Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[Velolover2]

Do you think he is back at his 2014 level?

Getting such a gap on a small climb is a pretty good indication that he is ready. I fear a little for his TT though.

 

[Miburo]

Re:

Do you think he is back at his 2014 level?

Getting such a gap on a small climb is a pretty good indication that he is ready. I fear a little for his TT though.

Prob but not as good as Contador march '09. That was the best Contador ever in that period at least.

 

[Matteo.]

Re: Re:

Do you think he is back at his 2014 level?

Getting such a gap on a small climb is a pretty good indication that he is ready. I fear a little for his TT though.

Prob but not as good as Contador march '09. That was the best Contador ever in that period at least.

We are in february already. It's better wait paris-nice in march to judge definitely

 

[Velolover2]

His next victory better be Mont Brouilly followed up by Madone d'Utelle.

Already there he should be able to drop Kwiatkowski, Porte, Thomas, Talansky, etc.

First match against the big guys will be when he will face Froome and Quintana in Catalunya. Followed up by a Giro rematch between Landa and Aru (who is going to peak for that race) in Pais Vasco.

 

[Miburo]

Contador was already a god in february '09, he crushed the ITT in the algarve.

Chavanel was in his best shape ever, his team was convinced no one would do a better time than him. And Contador did 33 sec better than him.

 

[peloton]

Re:

Contador was already a god in february '09, he crushed the ITT in the algarve.

Chavanel was in his best shape ever, his team was convinced no one would do a better time than him. And Contador did 33 sec better than him.

You do also know that Contador raced late in the -08 season?
Unlike last year

 

[burning]

Considering that the worst TT result of Contador in 2009 is 5th and the second worst is 2nd, we can easily say that he was pretty much a god in 2009 except that PN stage. (Except Dauphine, but it is obvious that he was riding Dauphine as a training)

 

[calleking]

I calculated his wattage to around 470W or 7.58 W/kg for 6:40 up Malhao 2nd time. Contador looks thin already so I assumed his weight to 62kg (usual race weight). Reports say there was no head or tailwind. Ammattipyoraily later confirmed my rough estimates on twitter.

I think those are pretty good numbers for february. He said in a spanish interview that they pushed hard on the stage that he lost time on and on the final climb he bonked a bit due to having no energy. Sounds like an amateur mistake but I guess even seasoned pros misjudge their capacity early in the season. TT was pretty good considering the conditions so I think he definitely is on a good path towards Paris-Nice.

 

[Red Rick]

7.5 for that duration is actually not pretty good numbers for february. It's absolutely godlike

 

[Red Rick]

Went back and looked at power outputs from Mende 7last year, Froome and Quintana did 7.2 there for ~9.30. Guess that's comparable, but that was a stage 12 in a GT or something like that

 

[TheYouyou7]

Not so fast,

Mende was more like 6,8-6,9

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

I calculated his wattage to around 470W or 7.58 W/kg for 6:40 up Malhao 2nd time. Contador looks thin already so I assumed his weight to 62kg (usual race weight). Reports say there was no head or tailwind. Ammattipyoraily later confirmed my rough estimates on twitter.

I think those are pretty good numbers for february. He said in a spanish interview that they pushed hard on the stage that he lost time on and on the final climb he bonked a bit due to having no energy. Sounds like an amateur mistake but I guess even seasoned pros misjudge their capacity early in the season. TT was pretty good considering the conditions so I think he definitely is on a good path towards Paris-Nice.

Its not a bad thing to be reminded of that at times in the early season, the energy and bonking. It won't happen again this year.

 

[LaFlorecita]

2014, Muro de Gaintza in Pais Vasco stage 1 was VAM 2241 m/h and 7.5W/kg for 6'56".

 

[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.

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

with Sky, everything is poassible, next = Dylan McCoy

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Its not a bad thing to be reminded of that at times in the early season, the energy and bonking. It won't happen again this year.

Yep, he'll be extra careful now

 

[Jelantik]

Re:

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

i guees Uran might started the attack then Contador attacked him.

here's the video if you want to see el pistolero on his salsa dance attack;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZRgQnl1BDk

here's how far he was compare to the others:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwdipGczhpA

 

[sir fly]

Re: Re:

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

i guees Uran might started the attack then Contador attacked him.

here's the video if you want to see el pistolero on his salsa dance attack;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZRgQnl1BDk

here's how far he was compare to the others:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwdipGczhpA

The time gap at the place of shooting is bigger than at the finish line.

 

[Tonton]

On the second video (I would guess 800m to the finish), Bertie is 28" ahead of Pinot, and BTW only 20" ahead at the finish line . He's said to have attacked after 500m in the climb, so he created a big gap very quickly. That's impressive. Let's not get too high, like most of you went too low after stage 2. You're not Philadelphia Eagles' fans, are you? . And I called his win, me the '15 TdF bust . Let's see how Bertie builds up, what kind of ITT performances he can produce. So far, if I were a fan of his, I'd feel cautiously optimistic...he's got pop, "giclette", if he was too old, that's the first thing he'd lose. Props to Alberto.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

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

i guees Uran might started the attack then Contador attacked him.

here's the video if you want to see el pistolero on his salsa dance attack;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZRgQnl1BDk

here's how far he was compare to the others:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwdipGczhpA

The time gap at the place of shooting is bigger than at the finish line.

Thats pretty Contador-esque, his attacks are vicious, but he then fades a little.

 

[sir fly]

Re: Re:

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

i guees Uran might started the attack then Contador attacked him.

here's the video if you want to see el pistolero on his salsa dance attack;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZRgQnl1BDk

here's how far he was compare to the others:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwdipGczhpA

The time gap at the place of shooting is bigger than at the finish line.

Thats pretty Contador-esque, his attacks are vicious, but he then fades a little.

Nah...
No one wanted to chase him immediately.
He's not where he should be regarding the form.

 

[lenric]

Very good numbers by Contador. They show that by now he has high power in short efforts. I guess that, as time goes by until the Tour, he will increase his sustained power in medium to long efforts.
However, it doesn't mean that his acceleration can match Froome's. Riding away from Uran doesn't mean much, since Uran's acceleration isn't over the top.
But I'm optimistic about him. He may not have the same acceleration power as before, but his tactical sawvy is way better. Probably top 3 of the peloton.

 

[Jspear]

Re: Re:

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

i guees Uran might started the attack then Contador attacked him.

here's the video if you want to see el pistolero on his salsa dance attack;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZRgQnl1BDk

here's how far he was compare to the others:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwdipGczhpA

Thanks for posting this. It's been so hard to actually watch this stage....only bits and pieces at a time. Hadn't seen this bit.

 

[Miburo]

The best Contador can definitely match Froome, i don't think he can create as big gaps as Froome going full ***.

But he can hold on and in the last week of a GT, it's been shown Froome drops in shape. The tour of last year has proven that theory.

 

[Singer01]

Re:

The best Contador can definitely match Froome, i don't think he can create as big gaps as Froome going full ***.

But he can hold on and in the last week of a GT, it's been shown Froome drops in shape. The tour of last year has proven that theory.

lets keep repeating this as if its true. in about half of his GTs (since becoming a contender) froome has weakened in the last week, but still probably been top 3. in the other half he has been very strong.

 

[Miburo]

Re: Re:

The best Contador can definitely match Froome, i don't think he can create as big gaps as Froome going full ***.

But he can hold on and in the last week of a GT, it's been shown Froome drops in shape. The tour of last year has proven that theory.

lets keep repeating this as if its true. in about half of his GTs (since becoming a contender) froome has weakened in the last week, but still probably been top 3. in the other half he has been very strong.

It's absolutely true.

The vuelta of 2014 can't be uses as a reference since he was still getting better and better, just came from an injury. In the tour he'll be 100% directly, like always

It happened in tour 2013 and 2015 where he was the leader and crushed the field in the beginning.

In the tour of 2012, it didn't happen. True and why not? Cause he didn't have to do anything the first weeks, he was containing himself for wiggins.

So yea it always happen when Froome is in that position.

Look it up before commenting, makes you look like a tool