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Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

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Looks like we all over-estimated his pre-race form. Where to go from here? Fight for a top 10 or just lose a load of time and try for an elusive stage win? Surely free roles now for Pantano, Mollema and Felline as well. Trek can still get something from the race as a team.
 
Re:

bajbar said:
I mean... how can you have ONE goal for the whole season and be SO sh*t is beyond me. What will he do now? And he has the guts to say he is in 2014 shape. Why lie? Why not just tell that he isn't confident about his form...
How can he be so *** for his one goal - he is 34.... that's your answer

Time to come up with a new strategy. Freedom for the rest of the team and no more pressure for Alberto - just a matter of struggling on till Paris for him now I suppose.
 
Re:

bajbar said:
I mean... how can you have ONE goal for the whole season and be SO sh*t is beyond me. What will he do now? And he has the guts to say he is in 2014 shape. Why lie? Why not just tell that he isn't confident about his form...
He can't win either way. If he tells the truth he's called defeatist by his fans for whom a win is the only acceptable result. He's basically just riding the same as he did in the Dauphine - if you ignore all the talk and statements and ingenious training plan ideas, then the signs have been there.
 
Aug 16, 2013
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This is just painful. For the first time since ages, he arrived the mountains without any major problems.

The Tour de France is just a level or 3 too high for the current Alberto Contador. He should retire at the end of the year really.
 
Re: Re:

DFA123 said:
bajbar said:
I mean... how can you have ONE goal for the whole season and be SO sh*t is beyond me. What will he do now? And he has the guts to say he is in 2014 shape. Why lie? Why not just tell that he isn't confident about his form...
He can't win either way. If he tells the truth he's called defeatist by his fans for whom a win is the only acceptable result. He's basically just riding the same as he did in the Dauphine - if you ignore all the talk and statements and ingenious training plan ideas, then the signs have been there.
Just stop with this nonsense about the Dauphiné :rolleyes:
 
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Re: Re:

DFA123 said:
bajbar said:
I mean... how can you have ONE goal for the whole season and be SO sh*t is beyond me. What will he do now? And he has the guts to say he is in 2014 shape. Why lie? Why not just tell that he isn't confident about his form...
He can't win either way. If he tells the truth he's called defeatist by his fans for whom a win is the only acceptable result. He's basically just riding the same as he did in the Dauphine - if you ignore all the talk and statements and ingenious training plan ideas, then the signs have been there.
This... he is awful since catalunya
 
Aug 31, 2012
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Re:

Arredondo said:
This is just painful. For the first time since ages, he arrived the mountains without any major problems.

The Tour de France is just a level or 3 too high for the current Alberto Contador. He should retire at the end of the year really.

He might still be just about good enough to have a reasonable chance to win a Vuelta or a Giro without strong competition
 
Re: Re:

LaFlorecita said:
DFA123 said:
bajbar said:
I mean... how can you have ONE goal for the whole season and be SO sh*t is beyond me. What will he do now? And he has the guts to say he is in 2014 shape. Why lie? Why not just tell that he isn't confident about his form...
He can't win either way. If he tells the truth he's called defeatist by his fans for whom a win is the only acceptable result. He's basically just riding the same as he did in the Dauphine - if you ignore all the talk and statements and ingenious training plan ideas, then the signs have been there.
Just stop with this nonsense about the Dauphiné :rolleyes:
Well, he actually lost more time today than he did there, so maybe he's got worse. Either the Dauphine training idea has been a total disaster. Or it was simply a lie to hide his poor form there, and they were hoping for some hail mary style recovery before the tour.
 
Re: Re:

SeriousSam said:
Arredondo said:
This is just painful. For the first time since ages, he arrived the mountains without any major problems.

The Tour de France is just a level or 3 too high for the current Alberto Contador. He should retire at the end of the year really.

He might still be just about good enough to have a reasonable chance to win a Vuelta or a Giro without strong competition

Not with a shape like this...
 
Aug 16, 2013
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Re: Re:

LaFlorecita said:
Arredondo said:
The Tour de France is just a level or 3 too high for the current Alberto Contador. He should retire at the end of the year really.
No. He. Should. Not.

Why not? He can't even fight anymore. We all knew before he isn't in a physical state anymore to win the Tour, but he should be able to at least spice things up and fight for a decent result (podium). However, the reality is he can't even follow the 15 best climbers in the race at the moment. What's the point of going on in that case?

Contador is one of the greatest champions of the past decades. And not someone who's just an ordinairy climber in the biggest stage race in the world.
 
Re: Re:

DFA123 said:
LaFlorecita said:
DFA123 said:
bajbar said:
I mean... how can you have ONE goal for the whole season and be SO sh*t is beyond me. What will he do now? And he has the guts to say he is in 2014 shape. Why lie? Why not just tell that he isn't confident about his form...
He can't win either way. If he tells the truth he's called defeatist by his fans for whom a win is the only acceptable result. He's basically just riding the same as he did in the Dauphine - if you ignore all the talk and statements and ingenious training plan ideas, then the signs have been there.
Just stop with this nonsense about the Dauphiné :rolleyes:
Well, he actually lost more time today than he did there, so maybe he's got worse. Either the Dauphine training idea has been a total disaster. Or it was simply a lie to hide his poor form there, and they were hoping for some hail mary style recovery before the tour.
How do you explain his form in the early season then?
 
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One theory I've been thinking about is that maybe AC knew he had no real chance of winning, even before signing with Trek, but after all the pain cycling has brought him (and it has; he has spoken bitterly about pro cycling before), he wanted to milk it for what its worth. A big f u to pro cycling.
Although, i admit, that would be very out of character. Just a thought.
 
Re: Re:

SeriousSam said:
Arredondo said:
This is just painful. For the first time since ages, he arrived the mountains without any major problems.

The Tour de France is just a level or 3 too high for the current Alberto Contador. He should retire at the end of the year really.

He might still be just about good enough to have a reasonable chance to win a Vuelta or a Giro without strong competition

If his main rivals are guys like Pinot he'll struggle.

And let's be reasonable: all of the 3 GTs will have strong competition.
 
Re: Re:

Arredondo said:
LaFlorecita said:
Arredondo said:
The Tour de France is just a level or 3 too high for the current Alberto Contador. He should retire at the end of the year really.
No. He. Should. Not.

Why not? He can't even fight anymore. We all knew before he isn't in a physical state anymore to win the Tour, but he should be able to at least spice things up and fight for a decent result (podium). However, the reality is he can't even follow the 15 best climbers in the race at the moment. What's the point of going on in that case?

Contador is one of the greatest champions of the past decades. And not someone who's just an ordinairy climber in the biggest stage race in the world.
Just who cares what you think. Only he decides when it's time to retire.
 
Aug 16, 2013
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Re: Re:

SeriousSam said:
Arredondo said:
This is just painful. For the first time since ages, he arrived the mountains without any major problems.

The Tour de France is just a level or 3 too high for the current Alberto Contador. He should retire at the end of the year really.

He might still be just about good enough to have a reasonable chance to win a Vuelta or a Giro without strong competition

I don't think he is tbh. He's getting worse and worse.
 

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