No way Froome ever risks going to Giro, Tour is the only race that matters, and Sky needs to be winning Tour to keep the sponsors happy now they established thsemselves as the best team in the world. Froome has to be 100% there, and even going to Giro can endanger that, even if he's not peaking there.
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Hate to break it to you but the scenario in which Contador crashes again is probably the most likely one.
LaFlorecita said:
Hate to break it to you but the scenario in which Contador crashes again is probably the most likely one.
- May 15, 2011
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You're right, but Quintana looks super strong. It's hard to see him fade so much that Berto can gain 3 minutes.PremierAndrew said:
- May 15, 2011
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JK, of course anything can happen, but right now he has perhaps a 1% chance to win. Not only does he need to take 3 minutes on Quintana, he also needs 2 minutes on Valverde and Froome. Of course, if all three decline greatly in the final week, he is in a good place to contend for the win, but it's hard to see that happen.
If only Berto raced for AstanaGloin22 said:
JK, of course anything can happen, but right now he has perhaps a 1% chance to win. Not only does he need to take 3 minutes on Quintana, he also needs 2 minutes on Valverde and Froome. Of course, if all three decline greatly in the final week, he is in a good place to contend for the win, but it's hard to see that happen.
I was going to add thatdeValtos said:LaFlorecita said:
Hate to break it to you but the scenario in which Contador crashes again is probably the most likely one.
- Feb 18, 2015
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Contador won't lose minutes on purpose just to go stage hunting. The race isn't over before they cross the finish line in Madrid. What if Quintana crashes on stage 20? Contador could have thrown away a gt win.
Anyway, right now you can see perfectly why some people dislike the Vuelta route. There aren't many boring sprint stages and there could be gc action on most stages, but a rider like Contador who won't ride for a podium is completely helpless. There isn't one single mountain stage where the last climb starts directly after the descent of the penultimate climb. There is no stage where the last climb isn't the most difficult one and generally there is only one mountain stage left with 1st category passes and even on that stage there are always flat sections between the climbs.
There is nothing Contador can do. He can try suicidal attacks but they won't work. This route is designed to make the best climber win but the best climber is known after 10 stages so the remaining Vuelta is basically only about stage wins.
In the giro this year Contador would have had numerous stages where he could have tried to make a long range attack. It's ofc always a different story if an attack works but the route at least gave the riders chances.
Anyway, right now you can see perfectly why some people dislike the Vuelta route. There aren't many boring sprint stages and there could be gc action on most stages, but a rider like Contador who won't ride for a podium is completely helpless. There isn't one single mountain stage where the last climb starts directly after the descent of the penultimate climb. There is no stage where the last climb isn't the most difficult one and generally there is only one mountain stage left with 1st category passes and even on that stage there are always flat sections between the climbs.
There is nothing Contador can do. He can try suicidal attacks but they won't work. This route is designed to make the best climber win but the best climber is known after 10 stages so the remaining Vuelta is basically only about stage wins.
In the giro this year Contador would have had numerous stages where he could have tried to make a long range attack. It's ofc always a different story if an attack works but the route at least gave the riders chances.
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He has never mentioned wanting a second Tour ever. He doesn't even like the Tour that much. He will only go to the Tour if the team forces him to, else it's a Giro-Tour attempt or Giro-Vuelta third time lucky.
jilbiker said:
He has never mentioned wanting a second Tour ever. He doesn't even like the Tour that much. He will only go to the Tour if the team forces him to, else it's a Giro-Tour attempt or Giro-Vuelta third time lucky.
- Mar 17, 2009
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What I've noticed recently is that Alberto is blowing up within the last 2 or 3K to the finish, which means he lacks that bit of depth to stay with the best......
Today he seemed fine when he and Nairito were riding side by side, but then the attack came and Alberto just popped so badly - and thanks it was on that flattish section-otherwise he would have lost 5 minutes
Today he seemed fine when he and Nairito were riding side by side, but then the attack came and Alberto just popped so badly - and thanks it was on that flattish section-otherwise he would have lost 5 minutes
lenric said:
He was also the third strongest at the 2012 Vuelta, no? But he has a very very small chance, smaller than Nibali at the Giro despite the gap being smaller due to the fact that Movistar is so strong and Tinkoff aren't. At the Giro it was the opposite, and that helped Nibali considerably.
- Feb 18, 2015
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It's still not that unlikely that Contador can improve. He might have Quintana's climbing level on Aitana.lenric said:
Anyway, the point is that this route was horrible to provide a good show over 3 weeks. Contador also wasn't the best climber in the tdf 2011, but still he attacked on the Telegraphe on stage 19. Did it work? No, but he tried because he didn't have anything to lose. He also doesn't have anything to lose this year but there is only one single stage where he could try.
- Jul 10, 2009
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I thought I saw what looked like AC and Quintana chatting, so i was wondering if there were saying lets work together to put more distance on Froome. Perhaps Bertie proposed that but I don't think Quintana has the respect for Bertie like Andy. Remember TDF 2010, Andy worked with Bertie to put distance on other rivals, but then again it was a different Bertie then. If he asked you for a favor, you jumped.
- May 19, 2014
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Brullnux said:
He was only behind Rodriguez in that Vuelta. Besides, the standard deviation of the form of the 4 strongest riders was smaller than in this year, which, needless to say, means that in this year there is a rider who is seems to be clearly above everyone else (Quintana), while 4 years ago Rodriguez wasn't far stronger than Contador (or Valverde).
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Froome sailed past him because he judged his efforts; Contador didn't, went in the red and never recovered. In a straight MTT I don't think Contador would be that far off Froome at all, and certainly ahead of Valverde.
jilbiker said:
Froome sailed past him because he judged his efforts; Contador didn't, went in the red and never recovered. In a straight MTT I don't think Contador would be that far off Froome at all, and certainly ahead of Valverde.
- Jan 23, 2016
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- Jun 25, 2015
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Re:
It is not understandable for me. among other things, today was not the last chance to win.
Last week on a climb of 2 kms, a guy began to suck my wheel so I started to accelerate reaching my limit. I felt that the guy was struggling a little bit as well but the last 200-300m he passed trying to drop me. It was a pace that I could not hold it long. so what have I done? I knew remain few meters so I resisted even if I had gone deep into the red. If the climb was still long 1km or more, I would not even try to resist and would have gone up to my maximum speed to limit the damage otherwise I would have to literally stop to catch breath.
Alberto, the same should do: If you do not have the legs to follow, you have to give up a little bit, go with your pace and limit the damage. you can not go into the red with even 3-4km to do. because then you Implode (which of course has occurred).
if today let up a bit (as they did before Froome and valverde) I'm sure he would lose maximum 25s. instead it was crushed by all
LaFlorecita said:
It is not understandable for me. among other things, today was not the last chance to win.
Last week on a climb of 2 kms, a guy began to suck my wheel so I started to accelerate reaching my limit. I felt that the guy was struggling a little bit as well but the last 200-300m he passed trying to drop me. It was a pace that I could not hold it long. so what have I done? I knew remain few meters so I resisted even if I had gone deep into the red. If the climb was still long 1km or more, I would not even try to resist and would have gone up to my maximum speed to limit the damage otherwise I would have to literally stop to catch breath.
Alberto, the same should do: If you do not have the legs to follow, you have to give up a little bit, go with your pace and limit the damage. you can not go into the red with even 3-4km to do. because then you Implode (which of course has occurred).
if today let up a bit (as they did before Froome and valverde) I'm sure he would lose maximum 25s. instead it was crushed by all
- May 15, 2011
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