Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Also I think racing Abu Dhabi was extremely unnecessary if Contador will also race the Vuelta after the Tour.

I don't think he'll race the Vuelta anyway.

 

[portugal11]

Contador will be the favourite to win pais vasco.

 

[DFA123]

Bit disappointed by Pantano today. Only lasted about 100m once Mollema and then Landa were done. Outshone by Soler in the domestique stakes - although I guess Soler had the motivation of racing close to his home town.

Contador's attack just wasn't really there either. Froome closed it down pretty comfortaby, and - given what happened later - Valverde probably could have done so as well. Still, it's not really time to despair yet for Contador - Froome and Valverde have always been very strong on single mountain stages, even if they aren't in top shape. If Contador is going to win a stage race at his age and current level, it's probably going to be by grinding out small gaps day after day thanks to his good recovery, not by destroying everyone on a one-off climb stage like he used to do.

 

[Carols]

Re: Re:

3rd is Not good Disappointing ride

The only solace I can find is that Bala won. It pays to have more than one favorite.

Piti and Froome are two of my least favorite riders, so I'm not too happy they beat Berto. But Gaudu's performance was exciting. I feel sad for Tejay!

Froome is my least favorite rider of my entire 67 years on earth.......

Berto has been in win position a few times this year and not been able to seal the deal . But he will Always give us a Show!

 

[Forever The Best]

Re: Re:

Not good today. He has some big chances of finishing the season without a single win. At least he wasn't second today though

It's March! Come on.

I don't think he will get a stage or GC win in the Tour and he will probably be 2nd or 3rd in Vuelta and some mtn stages will go to the breakaway. Froome will probably be better in the Dauphine and he will probably get beaten by Roglic or Alaphilippe in PV :Neutral:

Yeah "probably" this, "probably" that, just wait and see. If were at the end of June and he still has no wins, you can start worrying.

He can start worrying whenever he wants to. May I remind you of those countless of posts that you've made stating how nervous you were this would be a year of 2nd places? We all know he hardly is winning any road stages at this point, so.

Be a bit calm, people. Both of you are good persons
And yeah, I am worried a bit indeed. His form doesn't look super so I don't think he will get a stage/GC win in GTs.

[quote="Forever The Best":38z9ws5w]Also I think racing Abu Dhabi was extremely unnecessary if Contador will also race the Vuelta after the Tour.

I don't think he'll race the Vuelta anyway.[/quote]I think he may race La Vuelta if he retires at the end of the year.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Bit disappointed by Pantano today. Only lasted about 100m once Mollema and then Landa were done. Outshone by Soler in the domestique stakes - although I guess Soler had the motivation of racing close to his home town.

Contador's attack just wasn't really there either. Froome closed it down pretty comfortaby, and - given what happened later - Valverde probably could have done so as well. Still, it's not really time to despair yet for Contador - Froome and Valverde have always been very strong on single mountain stages, even if they aren't in top shape. If Contador is going to win a stage race at his age and current level, it's probably going to be by grinding out small gaps day after day thanks to his good recovery, not by destroying everyone on a one-off climb stage like he used to do.

I think Pantano just like Berto is a bit tired after P-N. I think it was Dan Martin who said he really felt the race in his legs.
FWIW I agree with your other points as well.

 

[Climber123]

Re:

Bit disappointed by Pantano today. Only lasted about 100m once Mollema and then Landa were done. Outshone by Soler in the domestique stakes - although I guess Soler had the motivation of racing close to his home town.

Contador's attack just wasn't really there either. Froome closed it down pretty comfortaby, and - given what happened later - Valverde probably could have done so as well. Still, it's not really time to despair yet for Contador - Froome and Valverde have always been very strong on single mountain stages, even if they aren't in top shape. If Contador is going to win a stage race at his age and current level, it's probably going to be by grinding out small gaps day after day thanks to his good recovery, not by destroying everyone on a one-off climb stage like he used to do.

I have said it before, tomorrow's stage he will do P/N. Just wait and see. His advantage is recovery after big mountain stages. And he was ok today, Valverde is not going to be a contender in July. Where was Yates and Bardet who finished so well in the TDF last year?

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

I think he may race La Vuelta if he retires at the end of the year.

And I don't think he'll retire He'll go for Il Giro next year. I'm already looking forward! I hate the Tour

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Bit disappointed by Pantano today. Only lasted about 100m once Mollema and then Landa were done. Outshone by Soler in the domestique stakes - although I guess Soler had the motivation of racing close to his home town.

Contador's attack just wasn't really there either. Froome closed it down pretty comfortaby, and - given what happened later - Valverde probably could have done so as well. Still, it's not really time to despair yet for Contador - Froome and Valverde have always been very strong on single mountain stages, even if they aren't in top shape. If Contador is going to win a stage race at his age and current level, it's probably going to be by grinding out small gaps day after day thanks to his good recovery, not by destroying everyone on a one-off climb stage like he used to do.

I have said it before, tomorrow's stage he will do P/N. Just wait and see. His advantage is recovery after big mountain stages. And he was ok today, Valverde is not going to be a contender in July. Where was Yates and Bardet who finished so well in the TDF last year?

Yeah, Bardet and Yates should be more worried than Berto. Although I suppose their goals for the Tour will be different but Berto is a direct rival for them.

 

[Forever The Best]

P-N was an extremely hard race indeed. 3 very hard stage(stages 1, 2, 8) and the Fayence stage was also pretty good with attacks on the first time up Bourigaille and some good tempo riding on the second time up Bourigaille.

 

[buchanan]

I think he's been racing so hard because he desperately wanted to be in peak racing condition to compete for stage wins and the outright wins in PN, Volta Catalunya and PV. And in theory he should be in better racing form than the other top riders - especially Froome, who only rode one relatively minor race in Australia back in January. But it seems Contador just doesn't have the strength these days to win stages against the other big guns like Froome, Quintana and even an in form Valverde. He's unable to drop them and stay away.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Contador will be the favourite to win pais vasco.

He'll be the favorite, but winning is a different matter. It definitely won't be easy.

 

[portugal11]

Re: Re:

Bit disappointed by Pantano today. Only lasted about 100m once Mollema and then Landa were done. Outshone by Soler in the domestique stakes - although I guess Soler had the motivation of racing close to his home town.

Contador's attack just wasn't really there either. Froome closed it down pretty comfortaby, and - given what happened later - Valverde probably could have done so as well. Still, it's not really time to despair yet for Contador - Froome and Valverde have always been very strong on single mountain stages, even if they aren't in top shape. If Contador is going to win a stage race at his age and current level, it's probably going to be by grinding out small gaps day after day thanks to his good recovery, not by destroying everyone on a one-off climb stage like he used to do.

I have said it before, tomorrow's stage he will do P/N. Just wait and see. His advantage is recovery after big mountain stages. And he was ok today, Valverde is not going to be a contender in July. Where was Yates and Bardet who finished so well in the TDF last year?

Yates and bardet aren't rivals for contador. The only rival is froome, he wants to win so he has to beat froome/sky, yates and bardet won't challenge the first place

 

[Valv.Piti]

Why all this talk about racing too much and being desperate? Contador is always close to 100% and racing for the win in these 3 races in the spring.

 

[Forever The Best]

Re: Re:

I think he may race La Vuelta if he retires at the end of the year.

And I don't think he'll retire He'll go for Il Giro next year. I'm already looking forward! I hate the Tour

I hope he does the Romandie-Giro-Suisse-Vuelta-Worlds combo next year, going for two 1-week stage races he has never won and the brutal course in Innsbruck. And Contador in Giro is always a great thing to see

 

[GraftPunk]

Re:

Also I think racing Abu Dhabi was extremely unnecessary if Contador will also race the Vuelta after the Tour.

The guy has sponsor/team responsibilities that sometimes are inconvenient. Abu wasn't exactly a meat grinder, it looked more like a series of club rides wind-aside.

 

[Carols]

Re: Re:

3rd is Not good Disappointing ride

The only solace I can find is that Bala won. It pays to have more than one favorite.

Piti and Froome are two of my least favorite riders, so I'm not too happy they beat Berto. But Gaudu's performance was exciting. I feel sad for Tejay!

Froome is my least favorite rider of my entire 67 years on earth.......



Berto has been in win position a few times this year and not been able to seal the deal . But he will Always give us a Show!

Actually he is tied with Lance who I've managed to wipe from my mind!

Berto is only behind Pantani as my All Time favorite.

Maybe Berto is racing to much and to hard, to early. One week to recover may not be enough.

 

[Climber123]

Re:

I think he's been racing so hard because he desperately wanted to be in peak racing condition to compete for stage wins and the outright wins in PN, Volta Catalunya and PV. And in theory he should be in better racing form than the other top riders - especially Froome, who only rode one relatively minor race in Australia back in January. But it seems Contador just doesn't have the strength these days to win stages against the other big guns like Froome, Quintana and even an in form Valverde. He's unable to drop them and stay away.

AC has never dominated Catalunya in his career. He really did ok today.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

I think he may race La Vuelta if he retires at the end of the year.

And I don't think he'll retire He'll go for Il Giro next year. I'm already looking forward! I hate the Tour

I hope he does the Romandie-Giro-Suisse-Vuelta-Worlds combo next year, going for two 1-week stage races he has never won and the brutal course in Innsbruck. And Contador in Giro is always a great thing to see

Great minds think alike Although I'd prefer him to go for the Dauphiné instead but TDS always has a worse field so would be easier to win

 

[portugal11]

Re: Re:

I think he's been racing so hard because he desperately wanted to be in peak racing condition to compete for stage wins and the outright wins in PN, Volta Catalunya and PV. And in theory he should be in better racing form than the other top riders - especially Froome, who only rode one relatively minor race in Australia back in January. But it seems Contador just doesn't have the strength these days to win stages against the other big guns like Froome, Quintana and even an in form Valverde. He's unable to drop them and stay away.

AC has never dominated Catalunya in his career. He really did ok today.

2011 come to my mind...

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

I think he's been racing so hard because he desperately wanted to be in peak racing condition to compete for stage wins and the outright wins in PN, Volta Catalunya and PV. And in theory he should be in better racing form than the other top riders - especially Froome, who only rode one relatively minor race in Australia back in January. But it seems Contador just doesn't have the strength these days to win stages against the other big guns like Froome, Quintana and even an in form Valverde. He's unable to drop them and stay away.

AC has never dominated Catalunya in his career. He really did ok today.

This! No panic although it is disappointing to see him miss the win yet again.

What I am worried about (I think too much about these things) is that his teammates will lose confidence and not work for him anymore, although they do seem very loyal right now. Winning isn't easy but if Berto keeps losing... Mainly worried about Mollema!

 

[Forever The Best]

Re: Re:

I think he may race La Vuelta if he retires at the end of the year.

And I don't think he'll retire He'll go for Il Giro next year. I'm already looking forward! I hate the Tour

I hope he does the Romandie-Giro-Suisse-Vuelta-Worlds combo next year, going for two 1-week stage races he has never won and the brutal course in Innsbruck. And Contador in Giro is always a great thing to see

Great minds think alike Although I'd prefer him to go for the Dauphiné instead but TDS always has a worse field so would be easier to win

Oh,I forgot that he has never won Dauphine
So he can go there too, but as you said TDS has an easier field so he has much more chances of winning overall there.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Wouldn't it be better just to focus on the two GT's instead of throwing WC's into the mix? Contador is no one day racer at all, he can forget everything about winning such a race, even if its mountainous.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Oh,I forgot that he has never won Dauphine
So he can go there too, but as you said TDS has an easier field so he has much more chances of winning overall there.

The 2014 Dauphiné is the race I regret most, I've never felt that bad after a race closely followed by Paris-Nice this year, I thought last year was bad but this year was even worse because it brought back the memories of last year.

 

[Forever The Best]

Re:

Wouldn't it be better just to focus on the two GT's instead of throwing WC's into the mix? Contador is no one day racer at all, he can forget everything about winning such a race, even if its mountainous.

If he has energy left from the 2 GTs, of course. If he still has a great form, he should try to go for the win there as well though.
PS: He really should have raced the 2009 Worlds in Mendrisio...