Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[Jelantik]

Re:

Concerning his teammates, Kreuziger needs to be at his 2013 TdF level.
Contador was really bad back then, but Kreuziger was always there with him and that's what he needs to do once again this year. And so far this year he seems quite strong.
Majka is an unknown quantity. As a leader he never showed the willingness to shake things up, attack or take risks and as a helper the best I can recall is setting a high tempo for some k's and then fading away...

Majka to me never strikes as a leader or even a super domestique. He is more like Tejay.. it's all about himself. (mountain jersey, stage win whatever). If he is a domestique, he will pull hard for a bit then fade away. Even Kiryenka, Henao, Poehl are better than him, and they are not even leader in GT with Sky (except Henao). He should have been able to stay with Kiryenka or Henao or Poehl in every mountain.

I don't know about Contador's team. Looks like, they give Sagan helpers because at least Green Jersey is a lot more possible than yellow. 3 climbers while other team are heavy on climber on a very difficult climber friendly race. I haven't see these 3 pedal to pedal even w/ the weakest sky domestique. How can that breathe confidence? It's not just about beating Froome, but beating the entire Sky team. There's no way Contador can do that alone w/o the help of his team. No matter how monster his form is. Every time he attacks, Sky domestique will reel him in, like a struggling fish, then tires him before Froome unleashes his lethal egg beater attack. Let's hope that his teams are better than on paper. Funny thing is, every TDF now, I've never had any sure thing feeling anymore about Contador. I always see him as the under dog now. It's like watching Andy when Contador was in his prime. We know he is good, but at the back of our mind, don't think he'll topple Contador. Froome and Quintana, there are this sure thing vibe. Don't know, why. I really do secretly hoping that he'll surprise us (in a good way not in 2013 way)

 

[ILovecycling]

Re: Re:

Sagan is gonna be Contador's best domestique. If i were movistar or sky, i would fear him the most as Contador's teammate.

Does it say much? Kreuziger is decent, but is past his 2013 and Majka will prolly wheel suck Alberto to Paris.

On a more serious note, i think you are right, but I hope not. It would be such a shame to see Sagan fall short once again and slave for Alberto if he isn't top notch which I suspect he won't be again, ever, in this race.

What does it mean?

 

[Miburo]

Of course valv.piti is gonna say that. Let the man talk, let the man think what he wants.

After that assbeating Contador gave to Quintana in pais vasco, i'm not surprised people are in denial. But hey 2nd ain't bad.

We all know Quintana don't see any difference between first and second. Everyone happy

 

[RattaKuningas]

Re: Re:

I think and hope Sagan may be very worthy to Contador since he can go in breaks in the mountainstages for the green jersey points and may be of help to Contadorin on a descent or the flat later on...

CN: And everybody talks a lot about Sky, but what about Tinkoff, what kind of a team are you taking to the Tour?

AC: A very good one. I’m very pleased with them and I’m very confident about what they can do. The three key riders who’ll be with me in the mountains will be [Roman] Kreuziger, [Robert] Kiserlovski and [Rafal] Majka, and they are definitely riders who will back me up really well. At the same time, Peter [Sagan] is not a climber, but he’s going to be a hugely important factor in the Tour for us, he’s just the kind of rider you want to have riding with you when a race needs shaking up. Strategically, he could be crucial for me, particularly when I want to try and destabilize things. Overall, Tinkoff are going to the Tour with a very good team both for the flat and in the mountains and they’ll be able to help me out a lot when or if things get complicated.

Sagan will help AC destabilize things.

We've seen Sagan do crazy things on short steeper climbs like in TdS stage 3 when he rode away from peleton, joined breakaway and won a stage. I think this is something that Contador can use to his advantage. Sagan won't be able to lead peleton for a long time but on steep sections he can do a lot of damage in a very short period of time and this probably would destabilize peleton and maybe even break or disrupt Sky train.

 

[Miburo]

3 more days. All you gotta look for is that face on sunday or wednesday and you can book it.

 

[ILovecycling]

9 years later Dog instead of Chicken?

 

[Miburo]

See. That's the difference with Contador and Quintana.

Quintana already had a 2nd place and and a giro win. Contador had nothing.

Now of course Contador didn't have to make up that much time (no long range attack), but he still attempted to win by all means. He even blew himself completely by attacking the whole time.

That's why cycling needs to hope that Aru becomes really good

 

[Gigs_98]

Re:

Of course valv.piti is gonna say that. Let the man talk, let the man think what he wants.

After that assbeating Contador gave to Quintana in pais vasco, i'm not surprised people are in denial. But hey 2nd ain't bad.

We all know Quintana don't see any difference between first and second. Everyone happy

I never know if you mean stuff like that honestly or not, but saying Quintana has to be afraid of Contador because of this spring, is just nonsense.

 

[BlurryVII]

It looks like Quintana knows the Great Contador. From his interviews, despite what happened in the latest TDFs, he still considers Contador as much of a favorite as Froome. And that says a lot. Last year, even coming out of the Giro, he was talking more of AC than of Froome .

Cause he knows, if AC gets it right form wise, he will potentially be more dangerous than Froome. Top form looks unlikely though, that's the problem.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

It looks like Quintana knows the Great Contador. From his interviews, despite what happened in the latest TDFs, he still considers Contador as much of a favorite as Froome. And that says a lot. Last year, even coming out of the Giro, he was talking more of AC than of Froome .

Cause he knows, if AC gets it right form wise, he will potentially be more dangerous than Froome. Top form looks unlikely though, that's the problem.

Why? There is no reason for him not to be in top form. If he gets his arse kicked, that might just be because his top form is not good enough anymore.

 

[BlurryVII]

Re: Re:

It looks like Quintana knows the Great Contador. From his interviews, despite what happened in the latest TDFs, he still considers Contador as much of a favorite as Froome. And that says a lot. Last year, even coming out of the Giro, he was talking more of AC than of Froome .

Cause he knows, if AC gets it right form wise, he will potentially be more dangerous than Froome. Top form looks unlikely though, that's the problem.

Why? There is no reason for him not to be in top form. If he gets his **** kicked, that might just be because his top form is not good enough anymore.

Yeah, perhaps his top form at this age would simply not be good enough anymore. But then he would have strongly declined between 2014 and now.

The definition of his Top form for me, is the Tour 14' (or 09'), there, he shouldn't have any problem. I was thinking that's the kind of form that is unlikely to see.

 

[Miburo]

If I get a penny every time blurry says 2014 shape ill be able to buy the whole iceland team

 

[BlurryVII]

haha, cause that's what it's all about.

 

[sir fly]

Re:

haha, cause that's what it's all about.

Buying the whole Iceland team?!

 

[Matteo.]

Re: Re:

It looks like Quintana knows the Great Contador. From his interviews, despite what happened in the latest TDFs, he still considers Contador as much of a favorite as Froome. And that says a lot. Last year, even coming out of the Giro, he was talking more of AC than of Froome .

Cause he knows, if AC gets it right form wise, he will potentially be more dangerous than Froome. Top form looks unlikely though, that's the problem.

Why? There is no reason for him not to be in top form. If he gets his **** kicked, that might just be because his top form is not good enough anymore.

Yeah, perhaps his top form at this age would simply not be good enough anymore. But then he would have strongly declined between 2014 and now.

The definition of his Top form for me, is the Tour 14' (or 09'), there, he shouldn't have any problem. I was thinking that's the kind of form that is unlikely to see.

Very good explenation,, i agree

 

[Red Rick]

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If I get a penny every time blurry says 2014 shape ill be able to buy the whole iceland team

Wait, he said it more then 6 times?

 

[Miburo]

Re: Re:

If I get a penny every time blurry says 2014 shape ill be able to buy the whole iceland team

Wait, he said it more then 6 times?

Convert it to pounds and i can buy the whole Belgian team.

 

[Red Rick]

Ehrmagerd. Barely realised it's starting in two days. But then I've had other stuff to obsess over. My devotion seems to be fading. Someone do something

 

[peloton]

Re:

I think and hope Sagan may be very worthy to Contador since he can go in breaks in the mountainstages for the green jersey points and may be of help to Contadorin on a descent or the flat later on...

Having Sagan on the team does help Contador too (if he can hold the wheels), Sagan is going for sprints, Sky/Astana/Movistar not.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Re:

If I get a penny every time blurry says 2014 shape ill be able to buy the whole iceland team

You could (with quite a lot of change leftover). And it would be money well spent. Iceland are going to do what Contador will do; a display of domination the likes of which has never been seen before, all over France

 

[Alexandre B.]

Lucien Aimar, former Tour de France champion and best descender of his time, has published a book recently and he praises Contador technique over Nibali.

 

[LaFlorecita]

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Lucien Aimar, former Tour de France champion and best descender of his time, has published a book recently and he praises Contador technique over Nibali.

Really? That is very interesting thanks for sharing

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Ehrmagerd. Barely realised it's starting in two days. But then I've had other stuff to obsess over. My devotion seems to be fading. Someone do something

I am with you, it feels like just another race to me.

 

[Miburo]

Re:

Ehrmagerd. Barely realised it's starting in two days. But then I've had other stuff to obsess over. My devotion seems to be fading. Someone do something

Same here mate. Was doing a lot of *** lately but i'm still gonna go crazy. Contador is my dude, for 10 years now.

I can't wait for sunday, and don't worry i'll make sure you'll be hyped too

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Re:

Lucien Aimar, former Tour de France champion and best descender of his time, has published a book recently and he praises Contador technique over Nibali.

That's... Weird. But what are his basis for saying so? I don't think you should put too much into that.