Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[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

 

[ILovecycling]

"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.

yep,its fvcking joke


Of course there is still a chance if he doesnt lose more than 30s on Wednesday and then recovers before Aspin, but I think its highly unlikely considering his age,200+km stages and seriousness of injuries (e.g. *** sleep is sure)

 

[peloton]

Re:

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

Wait, what?

 

[Kwibus]

Re: 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.

He was at the front.

 

[Kwibus]

Re: Re:

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

Wait, what?

Yes I have no idea what's he's going at.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

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

Wait, what?

July fan, obviously

 

[Califootman]

One more win at the Vuelta for Alberto would tie him with Roberto Heras for the most Vuelta wins (four). If he could later tack a fifth Vuelta win onto his resume (which I think he could realistically do if he committed to the Vuelta for the next several years) he would have sole possession of that record; tie with all the legends of cycling for the most wins at any one Grand Tour; and, depending on your view of his 2010 Tour and 2011 Giro victories, climb into third or a tie for first in the total number of Grand Tours won by a cyclist.

I know Alberto really wants to get a post-ban TdF victory, and I'd love to see him get it. I just think he needs to be realistic about it and not, in chasing that elusive TdF win, squander the opportunity to get additional Grand Tour wins which would help cement his place in the cycling firmament, while he still has the ability to win those Grand Tours.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

One more win at the Vuelta for Alberto would tie him with Roberto Heras for the most Vuelta wins (four). If he could later tack a fifth Vuelta win onto his resume (which I think he could realistically do if he committed to the Vuelta for the next several years) he would have sole possession of that record; tie with all the legends of cycling for the most wins at any one Grand Tour; and, depending on your view of his 2010 Tour and 2011 Giro victories, climb into third or a tie for first in the total number of Grand Tours won by a cyclist.

I know Alberto really wants to get a post-ban TdF victory, and I'd love to see him get it. I just think he needs to be realistic about it and not, in chasing that elusive TdF win, squander the opportunity to get additional Grand Tour wins which would help cement his place in the cycling firmament, while he still has the ability to win those Grand Tours.

This, so much.

 

[peloton]

Reminder, all clinic talk will be deleted from this and all RR threads.

 

[Jelantik]

Re:

One more win at the Vuelta for Alberto would tie him with Roberto Heras for the most Vuelta wins (four). If he could later tack a fifth Vuelta win onto his resume (which I think he could realistically do if he committed to the Vuelta for the next several years) he would have sole possession of that record; tie with all the legends of cycling for the most wins at any one Grand Tour; and, depending on your view of his 2010 Tour and 2011 Giro victories, climb into third or a tie for first in the total number of Grand Tours won by a cyclist.

I know Alberto really wants to get a post-ban TdF victory, and I'd love to see him get it. I just think he needs to be realistic about it and not, in chasing that elusive TdF win, squander the opportunity to get additional Grand Tour wins which would help cement his place in the cycling firmament, while he still has the ability to win those Grand Tours.

the last time we saw Contador fit and healthy was in 2014. And he crashed out. You can't beat bad luck. You either gets it or you don't. So I don't believe that TDF is far fetch for Contador. He won every GT every year. Not many can say that. He just needs to have a luck on his side for this year. I hope, this is his last bad luck. Like I said, if he can stay upright for the next days, that's a start. (when things aren't going your way, you gotta take baby step to get back).

 

[Ramon Koran]

Alberto can still win the Tour one day no doubt, only quintana and froome are stronger and no one else is close to his level. All it takesis favorable circumstances like happened to evans or wiggins. Lets say next year Quiintana does the giro and froome crashes out of the tour Alberto should win it. Even this year we haven't hit the moutains yet maybe Contador will hit a new high and destroy every one. 1 min 40 is nothing in the mountains.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Alberto can still win the Tour one day no doubt, only quintana and froome are stronger and no one else is close to his level. All it takesis favorable circumstances like happened to evans or wiggins. Lets say next year Quiintana does the giro and froome crashes out of the tour Alberto should win it. Even this year we haven't hit the moutains yet maybe Contador will hit a new high and destroy every one. 1 min 40 is nothing in the mountains.

Not sure where you got 1'40" from. Are you factoring in a specific time loss on stage 5?

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re:

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

7 GTs over 3 Tours any day

 

[Jelantik]

Bitter sweet celebration. I wonder if this only with the staff or also with the riders? It will take a lot to swallow disappointment for Contador to raise the glass and be happy for his team mate. Hey, tomorrow is another day.

https://twitter.com/tinkoff_team/status/749714643157938176

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re:

Alberto can still win the Tour one day no doubt, only quintana and froome are stronger and no one else is close to his level. All it takesis favorable circumstances like happened to evans or wiggins. Lets say next year Quiintana does the giro and froome crashes out of the tour Alberto should win it. Even this year we haven't hit the moutains yet maybe Contador will hit a new high and destroy every one. 1 min 40 is nothing in the mountains.

Well he's only got one more season at it is. I honestly think Kruijswijk will be a serious threat as well next year. I know he's only done well in one GT, but his recovery in grand tours is incredible, and his only real weakness, his descending, isn't much worse than AC's either. Even if Quintana and Froome both head off to the Giro next season, AC will need to be at his best if he is to win another Tour, because he's simply not the rider he was 5 years ago

 

[Red Rick]

Rider crashes, is not the same as five years ago. Got it

 

[LaFlorecita]

Bitter sweet celebration. I wonder if this only with the staff or also with the riders? It will take a lot to swallow disappointment for Contador to raise the glass and be happy for his team mate. Hey, tomorrow is another day.

https://twitter.com/tinkoff_team/status/749714643157938176

https://www.twitter.com/planetcycling/status/749692825579683840

 

[Jelantik]

Bitter sweet celebration. I wonder if this only with the staff or also with the riders? It will take a lot to swallow disappointment for Contador to raise the glass and be happy for his team mate. Hey, tomorrow is another day.

https://twitter.com/tinkoff_team/status/749714643157938176

https://www.twitter.com/planetcycling/status/749692825579683840

he is a good teammate. At least they have something to celebrate (glass half full). On another note:

Steven De Jongh, explained. “After 55km Alberto had a bad crash again - a rider came down in front of him and he went over and hurt himself, it was just bad luck. That's the reason why in the final he couldn't stand up to climb and he blew his legs. That was the reason that he lost time.”

I expect his rivals will hit him hard on Wednesday to burry him.

 

[jilbiker]

Perseverance, thats what great champions are made of. To quit now is to stain his legacy with perhaps a loser's dab. Bertie I know keeps fighting. Many would have quit 2015 Giro after his kind of crash, with 2 arms poping out of the sockets. So what two crashes. Its the first 2 stages.

As for the team, I do not remember anytime when Bertie had a team fully dedicated to him. 2009 the team was for lance, 2010 the team was for Vino, 2011 contained Porto and others who did not fancy AC, 2013 was weak, 2014 he was absent and 2015 had people like Majka and Roche with their own agenda, Perhaps Bertie is too soft and feels he can do it on his own without a team. Not in today's cycling.

 

[The Hitch]

Re: Re:

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

7 GTs over 3 Tours any day

Its 5, not 7 and 2 are asterixed

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re: Re:

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

7 GTs over 3 Tours any day

Its 5, not 7 and 2 are asterixed

5? I already discounted 2010 and 2011

Nvm, just read that you're only talking about this decade, in which case I agree with your original post

 

[Ramon Koran]

Re: Re:

Alberto can still win the Tour one day no doubt, only quintana and froome are stronger and no one else is close to his level. All it takesis favorable circumstances like happened to evans or wiggins. Lets say next year Quiintana does the giro and froome crashes out of the tour Alberto should win it. Even this year we haven't hit the moutains yet maybe Contador will hit a new high and destroy every one. 1 min 40 is nothing in the mountains.

Not sure where you got 1'40" from. Are you factoring in a specific time loss on stage 5?

No, confused his time gap with Porte. He is actually far better off than I thought, people are over reacting, if Alberto is at his best he will close 50 seconds easily. He should gain more than that on Quintana in the tt and froome on the 3rd week.

 

[Tonton]

As we speak, Berto is hurting every time he turns in the bed. In the morning, it's either pulling the sheets off his skin or replacing the wraps, which means hurting as well. Misery. He's been there, he's tough, no question. But in the meantime the other guys are resting, feel better in their heads. I never thought that I'd agree with Bob Rolle. But I do. Alberto Contador is done for this year's TdF. Thinking that he can recover is...a dream. And it's a nightmare that we're talking about. We're not talking about a 30K easy ride on Monday and Tuesday. It's the Tour. He won't recover. And the Lioran stage will be the end.

Alberto Contador is not Superman. He's made of blood and flesh. And the flesh is damaged. Badly. And the morale must be very low: he lost the Tour before it really began. Yikes. The detractors should show mercy: beating on a guy who is down is despicable.

Love to all of you, the Contador supporters, loyal fans, fanatics, and to your standard bearer LaFlo, a true cycling fan. I feel for you. Remember "second place is no good"? Well, it's true. Go rest Alberto, win the OG, the Vuelta, you can do both.