Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[happychappy]

I believe he could remain a GC contender into his 40s if he chose to. I just hope he doesn't run himself into the ground with these injuries. The way he's riding lop-sided is worrying, stuff like that will create other issues.

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

Contador wasn't that bad yesterday, he was better than pinot and ala for example. At the end he just cracked but imo, if he keeps improving like this he might be good for sunday.

I give it a 20% chance though

Of course he was bad by his standards. He was hanging around the back of the bunch and went off the back a few times before the final climb. Pinot isn't going to win the Tour or make the podium. Obviously Movistar knew what was going on with Contador's condition. The pace slowed again when Sky went to the front and then Bardet attacked and Contador was struggling again. He will get an easier day today but tomorrow won't be easy.

 

[Miburo]

I'm just saying that compared to sunday he was way better and that acceleration of bardet really killed him. If by some miracle he can use his "left leg" again...(if that's really true of course)

 

[gooner]

Kreuziger was told to wait for Contador but didn't. Tinkoff apparently not happy.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

I believe he could remain a GC contender into his 40s if he chose to. I just hope he doesn't run himself into the ground with these injuries. The way he's riding lop-sided is worrying, stuff like that will create other issues.

Who are you and what have you done to happychappy

 

[PremierAndrew]

Kreuziger was told to wait for Contador but didn't. Tinkoff apparently not happy.

Tbf, Kreuziger sacrificed a podium in the 2013 Tour to help Contador finish 4th, and has been really loyal in general. You can't be too mad at him for not waiting yesterday.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

The day that Contador gives up on trying to compete with the best and beating the best is the day that he quits cycling competetively

I know and I don't think anyone expects him to focus on the Giro and Vuelta in the next years but I wish he wouldn't be so god damn stubborn and would put aside his pride to set some more realistic goals. He probably has to be as strong as he was this year to have a decent chance of winning the Tour next year and at his age that is extremely unlikely, and knowing his luck he'd probably crash out.

 

[jilbiker]

Quitters are losers. Sorry I have to be so blunt. There is no doubt in my mind that Contador will not quit, and he shouldn't. I wouldn't unless there is a blaring physical impairment and medical staff advises to quit. Fight it till the last possible breath. Vuelta is probably not on his mind and it shouldn't. Bertie is a champion not a loser.

 

[Lexman]

Kreuziger was told to wait for Contador but didn't. Tinkoff apparently not happy.

I can understand Tinkoff isn't happy :
Read this in de Standaard, belgian newspaper :
"Hoewel ploegleider Steven de Jongh door de oortjes schreeuwde dat Roman Kreuziger hem moest opwachten, gaf de Tsjech de gebruikelijke uitleg achteraf: ‘Niet gehoord, sorry.’"

De Jongh screamed in the micro to Kreuziger to wait he gave afterwards the usual answer, didn't hear it, sorry.

This picture proves the contrary.

So Contador doesn't only need to beat Froome, Quintana etc but as well his own teammates Majka & Kreuziger too...

nice Tdf for him

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Quitters are losers. Sorry I have to be so blunt. There is no doubt in my mind that Contador will not quit, and he shouldn't. I wouldn't unless there is a blaring physical impairment and medical staff advises to quit. Fight it till the last possible breath. Vuelta is probably not on his mind and it shouldn't. Bertie is a champion not a loser.

A champion wins races. An anonymous top 10 at the TDF is for losers.

 

[CheckMyPecs]

Re: Re:

Quitters are losers. Sorry I have to be so blunt. There is no doubt in my mind that Contador will not quit, and he shouldn't. I wouldn't unless there is a blaring physical impairment and medical staff advises to quit. Fight it till the last possible breath. Vuelta is probably not on his mind and it shouldn't. Bertie is a champion not a loser.

A champion wins races. An anonymous top 10 at the TDF is for losers.

Who said it has to be an anonymous top 10? Bertie's no Mollema.

 

[Miburo]

You're wrong like usual fleur.

And Contador should be at his best in the 3rd week so there are many stages still to win.

A loser mentality is that by the occurance of bad luck, you give up. Maybe you're like that, idk but contador isn't. And winning a 2nd tier race like the vuelta isn't important right now.

Contador's legacy is on the line here, winning a vuelta doesn't do much atm. He needs to show he can still rival and beat the greats my dear

 

[LaFlorecita]

Tbf, Kreuziger sacrificed a podium in the 2013 Tour to help Contador finish 4th, and has been really loyal in general. You can't be too mad at him for not waiting yesterday.

If it's true that De Jongh and Yates told him multiple times to wait, he deserves all of the flak he is getting.

 

[Miburo]

Kreuziger has been loyal until now.

One act isn't enough to give the guy so much ***, maybe he didn't hear it properly. But even if he did it on purpose, i don't blame him. Besides he supported contador a lot during the last years.

He's a good guy too.

Majka on the other hand...

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

You're wrong like usual fleur.

And Contador should be at his best in the 3rd week so there are many stages still to win.

A loser mentality is that by the occurance of bad luck, you give up. Maybe you're like that, idk but contador isn't. And winning a 2nd tier race like the vuelta isn't important right now.

Contador's legacy is on the line here, winning a vuelta doesn't do much atm. He needs to show he can still rival and beat the greats my dear

His legacy will he compromised much more with another 5th or possibly even worse, getting his arse handed to him by everyone left and right. A Vuelta win would add to his legacy not diminish it.
A champion should also know when it is time to give up.
And stop being so god damn rude and condescending, I'm not your "dear".

 

[CheckMyPecs]

Tbf, Kreuziger sacrificed a podium in the 2013 Tour to help Contador finish 4th, and has been really loyal in general. You can't be too mad at him for not waiting yesterday.

If it's true that De Jongh and Yates told him multiple times to wait, he deserves all of the flak he is getting.

Maybe they should have looked harder for a new sponsor instead of expecting Roman to bury his chances of a decent new contract just to help Bertie finish 6th.

 

[Miburo]

Not true fleur. Champions hit the wall often and they fail. Giving up like this when there's a chance to get topshape in 3rd week is shameful.

Maybe have a look at Jordan's career, now that's a champion.

But winning in the 3rd week beating all of them is way more important than another vuelta win, at least imo. I don't pretend to know the truth my dear (just trying to be nice)

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Who said it has to be an anonymous top 10? Bertie's no Mollema.

He was pretty anonymous in 2013 and 2015, except when he took himself out downhill. And now, with injuries that take weeks to heal (deep hematomas) I don't think he'll do any better.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Maybe they should have looked harder for a new sponsor instead of expecting Roman to bury his chances of a decent new contract just to help Bertie finish 6th.

Except at that point, anything could still happen. Alberto was performing better than the team expected before the stage. A podium was still possible. Sure, when it becomes clear Alberto won't be able to finish better than 6th or 7th, Roman should be allowed off the leash. But that wasn't the case yesterday.

 

[mufana]

Re: Re:

Quitters are losers. Sorry I have to be so blunt. There is no doubt in my mind that Contador will not quit, and he shouldn't. I wouldn't unless there is a blaring physical impairment and medical staff advises to quit. Fight it till the last possible breath. Vuelta is probably not on his mind and it shouldn't. Bertie is a champion not a loser.

A champion wins races. An anonymous top 10 at the TDF is for losers.

A champion is also someone who fights.

Considering the setbacks he had the first stages, if he can still manage top 5 (or maybe even top 3) that would be a great result and he can be very proud of that. It would show that he's not only physically strong, but also mentally.

 

[ILovecycling]

Kreuziger was told to wait for Contador but didn't. Tinkoff apparently not happy.

I can understand Tinkoff isn't happy :
Read this in de Standaard, belgian newspaper :
"Hoewel ploegleider Steven de Jongh door de oortjes schreeuwde dat Roman Kreuziger hem moest opwachten, gaf de Tsjech de gebruikelijke uitleg achteraf: ‘Niet gehoord, sorry.’"

De Jongh screamed in the micro to Kreuziger to wait he gave afterwards the usual answer, didn't hear it, sorry.

This picture proves the contrary.

So Contador doesn't only need to beat Froome, Quintana etc but as well his own teammates Majka & Kreuziger too...

nice Tdf for him

Wow,thats a lot Majka-ish
Im disappointed by his attitude.

I hope today's stage will be a good recovery ride.

 

[Alexandre B.]

Contador didn't win a stage in the Tour since last decade. It's time to shot again.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Quitters are losers. Sorry I have to be so blunt. There is no doubt in my mind that Contador will not quit, and he shouldn't. I wouldn't unless there is a blaring physical impairment and medical staff advises to quit. Fight it till the last possible breath. Vuelta is probably not on his mind and it shouldn't. Bertie is a champion not a loser.

A champion wins races. An anonymous top 10 at the TDF is for losers.

A champion is also someone who fights.

Considering the setbacks he had the first stages, if he can still manage top 5 (or maybe even top 3) that would be a great result and he can be very proud of that. It would show that he's not only physically strong, but also mentally.

We already know that.
A top 3 or top 5 means nothing to him. He wants to win. I can assure you he won't feel "proud" if he finishes top 5. He will feel like an idiot for crashing and wasting his good form.
Oh but what is that on the horizon? The 3rd GT of the year for which Chaves and Kruijswijk are currently the biggest favorites? A race he could easily win considering his great form this year, adding a 10th GT win to his palmares? Yeah.

 

[Lexman]

Re: Re:

Quitters are losers. Sorry I have to be so blunt. There is no doubt in my mind that Contador will not quit, and he shouldn't. I wouldn't unless there is a blaring physical impairment and medical staff advises to quit. Fight it till the last possible breath. Vuelta is probably not on his mind and it shouldn't. Bertie is a champion not a loser.

A champion wins races. An anonymous top 10 at the TDF is for losers.

A champion is also someone who fights.

Considering the setbacks he had the first stages, if he can still manage top 5 (or maybe even top 3) that would be a great result and he can be very proud of that. It would show that he's not only physically strong, but also mentally.

and you think Contador should still prove that?

 

[mufana]

Re: Re:

Quitters are losers. Sorry I have to be so blunt. There is no doubt in my mind that Contador will not quit, and he shouldn't. I wouldn't unless there is a blaring physical impairment and medical staff advises to quit. Fight it till the last possible breath. Vuelta is probably not on his mind and it shouldn't. Bertie is a champion not a loser.

A champion wins races. An anonymous top 10 at the TDF is for losers.

A champion is also someone who fights.

Considering the setbacks he had the first stages, if he can still manage top 5 (or maybe even top 3) that would be a great result and he can be very proud of that. It would show that he's not only physically strong, but also mentally.

and you think Contador should still prove that?

I don't know! he's knows the answer to that.

But the fact that he stays in the race shows that either he still believes he can fight for 1st. Or, maybe adjust his goals and get the best possible result.

For me he doesn't have to prove anything. But maybe to himself! we don't know.