Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[rhubroma]

Re: Re:

I just read GThomas recap of the final stage. He dismissed Alberto's attack as irrelevant "Izagirre was the biggest threat after that and I just didn't get carried away when Contador and Rigo (Uran) attacked. I just followed Izagirre all the way"

Wow! Wow! from GThomas?? There was a time when if Alberto attacked, no matter what position he was in the GC, everybody sat up and began to shake. Have we come to this? From GThomas??

Being objective, Thomas was right on his tactical assessment. I wouldn't expect Thomas/Sky not sounding arrogant, it's just their thing

Yes, but he's kidding himself if AC's move was "irrelevant." It sent an important message to Contador's rivals: "I'm here, catch me if you can." And frankly, tactical considerations aside, Thomas could not have followed yesterday. If had the legs he would have, but yesterday wasn't the same AC as the first hilltop finish.

Thus it looks as if not having raced since the Tour did really translate in not quite having the rhythm, whereas Thomas had the Tour Down Under in his legs.

At any rate, don't think Thomas will be quite so flippantly dismissive at Paris-Nice. Catch him if you can...

 

[ad9898]

The issue is, due to the race situation being in Thomas's favour he didn't need to follow Contador, but if he had to, he couldn't and wouldn't have been able to follow Contador's attack. He's not being sincere really, the fact that he was in the situation of having time on him from previous stages masked the fact that he was clearly weaker than Contador yesterday but just says he didn't need to follow

 

[Eshnar]

It's not so difficult to understand, people. He didn't need to follow AC and he didn't. If he had to, he would have at least tried. But if someone asks him why he didn't follow, the simple and clear reason is that he didn't have to. I don't see how can you even make a case out of a kind of statement that we read all the time.
...And that is completely legit in this particular case.

 

[dacooley]

yes, that's the case, but cycling is not about sincerity. ability to create an illusion of you being stronger than you really was is very important too.

 

[TheYouyou7]

No way G could have followed AC, he went full *** with watts, i think someone linked something where we saw that AC climbed 6,40

 

[pablopaul]

No way G could have followed AC, he went full *** with watts, i think someone linked something where we saw that AC climbed 6,40

Pinot's time on Strava is 7m 01s, so Alberto's time was 6m 41s.

 

[trevim]

Re: Re:

I just read GThomas recap of the final stage. He dismissed Alberto's attack as irrelevant "Izagirre was the biggest threat after that and I just didn't get carried away when Contador and Rigo (Uran) attacked. I just followed Izagirre all the way"

Wow! Wow! from GThomas?? There was a time when if Alberto attacked, no matter what position he was in the GC, everybody sat up and began to shake. Have we come to this? From GThomas??

Being objective, Thomas was right on his tactical assessment. I wouldn't expect Thomas/Sky not sounding arrogant, it's just their thing

Yes, but he's kidding himself if AC's move was "irrelevant." It sent an important message to Contador's rivals: "I'm here, catch me if you can." And frankly, tactical considerations aside, Thomas could not have followed yesterday. If had the legs he would have, but yesterday wasn't the same AC as the first hilltop finish.

Thus it looks as if not having raced since the Tour did really translate in not quite having the rhythm, whereas Thomas had the Tour Down Under in his legs.

At any rate, don't think Thomas will be quite so flippantly dismissive at Paris-Nice. Catch him if you can...

Regarding GC the move was irrelevant, no way Conatdor would pull back 1min on Thomas in 2.5km.
But yeah I agree it was a good sign even if just to show that there's still some life in Contador's legs.

 

[LaFlorecita]

No way G could have followed AC, he went full *** with watts, i think someone linked something where we saw that AC climbed 6,40

Yep ammattipyoraily on twitter and also jens_attacks say his Watts were out of this world, 2009 level. Pinot was 10s faster than Kwiat in 2015 who was 3s slower than Richie. So Berto was 27s faster than Richie and we know he was flying last year in 1-week races.
Also, Thomas was slightly faster yesterday than in 2015 (8s) it is hard to believe he would be able to go 28s faster still. It's not like he took it easy in 2015 as he was also defending his lead then.

 

[rick james]

Re: Re:

I just read GThomas recap of the final stage. He dismissed Alberto's attack as irrelevant "Izagirre was the biggest threat after that and I just didn't get carried away when Contador and Rigo (Uran) attacked. I just followed Izagirre all the way"

Wow! Wow! from GThomas?? There was a time when if Alberto attacked, no matter what position he was in the GC, everybody sat up and began to shake. Have we come to this? From GThomas??

And what do you want Thomas to say? It's not his job to pander to contador fans, he tells the truth and gets criticised for not blowing smoke up contadors arse

 

[Publicus]

Re:

To me it seems like Uran attacked with Alberto and Zaka. Zaka dropped somewhere. Uran swinged to the side and Berto rode off. At this point Antunes was coming up from behind. Then later we see a spectator's video of Berto passing with Uran and Antunes coming by later. Aru a few seconds after that. And then Pinot. Seems to me like Aru and Pinot attacked from the main GC group with the intent of getting back to Alberto.

Looking at the photos from the race, it seems Uran threw down the initial gauntlet, Contador responded and went over the top, but was brought back by Movistar and others. Then the events you noted above unfolded. Contador looked really comfortable when he rode away from Uran. And for whatever reason, he looks super-thin in street clothes, but looks completely normal/healthy on the bike (relatively speaking of course). Hopefully he stays healthy and avoids injury for the remainder of the year (and same with Froome)--I really want to see them at their respective best.

 

[Publicus]

Re: Re:

I just read GThomas recap of the final stage. He dismissed Alberto's attack as irrelevant "Izagirre was the biggest threat after that and I just didn't get carried away when Contador and Rigo (Uran) attacked. I just followed Izagirre all the way"

Wow! Wow! from GThomas?? There was a time when if Alberto attacked, no matter what position he was in the GC, everybody sat up and began to shake. Have we come to this? From GThomas??

It was the correct tactical assessment, he had 1'04 on Contador. I think he mentioned that it would have been foolish to try and follow Contador and blow up in the process and lose his overall win in the process. So I wouldn't read more into his comments than that (they came off as matter of fact, not disparaging). G knows (or should) that he had zero chance of following Contador yesterday.

 

[IndianCyclist]

Thomas was real afraid about Contador because he didn't want to blow up mid race and lose whatever chances he had of overall. Don't see any disrespect involved

I just didn't want to get carried away and go into the red until necessary.

Based on this race , it appears that Contador has the p/w but not the power. Probably decided that he does not want to focus on weight reduction in normal season like Froome. Maybe De Jongh's Sky input.

 

[Miburo]

G. Thomas couldn't do any better, Contador gonna destroy sky in 2 weeks. He's the only one who can and want to do it.

Quintana can too but he doesn't want to, doesn't have the balls.

Look at the dauphine 2014, contador playing with sky.

 

[Jakub]

Re: Re:

To me it seems like Uran attacked with Alberto and Zaka. Zaka dropped somewhere. Uran swinged to the side and Berto rode off. At this point Antunes was coming up from behind. Then later we see a spectator's video of Berto passing with Uran and Antunes coming by later. Aru a few seconds after that. And then Pinot. Seems to me like Aru and Pinot attacked from the main GC group with the intent of getting back to Alberto.

Looking at the photos from the race, it seems Uran threw down the initial gauntlet, Contador responded and went over the top, but was brought back by Movistar and others. Then the events you noted above unfolded. Contador looked really comfortable when he rode away from Uran. And for whatever reason, he looks super-thin in street clothes, but looks completely normal/healthy on the bike (relatively speaking of course). Hopefully he stays healthy and avoids injury for the remainder of the year (and same with Froome)--I really want to see them at their respective best.

which fotos show he was brought back? I haven' seen any so far and no video I have seen or reactions from Bertie, Dylan Thomas or Pinot support that.

 

[perico]

LOL Thomas did try to follow and sat up. Aru couldn't get across. Here are the highlights at 1:10 on the video. Contador smoked it and blew by Uran.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYcbQYNGm7g

 

[Eshnar]

LOL Thomas did try to follow and sat up. Aru couldn't get across. Here are the highlights at 1:10 on the video. Contador smoked it and blew by Uran.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYcbQYNGm7g

When?

 

[Miburo]

He mistook Martin for thomas i think

 

[Tonton]

That video is worthless. We don't get to see the attack/reactions. Abysmal...

Glad I predicted Bertie's win . I'm still looking for the sets of "two Spaniards" in the top-10 though . Now De La Fuente finished 57th .

 

[peloton]

Short video on the climb yesterday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArZRAZVCoqU

 

[Electress]

Re:

Short video on the climb yesterday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArZRAZVCoqU

Looking smooth.

 

[Jspear]

Re:

Short video on the climb yesterday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArZRAZVCoqU

Someone using a drone at 1:50.

 

[Publicus]

Re: Re:

To me it seems like Uran attacked with Alberto and Zaka. Zaka dropped somewhere. Uran swinged to the side and Berto rode off. At this point Antunes was coming up from behind. Then later we see a spectator's video of Berto passing with Uran and Antunes coming by later. Aru a few seconds after that. And then Pinot. Seems to me like Aru and Pinot attacked from the main GC group with the intent of getting back to Alberto.

Looking at the photos from the race, it seems Uran threw down the initial gauntlet, Contador responded and went over the top, but was brought back by Movistar and others. Then the events you noted above unfolded. Contador looked really comfortable when he rode away from Uran. And for whatever reason, he looks super-thin in street clothes, but looks completely normal/healthy on the bike (relatively speaking of course). Hopefully he stays healthy and avoids injury for the remainder of the year (and same with Froome)--I really want to see them at their respective best.

which fotos show he was brought back? I haven' seen any so far and no video I have seen or reactions from Bertie, Dylan Thomas or Pinot support that.

Here's the link to the photos from stage 5.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.770511183050133.1073741841.591150234319563&type=3

 

[Jakub]

Re: Re:

To me it seems like Uran attacked with Alberto and Zaka. Zaka dropped somewhere. Uran swinged to the side and Berto rode off. At this point Antunes was coming up from behind. Then later we see a spectator's video of Berto passing with Uran and Antunes coming by later. Aru a few seconds after that. And then Pinot. Seems to me like Aru and Pinot attacked from the main GC group with the intent of getting back to Alberto.

Looking at the photos from the race, it seems Uran threw down the initial gauntlet, Contador responded and went over the top, but was brought back by Movistar and others. Then the events you noted above unfolded. Contador looked really comfortable when he rode away from Uran. And for whatever reason, he looks super-thin in street clothes, but looks completely normal/healthy on the bike (relatively speaking of course). Hopefully he stays healthy and avoids injury for the remainder of the year (and same with Froome)--I really want to see them at their respective best.

which fotos show he was brought back? I haven' seen any so far and no video I have seen or reactions from Bertie, Dylan Thomas or Pinot support that.

Here's the link to the photos from stage 5.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.770511183050133.1073741841.591150234319563&type=3

Thanks! It looks so.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Re: Re:

To me it seems like Uran attacked with Alberto and Zaka. Zaka dropped somewhere. Uran swinged to the side and Berto rode off. At this point Antunes was coming up from behind. Then later we see a spectator's video of Berto passing with Uran and Antunes coming by later. Aru a few seconds after that. And then Pinot. Seems to me like Aru and Pinot attacked from the main GC group with the intent of getting back to Alberto.

Looking at the photos from the race, it seems Uran threw down the initial gauntlet, Contador responded and went over the top, but was brought back by Movistar and others. Then the events you noted above unfolded. Contador looked really comfortable when he rode away from Uran. And for whatever reason, he looks super-thin in street clothes, but looks completely normal/healthy on the bike (relatively speaking of course). Hopefully he stays healthy and avoids injury for the remainder of the year (and same with Froome)--I really want to see them at their respective best.

which fotos show he was brought back? I haven' seen any so far and no video I have seen or reactions from Bertie, Dylan Thomas or Pinot support that.

Lol I didn't know that Dylan Thomas was a cyclist now

 

[Electress]

Interview in marca
http://www.marca.com/ciclismo/2016/02/22/56cb392be2704e5a638b461e.html