Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[LaFlorecita]

I was at the team presentation today and Alberto got a super loud cheer from the crowd! and I almost fainted after Tinkoff-Saxo exited the stage but it wasn't because of the excitement but because I thought 2 eggs for breakfast and 4L of water would be enough oh and two men next to me were making fun of Alberto's voice and went "cero cero cero" and laughed at Majka and I was so close to hitting them

 

[TheYouyou7]

I think he'll make top 5 behind (Valverde,Purito,Martin and Kwiat)

 

[Matteo.]

Fun of his voice, why?!
and what means " cero cero cero" ?

 

[No_Balls]

Re:

The question is not if he could outsprint Piti on Huy but rather: will he do it? If he is serious with all this worrying about recovery-thing he might calculate what it takes to face Piti on Pitis homeground and judge it from there. With that said i expect him to be very active here in order to have a cushion on Froome and the gang.

Jalgratas95: Yeah. AC unsure of his stamina is almost always good news.

LaFlorecita: For the sake of CN forum why didnt you beat those punks?

 

[ILovecycling]

I was at the team presentation today and Alberto got a super loud cheer from the crowd! and I almost fainted after Tinkoff-Saxo exited the stage but it wasn't because of the excitement but because I thought 2 eggs for breakfast and 4L of water would be enough oh and two men next to me were making fun of Alberto's voice and went "cero cero cero" and laughed at Majka and I was so close to hitting them

lol your fellow countryman?

 

[qwer]

Froome or contador will wear yellow jersey after mur de huy

 

[Gigs_98]

Re:

Froome or contador will wear yellow jersey after mur de huy

don't think so. Both aren't the most explosive riders.

 

[SeriousSam]

Re:

Froome or contador will wear yellow jersey after mur de huy

It will be Tom. He will win the time trial and someone told me that he's super strong in the Ardennes classics so should blast it up the Mur de Huy.

 

[qwer]

Re: Re:

Froome or contador will wear yellow jersey after mur de huy

don't think so. Both aren't the most explosive riders.

froome and contador aren't explosive???? and they are better time trialists than valverde, purito and martin, the most likely winners in mur de huy

 

[qwer]

Re: Re:

Froome or contador will wear yellow jersey after mur de huy

It will be Tom. He will win the time trial and someone told me that he's super strong in the Ardennes classics so should blast it up the Mur de Huy.

he will lose 20 seconds in huy, valverde won fleche wallone with a margin of 19 seconds for mollema (nineteenth)

 

[Electress]

I think the GC approach to Huy will be interesting and should give an indication of how they are feeling and their tactics…i.e. attacking and gaining whatever they can; snatching here an there from the start, or survival until the mountains.

I suspect we'll see some surprises.

I have the funniest feeling Sagan will be in yellow some time this year. No idea why - based on precisely no analysis.

 

[clippittee]

Sagan is definitely heading there.

 

[Gigs_98]

Re: Re:

Froome or contador will wear yellow jersey after mur de huy

don't think so. Both aren't the most explosive riders.

froome and contador aren't explosive???? and they are better time trialists than valverde, purito and martin, the most likely winners in mur de huy

but not explosive in the way you have to be on the mur de huy. There is a reason why valverde won the last two flèche wallone´s and not contador/froome. Moreover if valverde has an advantage of 5 seconds on AC/CF that might already be enough due to time bonifications and the fact that valverde isn't that bad in short ITT´s

 

[Publicus]

I suspect both Kreuziger and Basso will be better than in the Giro. Both look like they've shed a few kilos....

 

[Electress]

Re:

I suspect both Kreuziger and Basso will be better than in the Giro. Both look like they've shed a few kilos....

I think Saxo. are going to try and fly a little beneath the radar, given how everyone is talking up Sky and Astana. I would. They want Astana and Sky to be knocking 7 bells out of one another as much as possible.

 

[Publicus]

Re: Re:

I suspect both Kreuziger and Basso will be better than in the Giro. Both look like they've shed a few kilos....

I think Saxo. are going to try and fly a little beneath the radar, given how everyone is talking up Sky and Astana. I would. They want Astana and Sky to be knocking 7 bells out of one another as much as possible.

I agree with that to some extent. I think AC is going to want to have the team at/near the front this first week to avoid the usual (and seemingly unavoidable) crashes, but I don't expect them to try and put their imprint on the first week like they did in the Giro.

Roman looks almost anorexic in this photo

 

[Taxus4a]

Re: Re:

Summary of the press-conference:

"What worries me the most, because it is totally new, is how my body will recover from those efforts," Contador said in a packed press conference on Thursday. "The Tour route, in terms of its mountains, is the hardest of all the Tours I've done and in the first nine days, there are six stages which are going to be really tough. So staying consistent will be the key."

"If had to decide between the feelings I had before last year's Tour " - when Contador said he had best feelings ever prior to a Grand Tour - "and this year I'd choose last year. [Last year] I had prepared for the Tour very well and last year I was not so worried about fatigue and how I would recover.

"I have more doubts than last year. My objective is to win the Tour but I am aware that it is very difficult"

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/contador-i-felt-better-at-the-2014-tour-de-france-start

Well if the difference between now and last year is a worry on how the body will recover on a day to day basis, is something i can live with.

In other Tours he has rode there were harder stages.. maybe no so many mountain stages, but similar, and no 130 km ones...but longer...

Without Galibier, even soft...

Just a really hard stage in the last week could be a problem, but there is not, it depends on how some stages will be ridden.

 

[Captain_Obvious]

Would you look at that.

 

[peloton]

Re:

Contador can outkick piti, for sure if he's better easily.

No one can outkick a top form Purito or Valverde on a climb like Huy, it's too short and steep

 

[peloton]

Would you look at that.

Excellent! *thumbs up*

 

[Jelantik]

I was at the team presentation today and Alberto got a super loud cheer from the crowd! and I almost fainted after Tinkoff-Saxo exited the stage but it wasn't because of the excitement but because I thought 2 eggs for breakfast and 4L of water would be enough oh and two men next to me were making fun of Alberto's voice and went "cero cero cero" and laughed at Majka and I was so close to hitting them

I thought you would have punched them already and say sorry later... .

 

[Jelantik]

new Alberto video by saxo bank.

http://www.saxobank.com/sponsorships/?cmpid=bassoblast_youtube#saxoVideoPopup/0/

 

[cellardoor]

What do people think about Contador's comment that he felt better at the start of the '14 Tour? His usual obfuscation about his form or is he genuine?

 

[The_Cheech]

Re: Re:

Contador can outkick piti, for sure if he's better easily.

No one can outkick a top form Purito or Valverde on a climb like Huy, it's too short and steep

If Purito or Valverde start working just a bit, instead of the usual wheel-sucking, they may actually win a few stages.

 

[The_Cheech]

Re:

What do people think about Contador's comment that he felt better at the start of the '14 Tour? His usual obfuscation about his form or is he genuine?

I think he is being genuine. He prepared solely for the TdF last year, hence he went in in better shape. Did it matter? No. Why? Because he was so anxious to get to the mountain stages he forgot to ride the day out.

I have a good feeling about this year.