Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[Miburo]

Tomorrow isn't about sprinting at all, the strongest will win. And i wouldn't go too early, you can blow up mighty hard.

 

[WheelofGear]

Re:

Tomorrow isn't about sprinting at all, the strongest will win. And i wouldn't go too early, you can blow up mighty hard.

Yep this is a real climb, not some Ardennes hill. People are actually thinking Dan Martin has a chance. If he has a chance, they are doing it wrong.

 

[Mr.White]

Martin has no chance tomorrow, way too hard for him. I think Alberto will win, followed by Henao, Yates and Dani Moreno. Maybe Purito too if he improved his shape.

 

[BlurryVII]

He said he spent all week after catalunya resting. He's relying too much on his winter base, at his age he has to train constantly like in 2014 to keep that sparkle and make the crucial difference that gets you the overall win in those one week races.

Yeah, he says he has good sensations, but good for meaningless attacks for the show or good to actually drop his rivals on a MTF and win the GC? That's the question. I personally don't think he'll win tomorrow, hope I'm wrong but he always disappoints and suddenly looks weaker on MTFs.

 

[metaCYCLE]

I didn't read too much into his "attacks"... To me it looked more like getting to the front for those tricky descents. Tomorrow is a very different story.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Sean Yates says they did a recon of tomorrow's finish, and they will try to win.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

He said he spent all week after catalunya resting. He's relying too much on his winter base, at his age he has to train constantly like in 2014 to keep that sparkle and make the crucial difference that gets you the overall win in those one week races.

Yeah, he says he has good sensations, but good for meaningless attacks for the show or good to actually drop his rivals on a MTF and win the GC? That's the question. I personally don't think he'll win tomorrow, hope I'm wrong but he always disappoints and suddenly looks weaker on MTFs.

How do you know that?

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

I agree with what Matteo posted, if he feels strong, he should attack early. If he waits till the final km, he risks being outsprinted by Yates, Henao, Martin etc and losing a few s (there are no boni's though)
If he attacks early, he won't have to respond to attacks by others either

If Contador is stronger than the others, he will win, a climb like tomorrow is super simple. It won't come down to a sprint on those gradients

 

[BlurryVII]

Re: Re:

He said he spent all week after catalunya resting. He's relying too much on his winter base, at his age he has to train constantly like in 2014 to keep that sparkle and make the crucial difference that gets you the overall win in those one week races.

Yeah, he says he has good sensations, but good for meaningless attacks for the show or good to actually drop his rivals on a MTF and win the GC? That's the question. I personally don't think he'll win tomorrow, hope I'm wrong but he always disappoints and suddenly looks weaker on MTFs.

How do you know that?

It's one of his statements after today's stage, it was posted on AC Fans twitter page "Tenía respeto a este día porque llevaba toda la semana descansando después de la Volta a Catalunya."

 

[Red Rick]

Ok.

The way I see it, is that he has the good base this year. In 2013, he didn't have it, got sick, kept racing and everything went from bad to worse. Better to recover than to overexert yourself. We'll see tomorrow

 

[bajbar]

Re:

Sean Yates says they did a recon of tomorrow's finish, and they will try to win.

And then in the same article Alberto says he knows nothing about the climb, just that it will be hard and that he will have to be careful not to lose any precious seconds

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

Sean Yates says they did a recon of tomorrow's finish, and they will try to win.

And then in the same article Alberto says he knows nothing about the climb, just that it will be hard and that he will have to be careful not to lose any precious seconds

That can't be true, Contador NEVER lies or twists the reality a bit in his favour!

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Sean Yates says they did a recon of tomorrow's finish, and they will try to win.

And then in the same article Alberto says he knows nothing about the climb, just that it will be hard and that he will have to be careful not to lose any precious seconds

Yeah, maybe the team DS's did a recon.

 

[rhubroma]

Well resting in season doesn't mean no riding, but easy riding. He needed to do that to recharge the batteries after two hard GC races, done also in cold weather.

If his body recovered from those efforts and the tank is refilled, he should be sharp on today's stage.

 

[Red Rick]

Panick mode unlocked

 

[Jakub]

What the *** was this?

 

[ice&fire]

Re:

Panick mode unlocked

He's still in good position to extend his string of 2nd places

 

[Matteo.]

No panick. It has gone from predictions and he was outsprinted by Henao and Sanchez in the end

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

No panick. It has gone from predictions and he was outsprinted by Henao and Sanchez.

No panic indeed, as expected he lost some seconds to Henao. Samu is a surprise. Quintana and Pinot are still too close for comfort, but we will see.

 

[Jspear]

If he doesn't lose anymore time, he can still win the overall if he does a good TT.

 

[Miburo]

Was sure he was gonna win with 30 sec, this is it for le tour i guess

 

[Matteo.]

Re:

If he doesn't lose anymore time, he can still win the overall if he does a good TT.

Exactly . That was my prediction and i confirm it.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Was sure he was gonna win with 30 sec, this is it for le tour i guess

Oh I thought you said in the race thread that that was a joke?

 

[Carols]

At first I thought he was just refusing to close gaps after he closed the first one and they all just sat on him. But he drifted back later and let's face it never made an attack. This isn't a sharp Berto . He said he rested between Catalunya and PV because the season was already tiring. His age is catching up to him .

 

[rm7]

Think he was fine. It was too steep for him and the real climbers to make a difference without risking to blow up.

To be fair, when he does a sprint like that in the end, it usually means that he's in quite good shape. Otherwise he blow up in the middle of the acceleration and get overtaken by several riders.