Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[Red Rick]

Arguably he rode the 2013 Tour for 2nd, and the 2015 Tour for 3rd, or as high as his bad legs would carry him. He tried a few times, but got caught easily each time last year. I think Paris Nice this year shows quite nicely how he thinks about 2nd places when he has the legs to actually do something, though the rhethoric may be a bit overused.

 

[SafeBet]

I don't think he rode the 2015 Tour for third. Actually, I think the way he rode ultimately cost him at least one place in GC, possibly two.

 

[Miburo]

Re:

I don't think he rode the 2015 Tour for third. Actually, I think the way he rode ultimately cost him at least one place in GC, possibly two.

There was also the crash

 

[ILovecycling]

Re: Re:

yeah, but I was referring to the victory. for me (but I think for him) podium or stage win are rubbish
winning is the only thing that matters, especially for a guy who has already won everything :razz:

Too much quotes.

Before Tour I expected when Froome unleashes his 1st attack he will drop them if he is like '13 and '15(good 1-2nd week,bad 3rd) ,I thought Quintana about 30s and Alberto with him or better.
There is no chance it will be better than this with this bad 1st week for Alberto. It depends on what you call minimal

 

[Miburo]

Looked better today, by friday he'll be fine i think. But tomorrow? We'll see

 

[rune1107]

I think he will be fine for tomorrow. Well see how the stage pans out, but if they don't go crazy, I think he can manage it. The weekend will be interesting

 

[Lexman]

I'm a little astonished about the fact that the Contador clan contacted Astana, Alberto said he normally would have his team before Tdf but since they approach Astana it seems Lampre, Trek didn't work out

or is it just a tactic to obtain what he wants from Trek or Lampre by menacing to go to Astana?

 

[bajbar]

So today, Quintana finished on Alberto's wheel (instead of Froome's). Looks like he realised where the real threat is for him

On a serious note. This finish was as expected for him today. He was constantly smiling during the stage and came alone through half of the pack on the penultimate climb. Hope that he gets back to top shape remains. But first, he has to hold on tomorrow. I will be so nervous, damn. If he comes in with Froome and Quintana tomorrow then it is game on. If not, then I will fall into deep depression mode (like every July for the last three years...)

 

[AlexNYC]

I don't think Movistar will be one of the teams pushing the pace tomorrow. They know Quintana has a better chance against Froome with Contador as a contender; otherwise, it will be just too easy for Sky to focus all their might on Nairo.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Good result today, finished with Gatto, right between the other GC contenders. A few places behind Froome and Tejay, a few before Quintana and Porte.
When he lost Sagan's wheel with 5 to go and drifted back, and then that roundabout bottleneck situation happened, I feared the worst..

 

[BigMac]

Hope he shows more good signs of recovery tomorrow.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

I'm a little astonished about the fact that the Contador clan contacted Astana, Alberto said he normally would have his team before Tdf but since they approach Astana it seems Lampre, Trek didn't work out

or is it just a tactic to obtain what he wants from Trek or Lampre by menacing to go to Astana?

Yeah, I thought the contract with Trek was pretty much certain. So possibly they had rejected an offer from Astana but then deal with Trek didn't work out. We'll see.

 

[Miburo]

Re:

I don't think Movistar will be one of the teams pushing the pace tomorrow. They know Quintana has a better chance against Froome with Contador as a contender; otherwise, it will be just too easy for Sky to focus all their might on Nairo.

That's assuming Quintana actually wanna win the race

 

[Carols]

Has Majka done anything useful in this race, for either Sagan or Alberto?

 

[rhubroma]

As far as the contract goes, his market value depends on this Tour. Probably Trek doesn't believe in him as much after the Dauphine and the brutal start to this Tour hasn't helped his standing.

On to tomorrow's stage. It is important, because he will put under preasure by Froome and Quintana, so now its going to be a fight to not loose more time. It takes 4-5 days to start coming out of the swelling-blow to the body period, so in theory he will still be feeling the effects of the crashes. If he doesn't loose more time then that will be very good for his morale, also because he doesn't need to just not loose time in the coming mountain stages, but start taking time back against rivals who haven't fallen. It's going to be a big challenge.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

As far as the contract goes, his market value depends on this Tour. Probably Trek doesn't believe in him as much after the Dauphine and the brutal start to this Tour hasn't helped his standing.

Actually, Trek manager Guercilena said that they didn't specifically wanted to wait with reaching an agreement until after the Tour, he said that Alberto's value is clear and whatever happens at the Tour wouldn't affect their interest. Maybe they even wanted to sign him before, because a great performance at the Tour could make his market value even higher.

 

[TheYouyou7]

He will lose ground tomorrow i'm afraid...

 

[rhubroma]

Re: Re:

As far as the contract goes, his market value depends on this Tour. Probably Trek doesn't believe in him as much after the Dauphine and the brutal start to this Tour hasn't helped his standing.

Actually, Trek manager Guercilena said that they didn't specifically wanted to wait with reaching an agreement until after the Tour, he said that Alberto's value is clear and whatever happens at the Tour wouldn't affect their interest. Maybe they even wanted to sign him before, because a great performance at the Tour could make his market value even higher.

I believe the bolded, but it seems Guercilena is playing the shrewd bargainer as to the former. You better believe that if Alberto does poorly at this Tour his market value goes down. It is impossible that it would not businesswise. Trek must have made a low bid offer and would prefer to sign AC now, rather than later, should he instead do well at the Tour. That seems like the logical tactic.

 

[rhubroma]

He will lose ground tomorrow i'm afraid...

My gut reaction says you are right.

 

[Jspear]

Has Majka done anything useful in this race, for either Sagan or Alberto?

I'm not sure if he has, but it doesn't matter either way. He raced the Giro. Let him relax and save himself for the 2nd and 3rd weeks. He'll be needed there alot.

 

[Jungle Cycle]

I was only worried at the bottom of the climb, he had that "grinned" he does when he is really laboring and the others not so much... maybe we all just guessing in anticipation of tomorrow and spatially friday.. fingers crossed...

 

[Miburo]

I'm sure Contador would have attacked tomorrow if not for the crash.

Hey who knows, he still might

 

[Mongolian Torque]

Conti will take a small beating tomorrow, but not that much...maybe less than a minute. He has fire like no other so just getting mad is his best weapon. Let's not forget the other favourites waiting to gang up on Froomenstein either; Nairo, Aru, Nibs (maybe)...these guys will duke it out and beat each other about with bad gel breath where maybe Conti can sneak in a surprise attack somewhere and get back in it. And what's this about that voodoo Indiba machine for faster cell recovery. Hell, maybe that will grow him 3rd and 4th legs to spin so fast no one will notice.

I'm not counting him out until next week when he throws his bike so far NASA sees it on radar.

Until then, we wait and see...

 

[cellardoor]

Don't know what to think about his chances of hanging in there tomorrow. It's going to be a nailbiter that's for sure and if he does hang tough then I'll be pretty positive about his chances for the weekend.

 

[ILovecycling]

Re:

Good result today, finished with Gatto, right between the other GC contenders. A few places behind Froome and Tejay, a few before Quintana and Porte.
When he lost Sagan's wheel with 5 to go and drifted back, and then that roundabout bottleneck situation happened, I feared the worst..

Can you elaborate pls? I havent seen it.