The Hitch said:
If Contador had won his Tours towards the end of his career, they would be remembered more fondly.
The fact that he won them at the beginning, and then added only giros and vueltas in the second half, will make it for many people a - what could have been.
Maybe he could have made it top 3 of all time with Eddy and Hinault.
No one will ever make that argument now.
But he's still young and got his life set for him, a young family. Hopefully he'll be able to enjoy it, build on it and put cycling behind him.
Once its all over it doesn't even matter that much what you won back when you were young, but the family and the day to day. At the end of the day I doubt its neccesarily the Eddy's and the Bernard's and the Miguel's that live the most satisfying lives. Life is a very different game to cycling.
I think what people saw in Contador that made them like him, (certainly his fanbase seems to me the biggest of any cyclist since Pantani) was that he has traits of an alpha male. Armstrong was portrayed as that, but the ruthlessness about him created the aura of someone who was unable to remain calm under pressure - a form of weakness. Contador was calm, always. He never seemed to betray hate. He was diplomatic, and didn't speak or appear that much- creating mystery. His early dominance, combined with the way he was able to light up stages occasionally, taking risks gave him a reputation of someone who was always in with a chance and who would never give up. All traits people look for in their heroes. He in some ways run on this reputation way beyond its expiry date, visible by the fact that despite not coming close to even wearing a yellow jersey since 2010, somehow every year his fans think he could win.
For me I will always look back on Contador as a case of what could have been. Its sad for me because I would have been happy for him to win one more in the last 7 years. But its a reminder that cycling really is amongst the most cold, brutal sports, and at the end of the day, as the likes of Marco and Michelle have shown us, there are worse ways for it to end.
This is a nice and thoughtful post to see amidst some of the gloating. I certainly would agree with a lot of it. Funny about the Alpha male thing, though. I wouldn't describe him as that - perhaps because I equate 'alphas' with more extrovert tendencies and desire to dominate others. A lot of the qualities of 'alphas' - confidence, single-mindedness, competitiveness etc. - can all too quickly overspill into some pretty unpleasant excesses - arrogance, conceit, vanity, bullying, ruthlessness, braggadoccio etc. etc. A need to be the centre of attention in all ways and all areas. To win everything. Even the game of tag with your kid; whatever.
Where Contador appears to be different is that he doesn't tend to exhibit these excesses much and certainly very little outside racing. Despite immense talent, he's seemed to keep his feet pretty well on the ground and retain a sense of dignity, humility and perspective even immediately after disappointment. He might not be the 'big extrovert personality', but there is a lot of appeal in someone who appears consistent and sincere in their behaviour;to have integrity.
Regarding traits one looks for in heroes - for me that is very much linked to the way Contador races: I have an intense dislike and mistrust of the 'system' and over-bearing, rigid, planned control; I like the people who can mix things up by being freakishly talented, unpredictable, having courage and instinct and being prepared to take chances and live with the consequences. So I guess Contador's way of racing helps to affirm my attitude to life - that's it's a hell of a lot more fun, more inspiring, more pretty much anything, to go for it than to live according to a calculated playbook. I guess maybe that way you don't always win what you could, but the chance to go up or down in glorious flames is about a million per cent higher. For all Contador is ageing, stuff like last year's Vuelta and this year's Paris-Nice show that this aspect at least is the same as ever.
I am sorry about today. I wish it were different, but not everything last's forever, and I'll take whatever throws of the dice he feels like giving for the rest of his career, because frankly, he's still the guy that whatever race he's in, makes the race just a little more interesting. We need more like that - cycling is most fun when it's predominantly about individual exploits and individual goals - whether that's a loan breakaway holding off the peloton against the odds, or a guy like Contador doing some long-range attack and shattering the predicted roadbook. It's better if they win in the end, but I still wouldn't trade. Those folks are the reason I watch cycling.
he has shown he can still perform well in one-week races, he should focus on those. Giro and Vuelta.. I don't know, the competition is as fierce as with the Tour recently and the stages are usually harder, it's not going to change much aside maybe from the fact that he has a ton of fans in Italy and that he is a national hero in Spain.
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