Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[nairoman]

i read the article "Who is Nairo Quintana" on velonews and i think AC needs to make things quick if he wants to win this or next year Tour de France because Nairo is potentially a Beast much more Dangerous than Froome

 

[peloton]

He is riding Vuelta, regardless what happens at Tour. If he isn't injured, of course he should continue.

 

[mufana]

Re:

He lost some time from injury today, Porte lost time from a puncture, other GC contenders will loose time from illness, poor tactics, mechanical i'm sure too, that's how it goes. It's a shame to see such bad luck on two GC leaders, but it's a long way still. The amount of energy the body uses to repair itself shows on a stage finish like today, I think if AC can just repair enough over the next 3 days and not loose too much more, things can easily turnaround for him before the mountains.

Indeed, this is the Tour. Maybe in the next days other GC contenders crash, have time losses and then the world looks completely different. The tour is unpredictable.

 

[Matteo.]

Who cares about another Giro. He needs to recover and show what he can do when the mountains hit. Another Giro adds nothing to his legacy. He should attack the mountains and if the lead is out of reach, prove that he should've won had he not crashed. I love the Giro, but it doesn't mean anything against the likes of Amador or He needs to show something against Froome and Nairo.

It was the last chance, and now it's gone. He has already beaten Froome in 2014, and so? The real matter was to win again the Tour , not beat Froome or Quintana.
Try again to win the Tour in 2017 ? At 34- 35 years old? meh

 

[Põhja Konn]

The most telling thing today was the attitude of his team as it was displayed on the road. The was of one, that did no longer believe in its leaders chance of being competitive. That is the reason I believe his chances are gone, as sad as it is to say.

 

[mufana]

Who cares about another Giro. He needs to recover and show what he can do when the mountains hit. Another Giro adds nothing to his legacy. He should attack the mountains and if the lead is out of reach, prove that he should've won had he not crashed. I love the Giro, but it doesn't mean anything against the likes of Amador or He needs to show something against Froome and Nairo.

It was the last chance, and now it's gone. He has already beaten Froome in 2014, and so? The real matter was to win again the Tour , not beat Froome or Quintana.
Try again to win the Tour in 2017 ? At 34- 35 years old? meh

Well if Horner can do it...

 

[mufana]

The most telling thing today was the attitude of his team as it was displayed on the road. The was of one, that did no longer believe in its leaders chance of being competitive. That is the reason I believe his chances are gone, as sad as it is to say.

If that was really true they would not have waited to bring him back when he crashed.
And they had sagan in front with the chance to take yellow.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

He is riding Vuelta, regardless what happens at Tour. If he isn't injured, of course he should continue.

But if he finishes the Tour, his chances to win the Vuelta will go down.

 

[buchanan]

I think he realizes that a great GC rider is judged on how he fared at the Tours de France against other great riders of his era. In the early and most successful part of his career, Contador won against riders like the Schleck brothers, Evans and an old, returning from retirement Lance Armstrong. All very good riders, but not greats.

It's different now with Froome. Alberto realizes that to truly cement his legacy as an all time great, he needs to defeat Froome at the Tour de France. I'm sure it stings him that he's never managed to do that.

 

[nairoman]

Edited by Mods: clinic talk.

Contador won 3 TOUR but then lose really good years in 2011 2012 2013 to win TOUR DE FRANCE , 2014 crash , 2015 try a rare double , now another crash , CONTADOR never beats Froome at TOUR DE FRANCE but he is a better cyclist that's no question about that , and he doesn't need to beat froome at tour de france to demostrate that

 

[mufana]

Re:

I think he realizes that a great GC rider is judged on how he fared at the Tours de France against other great riders of his era. In the early and most successful part of his career, Contador won against riders like the Schleck brothers, Evans and an old, returning from retirement Lance Armstrong. All very good riders, but not greats.

It's different now with Froome. Alberto realizes that to truly cement his legacy as an all time great, he needs to defeat Froome at the Tour de France. I'm sure it stings him that he's never managed to do that.

I think Alberto is not only rider who's capable defeating the best in the world, but also shows that he can ride when everything is against him when the circumstances are very hard. To me that's what makes him a legendary rider.

 

[Matteo.]

Who cares about another Giro. He needs to recover and show what he can do when the mountains hit. Another Giro adds nothing to his legacy. He should attack the mountains and if the lead is out of reach, prove that he should've won had he not crashed. I love the Giro, but it doesn't mean anything against the likes of Amador or He needs to show something against Froome and Nairo.

It was the last chance, and now it's gone. He has already beaten Froome in 2014, and so? The real matter was to win again the Tour , not beat Froome or Quintana.
Try again to win the Tour in 2017 ? At 34- 35 years old? meh

Well if Horner can do it...

Yeah , as Landis did the best long range attack since Coppi in Cuneo-Pinerolo :razz:

 

[Carols]

How can one hope he abandons? Even if he loses minutes in the pyrenees he should cause an epic final week if he actually is in a good shape. I honestly think that it would be more remembered if he causes a great show this year than just another vuelta win. Pantani is still one of the most popular cyclists and that guy won 2 gt's. I think its very obvious the number of his victories is not the reason for his popularity.

Very selfish maybe but I want to see him win, not die trying. I'd take a Vuelta win over "epic" racing with just a 3rd or 4th place as a result any day.
Of course, it's his choice, and I will support any decision he makes.

As for Pantani, I have to wonder if he would be such a mythical rider if he hadn't passed away tragically.

He was Mythical while he was racing. The only one who has come close to his panache since is Alberto!

 

[Carols]

Re:

I think he realizes that a great GC rider is judged on how he fared at the Tours de France against other great riders of his era. In the early and most successful part of his career, Contador won against riders like the Schleck brothers, Evans and an old, returning from retirement Lance Armstrong. All very good riders, but not greats.

It's different now with Froome. Alberto realizes that to truly cement his legacy as an all time great, he needs to defeat Froome at the Tour de France. I'm sure it stings him that he's never managed to do that.

Froome has won a total of 2 GTs. Big whoop.....he has a lot to prove yet, not Alberto.

 

[Jelantik]

Re:

https://twitter.com/LeTour/status/749654900527624192
didnt look to be potentially that important, besides that fact that it was the 2nd in 2 days...

The question is why he was a little at the back? Bad positioning?.. O for christ sake, he just got a bad luck after a bad luck. TDF seems to keep denying him. If he shows up w/ bad form, it punishes him by getting dropped from his rivals. If he shows up on form, the crashes takes him. He needs to stay upright in the next few days. Wednesday he might get dropped again. But as long as he stays upright, that's a start.

 

[Carols]

"You need to be mentally strong to overcome a Tour start as bad as this one, especially after so much hard work," he said.

"But cycling is like that. I’ll have to try to be strong and not lose confidence. I have to think that it will be possible to recover when I get to my terrain (the mountains). I tried to minimize my losses but I gave away some time in only two days of racing.

"I can’t be downbeat but my morale is not intact. I want to fight on, otherwise I’d be keen to get out of here. The time loss is worse than the body blows."

Wow he is feeling bad

 

[buchanan]

Re: Re:

I think he realizes that a great GC rider is judged on how he fared at the Tours de France against other great riders of his era. In the early and most successful part of his career, Contador won against riders like the Schleck brothers, Evans and an old, returning from retirement Lance Armstrong. All very good riders, but not greats.

It's different now with Froome. Alberto realizes that to truly cement his legacy as an all time great, he needs to defeat Froome at the Tour de France. I'm sure it stings him that he's never managed to do that.

Froome has won a total of 2 GTs. Big whoop.....he has a lot to prove yet, not Alberto.

You are so wrong. He's won in dominant style 2 Tours (the most important and hardest GT to win) against a rider previously considered the best of his era and another rider (Quintana) regarded as a super talent of the present and future. He probably would have won a 3rd Tour already, but wasn't allowed to ride away from Wiggins in 2012. If he wins this Tour again, then Froome is easily the best Tour de France rider of the modern era since Indurain (assuming we exclude Armstrong).

 

[LaFlorecita]

"You need to be mentally strong to overcome a Tour start as bad as this one, especially after so much hard work," he said.

"But cycling is like that. I’ll have to try to be strong and not lose confidence. I have to think that it will be possible to recover when I get to my terrain (the mountains). I tried to minimize my losses but I gave away some time in only two days of racing.

"I can’t be downbeat but my morale is not intact. I want to fight on, otherwise I’d be keen to get out of here. The time loss is worse than the body blows."

Wow he is feeling bad

 

[Cookster15]

As for Pantani, I have to wonder if he would be such a mythical rider if he hadn't passed away tragically.

Well as someone who has watched both I can say Pantani was already a mythical rider when he passed away. Just incredible to watch no matter the background circumstances. He was like David against the Time Trial Goliaths of Indurain and Ullrich. Nobody caused such carnage in the mountains since. Alberto is certainly courageous but a different type of rider in a different era.

But very sad to read of AC's misfortune this Tour. He is no Pantani but certainly exciting and never gives up. In 2011 TdF he had crashes and the fatigue from the Giro but still put on a great show in the 3rd week except when he cracked on the Galibier stage. But that was when he was still 28. Perhaps if Alberto can recover from his injuries he can cause havoc in the Alps but that looks a distant possibility now.

 

[yespatterns]

Re: Re:

Indeed, this is the Tour. Maybe in the next days other GC contenders crash, have time losses and then the world looks completely different. The tour is unpredictable.

This.

 

[Carols]

Re: Re:

I think he realizes that a great GC rider is judged on how he fared at the Tours de France against other great riders of his era. In the early and most successful part of his career, Contador won against riders like the Schleck brothers, Evans and an old, returning from retirement Lance Armstrong. All very good riders, but not greats.

It's different now with Froome. Alberto realizes that to truly cement his legacy as an all time great, he needs to defeat Froome at the Tour de France. I'm sure it stings him that he's never managed to do that.

Froome has won a total of 2 GTs. Big whoop.....he has a lot to prove yet, not Alberto.

You are so wrong. He's won in dominant style 2 Tours (the most important and hardest GT to win) against a rider previously considered the best of his era and another rider (Quintana) regarded as a super talent of the present and future. He probably would have won a 3rd Tour already, but wasn't allowed to ride away from Wiggins in 2012. If he wins this Tour again, then Froome is easily the best Tour de France rider of the modern era since Indurain (assuming we exclude Armstrong).

You're entitled to your opinion, but I've followed this sport for over 50+ years and Froome hasn't proved anything special just yet; he has a Long way to go. I've seen Greats, Froome is certainly not yet among them. He is simply a very strong rider for 3 years now who has won 2 Tours and that is it.

 

[lenric]

Though his level isn't what it used to be 5/6 years ago, he's still one of the 4 best GT riders. The guy won pratically one GT per season since 2007.

Anyway, I don't know if his team sucks, or if he sucks at bike handling, or if he takes too much risks, but he's always licking the floor. Armstrong, Quintana and Nibali, for instance, not quite the same. If he really wants to continue his career, he must review this.

 

[Jelantik]

"You need to be mentally strong to overcome a Tour start as bad as this one, especially after so much hard work," he said.

"But cycling is like that. I’ll have to try to be strong and not lose confidence. I have to think that it will be possible to recover when I get to my terrain (the mountains). I tried to minimize my losses but I gave away some time in only two days of racing.

"I can’t be downbeat but my morale is not intact. I want to fight on, otherwise I’d be keen to get out of here. The time loss is worse than the body blows."

Wow he is feeling bad

I think he is hurting badly. It's probably the worst feeling than coming off the Giro fatique. Reading his comment ... makes me feel sorry for him. He prepared meticulously. No set back, no sickness, now this? Two days, back to back he hits the floor.

 

[rhubroma]

He'll have to fight it out for the next several days and see if he comes through in good form for the mountains. If not, there really is no reason to go all the way to Paris.

 

[The Hitch]

i'll say this.
IF Froome wins this TOur, there is no argument for Cotnador as far as 2010's go. Its a wash.

I'll still give Contador a chance to come back, or maybe quintana can hurt Froome's legacy, but if it happens. all the arguments about how Contador is better because in the least important gt he beat froome twice, while Froome's been dominating the one that actually matters, need to take a back seat