Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[Kokoso]

Re:

On what side did he fall today? If it was on the same side that got severely injured in France then he may have a big problem, otherwise he'll have a medium sized problem, that is having trouble at sleeping.

It doesn't necesarilly matter much on what side you fall, worse injuries can result not from direct hit.

 

[Cookster15]

Even cuts, bruises and gravel rash sucks your strength and energy. But we all know Contador has great recovery. He needs that more than ever right now.

 

[lenric]

Re: Re:

On what side did he fall today? If it was on the same side that got severely injured in France then he may have a big problem, otherwise he'll have a medium sized problem, that is having trouble at sleeping.

It doesn't necesarilly matter much on what side you fall, worse injuries can result not from direct hit.

That's why I wrote "may".

On what side did he fall today? If it was on the same side that got severely injured in France then he may have a big problem, otherwise he'll have a medium sized problem, that is having trouble at sleeping.

He fell on his right side in stage 1, left side on stage 2. Biggest injuries were sustained in the stage 2 crash. Today he also crashed on his left side.

Too bad. If those injuries didn't heal properly, then he might have a relapse.

 

[Matteo.]

Seeing the images, Alberto seems to have been afraid when he found himself flanked by two other riders. Maybe he braked and touched someone and so he fell. judging by the pictures the fall has not been so dramatic . Obviously there will be bruises etc. but I do not think afflict him so much tomorrow

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Seeing the images, Alberto seems to have been afraid when he found himself flanked by two other riders. Maybe he braked and touched someone and so he fell. judging by the pictures the fall has not been so dramatic . Obviously there will be bruises etc. but I do not think afflict him so much tomorrow

I must say, you are always very rational. It's good to read

 

[Thepirateisgood]

There is still a race to do.

He might still turn a bad situation into something worth watching at least.

We will see, but anyway he will not quit this race unless really injured. Watch him leading out Benatti to a dominant 1-2 in Bilbao.

 

[filipepc]

Today i´m really sad. I know it´s cycling, but i just wanted to watch him fight in conditions to see if he´s done or not. Loosing this way we will always think how it could had been... That´s sad.

I´m a believer, but i´m racional too, and i think it´s over to the win... Game over. Tomorrow he can loose more than 1 minute, and it´s the end... I prefer this time to think this way and if it goes better than this i´ll be satisfied.

To finish today, because i´m really sad, i always said and think that when a rider falls too many times, something it´s not ok. Maybe his head, maybe is body, i don´t know... One time is bad luck, but so many times is more than that... He was looking so better, that today was a big punch in is fans. I just hope my lack of confidence can change tomorrow, but i don´t think so...

Good nights to all. :sad:

 

[LaFlorecita]

Today i´m really sad. I know it´s cycling, but i just wanted to watch him fight in conditions to see if he´s done or not. Loosing this way we will always think what it could be... That´s sad.

I feel the same, it is really sad and frustrating he didn't look great on Ezaro but he seemed to get better ever so slightly on the following stages. Now we will never know what could have been, and haters and doubters will always point to him losing time on Ezaro as proof he wasn't in contention anyway
Hopefully, if he stays, he can at least show us a glimpse of his shape in the final week.

 

[Angliru]

Re:

Far too many GC crashes in sprints, pretty much every GT, a GC rider seems to crash the last few years.

Rough couple of months for AC.

I blame Sky and their marginal gains bs. Sprint stages and there's Sky bogarting Froome to the front trying to gain any second they can all while getting in the way of teams trying to compete for the sprint all in the name of what they call "racing". It's not like he and his team don't have the advantage in every aspect, they have to steal seconds and force the disruption of sprinters and their teams trying to compete for the win on stages set up for them? Forcing other teams to follow suit or risk losing even more time all while endangering themselves and everyone in the race in an environment that they are not accustomed to. It's an arrogance and expression of dominance that many of the teams and their ds's have captulated to, content to pick up the scraps that are left over with little protest or complaint.

 

[The Hitch]

Re: Re:

First emotions over people? Maybe crash didn't affect him much, you never know. Maybe it's terrible, maybe he won't feel much tomorrow.

We'll see, no one knows.

Did you see his face when he crossed the line? He looked pissed - his "not this **** again"-face..

Well, on the bright side, it does look like you are becoming an expert at reading Contador's different facial expressions.

 

[Sciocco]

Contador to win the first of eleven stages tomorrow!

 

[Cookster15]

Re: Re:

Far too many GC crashes in sprints, pretty much every GT, a GC rider seems to crash the last few years.

Rough couple of months for AC.

I blame Sky and their marginal gains bs. Sprint stages and there's Sky bogarting Froome to the front trying to gain any second they can all while getting in the way of teams trying to compete for the sprint all in the name of what they call "racing". It's not like he and his team don't have the advantage in every aspect, they have to steal seconds and force the disruption of sprinters and their teams trying to compete for the win on stages set up for them? Forcing other teams to follow suit or risk losing even more time all while endangering themselves and everyone in the race in an environment that they are not accustomed to. It's an arrogance and expression of dominance that many of the teams and their ds's have captulated to, content to pick up the scraps that are left over with little protest or complaint.

I think this started long before Sky and marginal gains. Gaining seconds is secondary. The primary goal is minimizing the odds of getting caught in crashes late in the stage - the further back in the peloton the more riders who can fall in front of you. Basic stuff. Armstrong and USPS started the trend of GC teams riding at the front on flatter stages to avoid crashes. BMC also did it with Evans probably no coincidence with ex USPS man Jim Ochowicz there.

 

[filipepc]

Today i´m really sad. I know it´s cycling, but i just wanted to watch him fight in conditions to see if he´s done or not. Loosing this way we will always think what it could be... That´s sad.

I feel the same, it is really sad and frustrating he didn't look great on Ezaro but he seemed to get better ever so slightly on the following stages. Now we will never know what could have been, and haters and doubters will always point to him losing time on Ezaro as proof he wasn't in contention anyway
Hopefully, if he stays, he can at least show us a glimpse of his shape in the final week.

Who saw the last 3 stages could see that he was showing better condition, always at the front, better placed...
But as i said it´s cycling, i know it´s like this... It´s sad because i like him, because he is my favorite rider and because i wanted him to win more 1 or 2 GT´S, but i have to accept if that doesn´t happen...

I know you are a fan too, a nd a racional one... Let´s sleep today, let´s try to believe that he can make us happys even if not with the win in this vuelta. Tomorrow is going to tell us all...

If i was with him now, i just would give him a hugh and say... " Be strong man, be strong and be calm and confident. You´re a champion, and a champion always fight until the end"...

Let´s be calm.

 

[Vladivar]

Re: Re:

Far too many GC crashes in sprints, pretty much every GT, a GC rider seems to crash the last few years.

Rough couple of months for AC.

I blame Sky and their marginal gains bs. Sprint stages and there's Sky bogarting Froome to the front trying to gain any second they can all while getting in the way of teams trying to compete for the sprint all in the name of what they call "racing". It's not like he and his team don't have the advantage in every aspect, they have to steal seconds and force the disruption of sprinters and their teams trying to compete for the win on stages set up for them? Forcing other teams to follow suit or risk losing even more time all while endangering themselves and everyone in the race in an environment that they are not accustomed to. It's an arrogance and expression of dominance that many of the teams and their ds's have captulated to, content to pick up the scraps that are left over with little protest or complaint.

Have you not considered that is is because Sky respect other teams riders such as Contador so much they feel they have to grab every opportunity available. It is a race after all and Sky and any other team are well within there rights to race it to their advantage.

Maybe if GC was neutralised on sprint stages you would be happy?

 

[LaFlorecita]

They respect them so much they force them to choose between losing time and risking a crash. Right.
If they respected their opponents, they'd say, hey, let's roll in together on the sprint stages and fight it out in the other 15-16 stages.

 

[deValtos]

I didn't see Sky doing any menacing today, was only Tinkoff near the front. I don't really recall them causing any crashes tbh.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Even though I'm not a big Contador fan I have to say I do feel very sorry for him, he's had some rotten luck with crashes over the past couple of years. It's a shame to see a great rider suffering from continuously hitting the floor, I agree with a few posters on here it seems now his confidence has been greatly affected by these crashes. I don't blame him for looking very annoyed at the end of the stage, all that hard work to get back in to form and he could be back to square one with his body hurting again.

I think today was just a racing incident with no one really to blame, these things happen on sprint stages where everyone is fighting for position.

 

[Valv.Piti]

So this has turned in to blame the Sky's? Tinkoff and Contador are definitely some of the worst, if not the worst, regarding this whole 'stay at the front on sprint stages' thing. Its not a Sky-phenomenon as far as I concerned.

 

[Miburo]

Re: Re:

First emotions over people? Maybe crash didn't affect him much, you never know. Maybe it's terrible, maybe he won't feel much tomorrow.

We'll see, no one knows.

Did you see his face when he crossed the line? He looked pissed - his "not this **** again"-face..

Well, on the bright side, it does look like you are becoming an expert at reading Contador's different facial expressions.

That was good for a lol

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

I didn't see Sky doing any menacing today, was only Tinkoff near the front. I don't really recall them causing any crashes tbh.

Sean Yates' comment after the stage:

he has been caught out this season being too far back

so clearly they wanted to be at the front not to lose time in a peloton split like at Dauphiné or Paris-Nice (9 and 4 seconds lost to Froome and Thomas respectively). As for Sky causing crashes, we have seen some close calls, the one that comes to mind is Froome wobbling and almost taking out other riders in the final km not once but twice in stage 2(?) of this year's Dauphiné.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

So this has turned in to blame the Sky's? Tinkoff and Contador are definitely some of the worst, if not the worst, regarding this whole 'stay at the front on sprint stages' thing. Its not a Sky-phenomenon as far as I concerned.

They only do it because Contador has lost time to Sky riders in peloton splits around 15th-20th place many many times. Sky riders have made a habit of sprinting for as good a position as possible - you will often see the leader finish just outside top-10 on sprint stages in minor stage races. If they didn't try so hard to gain time like that, other teams wouldn't be forced into the fray as well.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

So this has turned in to blame the Sky's? Tinkoff and Contador are definitely some of the worst, if not the worst, regarding this whole 'stay at the front on sprint stages' thing. Its not a Sky-phenomenon as far as I concerned.

They only do it because Contador has lost time to Sky riders in peloton splits around 15th-20th place many many times. Sky riders have made a habit of sprinting for as good a position as possible - you will often see the leader finish just outside top-10 on sprint stages in minor stage races. If they didn't try so hard to gain time like that, other teams wouldn't be forced into the fray as well.

I don't quite agree. You will often find Tinkoff at the front w/ Contador in absolute finales, I specifically remember that in TdF and Vuelta 2014. I don't think Sky necessarily has provoked that, rather, it has been an evolution over the last 5-6 years. And Contador definitely has played a big part in that and IMO is the most visible GC-rider in sprint finales.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

I don't quite agree. You will often find Tinkoff at the front w/ Contador in absolute finales, I specifically remember that in TdF and Vuelta 2014. I don't think Sky necessarily has provoked that, rather, it has been an evolution over the last 5-6 years. And Contador definitely has played a big part in that and IMO is the most visible GC-rider in sprint finales.

Perhaps it's a matter of perspective. I always see Sky near or on the front with less than 2km to go, and you will very often see Froome sprinting to stay with the lead group, many times with a "bodyguard" like Rowe. I don't see Tinkoff impeding the sprint trains nearly as much. Sure, Tinkoff tries to keep Contador out of trouble in GTs. But in smaller stage races, they always drop off with 3km to go, with Alberto finishing 40th or so. Froome often finishes top-15.

 

[Valv.Piti]

In smaller races, I definitely agree, but in GT's I don't think anyone is worse than the other really as far as the big names are concerned. Its unnecessary and you would wan't them to talk it over and agree to let the sprinters to their things, but as the gaps have gotten lower and lower, the fight for these extra seconds has unfortunately become much more fierce and dangerous.

 

[Thepirateisgood]

Enlighten me, how was it that GTs were done by GC riders in sprint stages before the last five-ten years

I'm not trolling or anything, I just can't remember how it was for say, Pantani or Lemond or the like.

If it was better then, isn't the solution there somehow?