Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

Page 1150 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
Re:

hrotha said:
I'd be very surprised if that happened. Contador has always looked very uncomfortable on the cobbles (and maybe even on unpaved roads? Honestly I don't remember the 2011 Giro sterrato stage very well).
I agree, he doesn't look very comfortable, but as long as he stays near the front at the start of each section he won't lose too much time I hope
 
Yup, he should be more or less fine if it doesn't rain and he isn't particularly unlucky. It's just clear to me he doesn't see this stage as an opportunity to put time on at least some of his rivals, but rather as something he has to survive. Probably the only stage in the Tour he'll approach that way.
 
Jul 29, 2012
11,703
4
0
Re:

hrotha said:
Yup, he should be more or less fine if it doesn't rain and he isn't particularly unlucky. It's just clear to me he doesn't see this stage as an opportunity to put time on at least some of his rivals, but rather as something he has to survive. Probably the only stage in the Tour he'll approach that way.

He might during flat stages, if there's good wind. And i think Contador should be as capable as andy, maybe i overrate him a bit.
 
You'd think so, and in principle I'd agree, but we have way too little data on Andy and cobbles. That day he was perfectly positioned and everything went his way, but who knows - maybe he was a natural cobbles rider despite his rather subpar bikehandling. :D
 
Aug 4, 2010
11,337
0
0
Re:

malakassis said:
seeing contador suffering in the mur made me sad. i hope he s just trying to peak for the 3rd week. but i doubt he will even reach top five this year. anyone who believe AC will still win is a dreamer. even if froome nibali and nairo crashed out, theres still fresher and younger guys. this lineup is just the best of the last 25 years.
the last guy who doubled was pantani in his best years. plus he wisely used a lucky situation of ulrich collaps. before it was miguel doubling in 92/93. the guy with the hugest engine in cycling and optimal biomechaniks. the odds for a lucky situation like in 98 are almost 0. and physikally AC is as mentioned before just weaker then before his ban. i hope noticing this situation forces him to make some unexpected blows like in 2012 vuelta fuente de.
This is freakin Alberto Contador Velasco, you cant say he hasnt got a chance ;)
 
May 12, 2015
345
0
0
Re:

Pantani Attacks said:
Contador will come to life in the mountains. He is in a good position so far. It is too early to worry at all.

No he won't.

Yesterday's stage is the type of stage that shows who is in shape and who isn't. Granted these super steep short climbs are not Alberto's cup of tea, but he lost A LOT of time in a short distance.

Bad news.
 
Re:

meat puppet said:
There are at least two levels here. Performance wise precisely taking it to the extremes appears to be required to win now as the game has changed. Also being very light didn't seem to impair Hamilton's tt that much, for one, or Froome's, etc. Never said this is not insane, mind.

Ethically speaking I rather applaud athletes that are not playing along,
but this is something I can afford as a mere spectator. So I'd rather the extreme weight loss competition was eliminated some way. But this is an "ought" statement and I presume it will not be eliminated but pushed further.

I suspect there is also a hermetic slant to the bold, but, alas, that isn't to be discussed here.
 
Re: Re:

The_Cheech said:
Pantani Attacks said:
Contador will come to life in the mountains. He is in a good position so far. It is too early to worry at all.

No he won't.

Yesterday's stage is the type of stage that shows who is in shape and who isn't. Granted these super steep short climbs are not Alberto's cup of tea, but he lost A LOT of time in a short distance.

Bad news.

Yesterday was a minor stage. Not even a major climb. It means very little on the grand scheme of things. You must remember he exerted a lot of energy the day before to get that break from the likes of Nibali and Quintana.
 
May 12, 2015
345
0
0
Re: Re:

Pantani Attacks said:
The_Cheech said:
Pantani Attacks said:
Contador will come to life in the mountains. He is in a good position so far. It is too early to worry at all.

No he won't.

Yesterday's stage is the type of stage that shows who is in shape and who isn't. Granted these super steep short climbs are not Alberto's cup of tea, but he lost A LOT of time in a short distance.

Bad news.

Yesterday was a minor stage. Not even a major climb. It means very little on the grand scheme of things. You must remember he exerted a lot of energy the day before to get that break from the likes of Nibali and Quintana.

You're right, you never know.

It's what Alberto didn't do that I'm concerned about. We all know that when he is in shape he's super aggressive, hence if he's not attacking it, he's not in shape. Then again, he hit the reserves in Sunday's stage so...
 
Re: Re:

Pantani Attacks said:
The_Cheech said:
Pantani Attacks said:
Contador will come to life in the mountains. He is in a good position so far. It is too early to worry at all.

No he won't.

Yesterday's stage is the type of stage that shows who is in shape and who isn't. Granted these super steep short climbs are not Alberto's cup of tea, but he lost A LOT of time in a short distance.

Bad news.

Yesterday was a minor stage. Not even a major climb. It means very little on the grand scheme of things. You must remember he exerted a lot of energy the day before to get that break from the likes of Nibali and Quintana.

To lose that much time to Froome in that space of time....is bad news.

Maybe he is building up to this Tour slowly, after winning the Giro. But to think that people were suggesting that Nibali losing three seconds to Contador was a strong indicator that he wasn't going to keep with him in the high mountains....Froome's 'dropping' of Contador on stage 3 was more decisive than that.

But I thought that the Vuelta was a total write off last year after his Tour crash....and not only did he ride it; he won it. So I don't give up on Alberto in this Tour yet. However, if Froome doesn't lose time tonight then this Tour is looking rather ominous....

Apologies for being the 1000th poster for reminding everyone about those three seconds :D
 
Re: Re:

The_Cheech said:
Pantani Attacks said:
The_Cheech said:
Pantani Attacks said:
Contador will come to life in the mountains. He is in a good position so far. It is too early to worry at all.

No he won't.

Yesterday's stage is the type of stage that shows who is in shape and who isn't. Granted these super steep short climbs are not Alberto's cup of tea, but he lost A LOT of time in a short distance.

Bad news.

Yesterday was a minor stage. Not even a major climb. It means very little on the grand scheme of things. You must remember he exerted a lot of energy the day before to get that break from the likes of Nibali and Quintana.

You're right, you never know.

It's what Alberto didn't do that I'm concerned about. We all know that when he is in shape he's super aggressive, hence if he's not attacking it, he's not in shape. Then again, he hit the reserves in Sunday's stage so...

Yes with Alberto you never really know. He has struggled in the past only a few days later to put in monstrous attacks. He's not like Froome where if Froome struggles, he rarely improves, not significantly anyway. Contador always seems to grow into a GT.
 
Taxus,

You are right that, at times, other riders have looked stronger - even at times significantly stronger - than AC. 2011 Tour, Froome in 2013, Landa and Aru in a couple of the climbing stages in the Giro. You are also right that, so far, Froome appears to be the stronger rider.

However, your extreme bias, which is clear to everyone, appears to cloud your vision. A few things:
1. Despite looking shaky at times in the Giro, he won. He absolutely destroyed Landa in the ITT, which, like it or not, is a component of every GT, and often a decisive component.
2. Froome and Contador put up some strong numbers during the Vuelta 2014. They were not exactly handicapped. Contador won and was clearly the stronger.
3. Contador did give credit to Landa. Consider this quote after the Motirolo stage, during which, as you will recall, Astana pushed hard after Contador's mechanical. "“To Mikel Landa, I can only say: chapeau. These are the stages that people remember,” Contador said.
Read more at http://velonews.competitor.com/2015/05/race-report/landa-steals-the-show-contador-extends-lead-in-giro-stage-16_371741#BOIbjtfMccYoV8Hp.99
Or this one: "Landa was incredible, too, so it wasn't easy." "Landa was stronger than Aru, I think we saw that today," Contador said, though he was cautious about declaring that his fellow countryman – now fourth at 4:46 – might prove the greater threat from the Astana camp over the final six stages. http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/giro-ditalia-contador-says-landa-was-stronger-than-aru
Or here again:
“The team was good today, and I kept and eye on my closest rival, Mikel Landa,” said Contador. http://cyclingtips.com.au/2015/05/aru-fights-back-to-take-stage-19-of-giro-ditalia-contador-keeps-his-powder-dry-in-advance-of-final-mountain-stage/
4. You seem to hold it against him that he didn't prostrate himself before Landa, declaring him much stronger than he himself, Contador. As I already said, Contador destroyed him in the ITT, so that wouldn't be totally accurate. Secondly, you seem to have a weak grasp of tactics. If you recall, Landa said he didn't attack sooner on the Colle delle Finestre because Contador appeared to be strong. He was closing down attacks well, he'd performed well on previous climbs, only losing time to Landa after working hard to catch up, only losing time to Aru after choosing to mark Landa instead, etc. If he had been telling everyone that Landa was a much stronger climber than him, don't you think Landa might have gone earlier? What does he gain from letting a stronger climber know that he is feeling weaker and might not be able to follow a strong attack? Tactically, that makes no sense. His goal was to win the Giro d'Italia, not run a science experiment to determine who has the best engine.
5. Contador has never ducked opponents. He took on Rasmussen toe to toe when Rasmussen was a monster, he was the only person in the peloton with the cojones to face down Lance mano a mano, both on and off the bike, he took on all comers in 2011 after already having raced the Giro, he continued attacking after it being clear he would not win, he continued fighting in 2013 after Froome had basically humiliating him (a lesser rider would have been broken), he continued fighting Purito and Piti in the Vuelta 2013 despite losing time stage after stage, he took on Froome and Quintana in the 2014 Vuelta after crashing out of the Tour, he's doing the double this year...
6. You compare Contador to Lance. No one has ever made any allegations to support this, nor do riders seem to view him in that light. Do you have any support for this at all? As far as I can tell, even former teammates (Tiralongo, Sammy Sanchez) have been willing to work for him after loyalty to him as a person.

In conclusion, it is one thing to make reasonable statements like, "Froome appears very strong right now. Contador appears weaker. It is likely that Froome will beat Contador in this."

But your insistence on spouting extremely biased, often historically inaccurate opinions (which you state as fact) about him is frustrating. You clearly have some insider info on cyclists, or you like people to think you do, and you seem to know something about cycling, and at times it seems like you should be a great poster, despite your poor English (I know it's not your first language), but your blind hatred of Contador emasculates any legitimate point you might make.
 
VayaVayaVaya said:
Taxus,

You are right that, at times, other riders have looked stronger - even at times significantly stronger - than AC. 2011 Tour, Froome in 2013, Landa and Aru in a couple of the climbing stages in the Giro. You are also right that, so far, Froome appears to be the stronger rider.

However, your extreme bias, which is clear to everyone, appears to cloud your vision. A few things:
1. Despite looking shaky at times in the Giro, he won. He absolutely destroyed Landa in the ITT, which, like it or not, is a component of every GT, and often a decisive component.
2. Froome and Contador put up some strong numbers during the Vuelta 2014. They were not exactly handicapped. Contador won and was clearly the stronger.
3. Contador did give credit to Landa. Consider this quote after the Motirolo stage, during which, as you will recall, Astana pushed hard after Contador's mechanical. "“To Mikel Landa, I can only say: chapeau. These are the stages that people remember,” Contador said.
Read more at http://velonews.competitor.com/2015/05/race-report/landa-steals-the-show-contador-extends-lead-in-giro-stage-16_371741#BOIbjtfMccYoV8Hp.99
Or this one: "Landa was incredible, too, so it wasn't easy." "Landa was stronger than Aru, I think we saw that today," Contador said, though he was cautious about declaring that his fellow countryman – now fourth at 4:46 – might prove the greater threat from the Astana camp over the final six stages. http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/giro-ditalia-contador-says-landa-was-stronger-than-aru
Or here again:
“The team was good today, and I kept and eye on my closest rival, Mikel Landa,” said Contador. http://cyclingtips.com.au/2015/05/aru-fights-back-to-take-stage-19-of-giro-ditalia-contador-keeps-his-powder-dry-in-advance-of-final-mountain-stage/
4. You seem to hold it against him that he didn't prostrate himself before Landa, declaring him much stronger than he himself, Contador. As I already said, Contador destroyed him in the ITT, so that wouldn't be totally accurate. Secondly, you seem to have a weak grasp of tactics. If you recall, Landa said he didn't attack sooner on the Colle delle Finestre because Contador appeared to be strong. He was closing down attacks well, he'd performed well on previous climbs, only losing time to Landa after working hard to catch up, only losing time to Aru after choosing to mark Landa instead, etc. If he had been telling everyone that Landa was a much stronger climber than him, don't you think Landa might have gone earlier? What does he gain from letting a stronger climber know that he is feeling weaker and might not be able to follow a strong attack? Tactically, that makes no sense. His goal was to win the Giro d'Italia, not run a science experiment to determine who has the best engine.
5. Contador has never ducked opponents. He took on Rasmussen toe to toe when Rasmussen was a monster, he was the only person in the peloton with the cojones to face down Lance mano a mano, both on and off the bike, he took on all comers in 2011 after already having raced the Giro, he continued attacking after it being clear he would not win, he continued fighting in 2013 after Froome had basically humiliating him (a lesser rider would have been broken), he continued fighting Purito and Piti in the Vuelta 2013 despite losing time stage after stage, he took on Froome and Quintana in the 2014 Vuelta after crashing out of the Tour, he's doing the double this year...
6. You compare Contador to Lance. No one has ever made any allegations to support this, nor do riders seem to view him in that light. Do you have any support for this at all? As far as I can tell, even former teammates (Tiralongo, Sammy Sanchez) have been willing to work for him after loyalty to him as a person.

In conclusion, it is one thing to make reasonable statements like, "Froome appears very strong right now. Contador appears weaker. It is likely that Froome will beat Contador in this."

But your insistence on spouting extremely biased, often historically inaccurate opinions (which you state as fact) about him is frustrating. You clearly have some insider info on cyclists, or you like people to think you do, and you seem to know something about cycling, and at times it seems like you should be a great poster, despite your poor English (I know it's not your first language), but your blind hatred of Contador emasculates any legitimate point you might make.

Solid, well supported post.
 
Jul 14, 2014
197
0
0
Re:

Matteo. said:
Good ride by Berto.
he close himself the gap of 50m , without waiting his mates. Really good also on cobbles . Bravo !

Also unbelievable work by Sagan. Contador's legs looked pretty fresh closing that last little bit of space. Im really hoping he can ride away from everyone in the mountains.
 
Jul 11, 2009
267
0
0
Well I feel happier than after yesterdays stage, Froome still looks strong but as has been said Contador generally always gets stronger in a GT and I think possibly more so this year. Don't forget he's always seen the Giro/Tour as ONE race, I think with the obvious recovery he's had to have since the GIro while everyone else is racing it would seem normal that the first week or so he's going to be 'ordinary'. I still think he can win this as long as he's on an upward form curve which given how he's planned this could just be the case.
 
Feb 21, 2014
2,133
0
0
Bit of a disappointing stage but the day is saved. Good, he is still in contention.

But hell, he is hanging for dear life there, all over the place, tilting, grimacing hard everywhere since Day one. We're in for a beat down on la Pierre saint Martin.

I said he'll improve, he will. But the first MTF is closing and it's too soon. And Froome is definitely peaking on the other hand.

AC really went too strong with the recovery and not enough with the training.
 
Jul 29, 2012
11,703
4
0
Re:

Jspear said:
AC will no doubt be giving some very big thanks to his team. They saved his day on multiple occasions. He wasn't very impressive...his team was good.

Contador was pretty good, it's just that his positioning is dogshit. It always has been, he just can't do that.

Sagan saved Contador a minute of time, maybe even more.
 
Jul 11, 2009
267
0
0
And of course Sagan was godly again... I hope Tink Off is rethinking what he's said about him as without him Contador may well be too far behind by now, especially after that stage along the coast the other day.