Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[Matteo.]

Re:

I can't see this sh#t anymore.

goodbye, what can we say?!

 

[Miburo]

Well it was fun while it lasted, no ressurection. Maybe the aubisque

 

[Billopoulos]

Maybe nothing.
We 've spent so many days saying maybe there or then.
It's not going to change...

PS. I hope I get proven wrong.

 

[Arredondo]

Nope. Not on the level of Froome and Quintana.

For years now.

 

[bambino]

He simply doesn't have the legs when the 2 big boys goes. Well he can always fight with Scarponi.

 

[Matteo.]

Re:

He simply doesn't have the legs when the 2 big boys goes. Well he can always fight with Scarponi.

or Konig :surprised: :lol:

the truth is he's done. at least to fight with Froome and Quintana.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

Nope. Not on the level of Froome and Quintana.

For years now.

Yeah, like every time he does bad in 2016, he suddenly was also bad in '14. Because I would'nt call 2015/2016 'for years now'

 

[Jelantik]

Re:

It might seem harsh, but after the work done by Tinkoff today, I think its do or die today for Contador. Hoping he at least can hold on to Quintana.

maybe to tire Quintana since he seemed to run out gas compare to Froome

 

[Jspear]

It is what it is. Hopefully he can manage a stage win in the 3rd week....surely the big two have to get tired at some point!

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Pretty clever racing by Alberto today. This could have gone a lot worse if he had tried an attack. Just look at Chaves' failed attack

 

[LaFlorecita]

He performed as expected. If Froome and Quintana fade a bit in the third week, he could win on Aitana.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Pretty clever racing by Alberto today. This could have gone a lot worse if he had tried an attack. Just look at Chaves' failed attack

Yeah but I would have preferred a do-or-die attack like Chaves Clever racing and limiting losses won't get him anywhere at this point

 

[DFA123]

Re:

Pretty clever racing by Alberto today. This could have gone a lot worse if he had tried an attack. Just look at Chaves' failed attack

Agree; he limited his losses well today. Still has an outside shot at the podium if Valverde cracks and Chaves/Konig crash or get a mechanical. Perhaps he is finally learning to adjust to not being one of the strongest riders.

 

[buchanan]

Possibly he can still make the podium. But Valverde is riding stronger at the moment, even with 2 Grand Tours in his legs - and he's older than Alberto. But one would normally expect that Alberto would overhaul Valverde over 3 weeks, all things considered.
Froome and Quintana probably equal favourites for the overall.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re: Re:

Pretty clever racing by Alberto today. This could have gone a lot worse if he had tried an attack. Just look at Chaves' failed attack

Agree; he limited his losses well today. Still has an outside shot at the podium if Valverde cracks and Chaves/Konig crash or get a mechanical. Perhaps he is finally learning to adjust to not being one of the strongest riders.

To be 5th in the Vuelta requires you to be one of the strongest riders. I agree he's not THE strongest rider (singular).

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

Pretty clever racing by Alberto today. This could have gone a lot worse if he had tried an attack. Just look at Chaves' failed attack

Agree; he limited his losses well today. Still has an outside shot at the podium if Valverde cracks and Chaves/Konig crash or get a mechanical. Perhaps he is finally learning to adjust to not being one of the strongest riders.

To be 5th in the Vuelta requires you to be one of the strongest riders. I agree he's not THE strongest rider (singular).

Sure, he's probably among the top 5 or 6 climbers in the race.

Chaves was clearly the 3rd strongest rider on today's stage though.

 

[Jelantik]

Re: Re:

Pretty clever racing by Alberto today. This could have gone a lot worse if he had tried an attack. Just look at Chaves' failed attack

Agree; he limited his losses well today. Still has an outside shot at the podium if Valverde cracks and Chaves/Konig crash or get a mechanical. Perhaps he is finally learning to adjust to not being one of the strongest riders.

Well if Contador wants to podium, he needs to dislodge Chavez then Valverde. He has slim or none chance to topple Quitana and Froome. So, I think Tinkoff rode hard to make it difficult for everyone. Chavez faded on 3rd week Giro. Astana played part of it by riding hard for NIbali even though he was 4 minutes behind. Tinkoff' is targeting Valverde and Chavez first. Those two somewhere will fade...

 

[Jspear]

Re: Re:

Pretty clever racing by Alberto today. This could have gone a lot worse if he had tried an attack. Just look at Chaves' failed attack

Yeah but I would have preferred a do-or-die attack like Chaves Clever racing and limiting losses won't get him anywhere at this point

I'm fully expecting Quintana and Froome to be 1-2, BUT....Never say never! I'm dreaming about a Fuente De situation....

 

[portugal11]

Let's see what he will do in the next year. I'm so sad that i will never see him winning a tour again

 

[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

Pretty clever racing by Alberto today. This could have gone a lot worse if he had tried an attack. Just look at Chaves' failed attack

Yeah but I would have preferred a do-or-die attack like Chaves Clever racing and limiting losses won't get him anywhere at this point

I'm fully expecting Quintana and Froome to be 1-2, BUT....Never say never! I'm dreaming about a Fuente De situation....

Formigal? Aubisque is too hard, he'll bonk and lose time if he puts in a massive attack. Urdax pre change maybe, and the Aitana stage is bad.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

Pretty clever racing by Alberto today. This could have gone a lot worse if he had tried an attack. Just look at Chaves' failed attack

Agree; he limited his losses well today. Still has an outside shot at the podium if Valverde cracks and Chaves/Konig crash or get a mechanical. Perhaps he is finally learning to adjust to not being one of the strongest riders.

Well if Contador wants to podium, he needs to dislodge Chavez then Valverde. He has slim or none chance to topple Quitana and Froome. So, I think Tinkoff rode hard to make it difficult for everyone. Chavez faded on 3rd week Giro. Astana played part of it by riding hard for NIbali even though he was 4 minutes behind. Tinkoff' is targeting Valverde and Chavez first.

Good post, makes sense. Making the easier stages hard, is probably Contador's best chance of sneaking into 3rd. I think Konig could be the spanner in the works there though. He's looking very strong right now and will TT amongst the very best.

Valverde definitely could lose a couple of minutes if he has to ride more for Quintana, but Contador still needs to raise his game considerably to get the podium place that has eluded him throughout his career.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Tinkoff' is targeting Valverde and Chavez first. Those two somewhere will fade...

No, they're not. They don't ride for podium.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Contador still needs to raise his game considerably to get the podium place that has eluded him throughout his career.

Did you know 1st place is also a place on the podium?

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

Contador still needs to raise his game considerably to get the podium place that has eluded him throughout his career.

Did you know 1st place is also a place on the podium?

It will be interesting to see if he has the mental strength and humility to fight it out for 3rd place for two weeks, or if he will just take the easy option of a showy, but ultimately hopeless long range attack, like usual when he's out of contention.

 

[buchanan]

Re: Re:

Contador still needs to raise his game considerably to get the podium place that has eluded him throughout his career.

Did you know 1st place is also a place on the podium?

It will be interesting to see if he has the mental strength and humility to fight it out for 3rd place for two weeks, or if he will just take the easy option of a showy, but ultimately hopeless long range attack, like usual when he's out of contention.

I would think that it's very hard for him to accept that he's no longer good enough to compete with Froome and Quintana.