Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Froome, Froome, Froome ....

You forget one thing: Contador simply is spend from the Giro!

Mission accomplished Mister Martinelli!

Must be pretty funny for Nibali, Aru, Landa & Vino to realize that apparently there's only cyclist their directeur sportif really cared about this season!

He isn't spent. Shouldn't be, anyway. He is just in all around bad shape.

Yeah, because he had to dig deep in the Giro. This is it.

Normally he should still be able to podium or at least get a Top 5. Unless he really misses any sharpness.

But the double is gone. Martinelli got his job done, when he pressured him the whole Giro long. Well, maybe not his job ... but his destinaton.^^

I think this BS about Martinelli wanting to keep Pantani's legend intact is just that, BS. Contador has been off shape this entire season. Nothing to do with being spent. Even if he hadn't raced the Giro he would have lost at least 2 minutes yesterday.

 

[Miburo]

I think you've to relax a bit fleur Without the insane Landa in the giro contador would have looked like a god.

He had a few great days in the giro but yes he was never the same. It is what it IS, he still won it in great fashion, that's what i'll remember.

He tried and he failed. That's life you know? Let's see if Contador can stand up today and in the next week.

 

[HelloDolly]

Re: Re:

I can't believe some of the s**t people are saying on here . Contador should retire from the Tour becuse Froome is better . Yeah like that is the attitude of a champion , run away because you are being beaten!!!

Or Contador is too fat and hasn't trained after we heard yesterday that he spent 120 of the last 180 days with Ivan Basso What were they doing ...Blueberry farming ?

You guys are not fans of Contador you only want the 'kill' and if he can't deliver it then you throw him to the wolves
You are not worried about his humiliation only your own ...you have invested energy in knocking his opponents and biging him up and if he is not delivering then he must leave the race so you don't have to look upon your own 'humiliation'

You are not fans of cycling you are fans of combat but only if winning

A true champion never runs from a fight even if he loses

Today before the stage Yates said the stage didn't suit Contador and we saw that by the riders who were up there like Gallopin , Adam Yates , etc

And the first 9 stages and a rest day and then into such a brutal climb at the end was a shock to nearly everyone. Some top climbers were dropped before climbing began at all
SKY were surprised a how easy they had it ...but I'd be surprised if Quintana & Contador don't pull time back in the Alps

You are looking at it the wrong way. We want him to abandon, because we care about him. We don't want him to see humiliated. We want what is best for him and that is not getting beaten into submission like a puppy. If he was in any sort of shape to try something crazy, then by all means, stay in the race and make it hell for Sky. But he isn't. He's in terrible shape, and we're in for a repeat of 2013 when he barely tried and if he tried, he got 3 meters and was reeled back in. Team Sky will never allow him to take a stage, even if he's 30 minutes down. Not fun for us fans, but not for Alberto either. Like I said, if there's nothing left to fight for, why fight?

Its not over by a long shot
I never understand people in cycling including commentators .
A rider has a few bad days and its like they will never win again !
A rider has a few good dasy and its like they will never lose again !
So many top riders lost loads of time yesterday. It was not just Contador. It was I think the parcours, the heat and the aftermath of 9 hard stages & rest day

The fightback begins today
For the next few stages Contador has to limit the loss and stay with Froome/Quintana as he regains strength. And his team better step up. Where was the much hearlded Majka yesterday ? Kreuz & Majka need to be with him for this

There are 5 big stages next week that Contador can get time back and I am sure SKY will tire...its inevitable. He may not win the Tour but I think he will save the Tour for fans everywhere and probably engender more admiration than going home

The thing is he is the only rider except maybe Quintana that can take on SKY

 

[No_Balls]

Re:

http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/article/2015/07/15/contador-i-couldnt-breathe-and-still-cant

Contador was realistic about his performance today, but refused to admit defeat.

“The Tour is a very long race and it’s true that today I wasn’t in top shape, nevertheless I can also be in a situation where my shape is much more similar to the shape Froome had today," he said.

"I don’t take it for granted that he will win the Tour. We have just entered the mountains and the race is not concluded yet.”

That would make a massive turn around for the ages. Because at no point in this Tour have i've seen anything remotely indicating that he is beginning to even hit a decent shape, let alone numbers reminiscent of last year. And let's face it the signs have been numerous that something has been wrong from the get go.

-Didnt liked at all Olegs complaining in the first interview about it being "unfair" the other riders would have an advantage on Alberto because of the Giro, followed by a promise of boycot next year. So does people speak when they are afraid of losing and/or already takes out the defeat.

-Olegs low-key figure this far. A confident of victory Oleg would have been everywhere, stirring headlines, insulting other teams, generally been more engaging in the mind-games around. I cant stand the guy but his avoidance of this have had me fearing the worst.

-The team has been somewhat telling. I much rather prefer the approach they had in the Giro where they made sure Alberto was in the front all the time to avoid crashes, keeping an eye on things and/or just control the race. Here they seldom comes to the front, the positions in the bunch have been troughout piss-poor and Alberto have occasionally started climbs and sprints too far back and not in touch with the front. It looks like they have completely abandoned attention to important details. Mentally, they doesnt look to be in the race. People have been motivated by this because TS could rest but the reality is far from this. An Alberto in shape, dedicated to win, is always in front and will have one or two teammates to assist him. He is there to show he is in the race determined to win. Having said that they did a stunning cobbles-ride and blowed it up on the first stage but the continuity has been lacking and the general focus seems to drop between stages.

-Horrible prologue followed by blowing up himself on Huy. Lost 2.52 already on the first mountain, couldnt neither breathe nor feeling his legs. This doesnt sound as a rider who is about to discover his 2014 figures. This sounds like a disaster and i really do understand people who are afraid of his legacy if this continues. I dont want to see him sitting in the bus and go for lone range attacks just for the pleasure of some. That is just sad and unworthy his palmares.

 

[Ludwig's Olaf]

Pull out Bertie and prepare for the Vuelta. Froome might go there also and try a double, 2012 he was a spent force.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Pull out Bertie and prepare for the Vuelta. Froome might go there also and try a double, 2012 he was a spent force.

I think 5GTs in a row might be a bit much, but with some rest and altitude training he might be able to take on Landa. And there's the ITT of course.

 

[Hayabusa]

Reading DB comment.. hm..kinda irk me. But hey, I can't be annoyed, since he has all the bragging right now with unstoppable Froome. I just hope he doesn't put his foot in his mouth too soon.

Brailsford was equally blunt about the under-par performances of Froome’s key rivals such as Alberto Contador, Vincenzo Nibali and Tejay van Garderen, who all lost chunks of time and virtually any hope of beating Froome in this year’s race.

“I think we saw what we expected to see. I think the signs have ben there with Nibali all week,” Brailsford said dismissively of the 2014 Tour winner. “It’s brave of Contador to try to win the Giro-Tour double but he’s tired and you can see it. TJ (van Garderen) wasn’t one of the top four. He might be in the future but he’s not quite at that level yet.”

Oh, Dave Brailsfraud is an arrogant ****, who would have thought

I know your love of Contador blinds you occasionally but nothing he has said there is arrogant. He gave Contador kudos for trying the double but even you must see the guy is tired right now. He got outclimbed by Gesink, Gallopin... this is not an on-form Contador.

TJ wasn't one of the top four so that is also accurate and Nibali has been showing signs of being off the pace.

Dave can sometimes be arrogant, but everything he has said there is based on actual fact and not on arrogance. Hopefully Contador remains in the race and goes after a few stage wins, I think that would be a success for him as I can't see him beating Froome or taking back a minute on Quintana at this stage.

 

[Metabolol]

This is 2015, Froome is not going to lose this tour unless there is some distaster (illness, crash or complete bonk). It's not just a question about time differences it's a question about the underlying form of his competition. Had Contador lost 30-40 sec and looked a bit more explosive on earlier stages then sure there would be hope. But he is cooked, he doesn't have the legs.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, what Froome did was impressive but when the initial shock left me it was clear that he wasn't really tested on yesterday's stage. Nairo actually performed as expected but neither Contador or Nibali were close to their top shape.

 

[Miburo]

We'll see next year but i know that the best Contador is for sure better than quintana and maybe on par with froome. Dauphine stage 2 gave me hope, ok froome was dragging him up but he couldn't drop Contador, never happened before. And contador is usually way better in the tour than in the dauphine.

And at the vuelta it was a pretty good froome at the end, yet contador was better.

Forget the giro, win the tour and then retire. That's my hope.

 

[Metabolol]

If the numbers I have seen are correct then last year's Nibali would have been right up there with Froome and even an Alberto in last year's vuelta shape would have matched him. Too bad that battle didn't materialize but I guess that is how racing is.

 

[Angliru]

Re: Re:

Contador is obviously struggling from having ridden the Giro but whether he would have been able to match Froome anyway is questionable. Contador is going a long way to prove that the double is impossible.

Nibali is complaining the same thing as Contador about how he has difficulty breathing. Could it be Contador and Nibali are in the same bad form? or is the temperature is so hot, makes them hard to breath. But either way, I'm not sugar coating anything. Contador said he has his bad day. Right now, I can only watch the Tour as it is. Maybe the fight for podium isn't so bad to watch. Last year, Nibali first week was flawless. This year, Froome first week was flawless. It's an eerie coincidence similarity. Even Quintana who has been touted as the main challenger this year was eerily in the same position (already at deficit time) as 2013. Contador was more or less similar to 2013.(as far as the vibe about him). Dunno maybe even year is the year of Froome's luck. Who knows.

But good things is compare to the rest who put all their egg into one basket, Contador at least has one GT won this year. So I hope to see contador puts some show for the fans. Would be awesome if Nibali, Contador and Uran decide to throw a havoc into the rest of the contender by joining breakaway, attack long distance and go for broke..

Bad days shouldn't come on the first big mountain day of the Tour, especially one that has only one col.

The first mountain stage of grand tour is one of the most likely of days for contenders to have their bad day. As stated in the cn articles, after days of primarily flats and hills, the start of real mountains can be a shock to the system of some riders. I recall in one of the Tours, Basso and a few other elite contenders struggled on the climb to Courcheval, leaving Armstrong, Mancebo, Rassmussen and Valverde to battle for the stage win. Valverde would ultimately win the stage but Basso would find his climbing legs in the following mountainous stages to take 2nd place in the gc in the end.

 

[Captain_Obvious]

There is too much talk of doom and disaster here. I still have faith. Alberto will show something. I hope it will rain soon.

 

[ray j willings]

Re:

If the numbers I have seen are correct then last year's Nibali would have been right up there with Froome and even an Alberto in last year's vuelta shape would have matched him. Too bad that battle didn't materialize but I guess that is how racing is.

Good post. Common sense will eventually win the day.

 

[Miburo]

Re:

There is too much talk of doom and disaster here. I still have faith. Alberto will show something. I hope it will rain soon.

Your post is a flashback of 2 years ago, don't be in denial. Will hurt even more

 

[murali]

good to see flo fumigating. My belief in Bertie is restored. now, i just need to see something in today's stage

 

[SergeDeM]

BTW, great teamwork for Contador by Majka so far...

 

[Miburo]

Re:

BTW, great teamwork for Contador by Majka so far...

You're not seriously blaming majka right?

 

[damian13ster]

Re:

BTW, great teamwork for Contador by Majka so far...

Majka is currently saving Tinkoff's Tour. You are welcome

 

[SeriousSam]

The number of Tour stages Contador won in his career is a bit of a shame.

 

[damian13ster]

Re:

The number of Tour stages Contador won in his career is a bit of a shame.

What is it? 3?

 

[Captain_Obvious]

He looked alright today towards the end. Glad Majka won the stage. Should serve as some relief.

 

[rm7]

I really hope it will be a rainy stage tomorrow. Riis keep talking about his allergies, so I want to find out how much better he can do in rainy / colder conditions.

Riis used the words "If there's rain tomorrow, we'll see a completely different Contador".

 

[Matteo.]

On Tourmalet he looks bad , but better in the end..
we will see tomorrow but i think " minutes will fly"

 

[Jspear]

Re: Re:

The number of Tour stages Contador won in his career is a bit of a shame.

What is it? 3?

Yes....

Very glad Majka won! Hopefully AC tries something similar to 2011....

 

[damian13ster]

Re: Re:

The number of Tour stages Contador won in his career is a bit of a shame.

What is it? 3?

Yes....

Very glad Majka won! Hopefully AC tries something similar to 2011....

Hopefully Majka has more stage wins than that at the end of this Tour. Now only needs 2 GC wins to match Contador

But yeah, Contador should try long-range attack if opportunity arises. Just don't screw up others' chances (among Tinkoff riders) for a stage win while doing that (ex, recalling Rogers, Kreuziger or Majka from the break if the peleton is not chasing). I would love to see Rogers and Majka to go for a break in each MTF stage (except stage 20 because Froome will go for win there) so that Rogers can be recalled if needed and Majka win if break stays away