general gist is this: When Contador pulls out of the Tour after losing 20 mins on the first mountain stage, it's not because he's tired from the Giro, but because that's just where his form is these days.

Of course if contador lose 20 minutes in Pierre sant martin wont be becouse he rode the Giro, but of course is not his level, he can even win that stage, it suits him quite well, as well as Mende.

But if he fight for le Tour and he finish 4 th at 4 minutes of the winner, maybe some people is going to say: it is becouse he rode the Giro, other way he would have won...

I coud admit that if he is second at half a minute, but no more.

it would be good to have Uran in the Tour to compare... we will see anyway becouse first week could have lot of crashes, and we must consider the performance of the riders acording how they were affected.

This year Contador will get le Tour with 40 days on race, last year it was 32... so it is not a big difference..even some people think he took some races as Tirreno or la Volta more relaxed.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Taxus, several 1 week stage races with plenty of rest in between is way different than a 3 week GT. Of course Contador will be worse at the Tour than he would have been if he hadn't raced the Giro.

Also, Pierre-Saint-Martin and Mende are completely different climbs, I hope you know that. If you say both climbs suit him very well you might as well say every mountain suits him.

 

[Electress]

Re: Re:

That awkard moment when the summary is even worse then the previous post.

Be kind. Your post definitely made me laugh though. I did understand his summary better than the original post.
Admittedly I do have trouble making sense of some his/her posts but I have comprehension issues on occasion so it may just be me.

Yes.

Though I confess, Taxus' view of Contador in no way correlates to any version of the man I've seen. Quit a race? He didn't want to quit even when he'd fractured his tibia FFS. And if Contador was lucky this Giro, then I don't want any of his luck.

Watching today, I pondered whether anyone currently riding the CDD could have pulled off the 'man against the machine' race Contador faced. I laughed out loud at this classic Monty Python "In My Day" post from Chad Haga:

Today was so hard, it's almost comparable to a Giro stage. But in the Giro, we'd have been thankful for a stage like today's.

Taxus, several 1 week stage races with plenty of rest in between is way different than a 3 week GT. Of course Contador will be worse at the Tour than he would have been if he hadn't raced the Giro.

Also, Pierre-Saint-Martin and Mende are completely different climbs, I hope you know that. If you say both climbs suit him very well you might as well say every mountain suits him.

Chill, LaFlo. Contador has got this covered. After all, we can all rest easy knowing Landa isn't there…

 

[Miburo]

Sorry fleur, it was just a prediction, didn't want to offend you, but this year it's impossible to tell since all the main guys have very strange patterns of shape.

 

[Taxus4a]

Re:

Taxus, several 1 week stage races with plenty of rest in between is way different than a 3 week GT. Of course Contador will be worse at the Tour than he would have been if he hadn't raced the Giro.

Also, Pierre-Saint-Martin and Mende are completely different climbs, I hope you know that. If you say both climbs suit him very well you might as well say every mountain suits him.

Both stages suit him very well. Mende is hard and short, and Pierre in an uni.climb stage.

Maybe to ride Giro to win is not the best preparation, it is not the same than when ullrich went there to train...but Lance rode the Giro at his maximum, and he was in the podium on the Tour, with more age. It is not so bad at some people think.

The problem is that is mentaly demanding and it is more risky, becouse you can have a crash, he coud need some stages to get his best and maybe the Tour could be longer than if he didnt rode the Giro, but it is not so bad.
I think is more difference if you are fresh in La Vuelta as Horner was, becouse is at the end of the season.

"It is possible to win Giro and Tour in the same season. It would not be the first. You can perform at your best in the Giro and arrive at the start of the Tour at the maximum. There is sufficient separation between the three Grand Tours as it is configured in today's calendar," Hinault told Spanish newspaper AS.

 

[Taxus4a]

Well, Contador didnt quit Tour 2013, but he had some option to be on the podium with people as Kreuziger and Nieve helping him, and he was a very good payed rider...but he finished just 6 one day stage races later, he didnt rode La Vuelta.

He quit Giro di Lombardia when the team was worked for him, IMO becouse he wont be top 20.

You can say my vision is quite personal, but i know lot of people inside cycling that think like that, people that in the social net talk well about him but not in private.

Of course Karpets dont think very well..., what did Contador to him that Contador denied when Karpets push him and hit his knee?

Anyway i dont want to disturb his fans, i just want to ask what is a good result for Contador in le Tour, if Giro is a problem for le Tour, and he cant win now, why to ride Giro if the other rivals except Uran didnt rode? Maybe 4th could be a good result, 4 th better than in 2013, when he was only good in the second ITT, perfect for him, but I would like to know now.

Of course if he won, it would be great. If he dont win but he is close, it would be great as well.