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Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

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Jul 19, 2010
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Valv.Piti said:
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 :D
 
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Cance > TheRest said:
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.
 
Mar 11, 2013
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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.
 
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DFA123 said:
Cance > TheRest said:
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).
 
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Cance > TheRest said:
DFA123 said:
Cance > TheRest said:
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. :cool:
 
Jul 19, 2010
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DFA123 said:
Cance > TheRest said:
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...
 
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LaFlorecita said:
Cance > TheRest said:
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 :p 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....
 
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Jspear said:
LaFlorecita said:
Cance > TheRest said:
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 :p 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.
 
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Jelantik said:
DFA123 said:
Cance > TheRest said:
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.
 
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LaFlorecita said:
DFA123 said:
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.
 
Mar 11, 2013
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Re: Re:

DFA123 said:
LaFlorecita said:
DFA123 said:
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.
 
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LaFlorecita said:
Cance > TheRest said:
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 :p Clever racing and limiting losses won't get him anywhere at this point

If in fact Froome and Quintana do fatigue in the upcoming stages, then biding time and minimizing what losses he incurs until then could be the best strategy. He could have blown up like Chaves and lost time to Froome, Quintana and Chaves. He lost 6 seconds not minutes. He said that he would proceed with caution until an opportunity to strike presents itself. I dont' think there was one here otherwise he would not have lost the time that he did. It could've been much worse had he been impulsive.
 
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Angliru said:
LaFlorecita said:
Cance > TheRest said:
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 :p Clever racing and limiting losses won't get him anywhere at this point

If in fact Froome and Quintana do fatigue in the upcoming stages, then biding time and minimizing what losses he incurs until then could be the best strategy. He could have blown up like Chaves and lost time to Froome, Quintana and Chaves. He lost 6 seconds not minutes. He said that he would proceed with caution until an opportunity to strike presents itself. I dont' think there was one here otherwise he would not have lost the time that he did. It could've been much worse had he been impulsive.
Of course, I just don't except them to fade that much.
 
Mar 13, 2015
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Re: Re:

Jspear said:
LaFlorecita said:
Cance > TheRest said:
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 :p 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....

Movistar ain't Katusha!
 

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