Teams & Riders Alberto Contador Discussion Thread

[Red Rick]

Funniest thing about Kruijswijk is that a week later he had the super obvious move he could follow on the Tourmalet and he didn't, which led to Jumbo having to chase down a breakaway instead of putting pressure on Sky.

If anything, Contador isn't praised for making one brave attack, it's for trying every single time, even conjuring up some raids when he didn't necessarily have the legs.

 

[VayaVayaVaya]

Re:

Funniest thing about Kruijswijk is that a week later he had the super obvious move he could follow on the Tourmalet and he didn't, which led to Jumbo having to chase down a breakaway instead of putting pressure on Sky.

If anything, Contador isn't praised for making one brave attack, it's for trying every single time, even conjuring up some raids when he didn't necessarily have the legs.

Totally, and I’m not discounting that. Contador has panache in spades. He also had a winner’s mentality. He went for it every time. There were times when it was frustrating as a Contador fan. It didn’t always seem smart, but it was always beautiful. Froome consistently attacks for victory, too, and, IMO, is a worthy champion. Not my favorite. Not Contador. But it would be disingenuous to suggest he’s not an attacking rider. He’s done it when he’s the strongest (2013, 2015 Tours), when he’s not (2014 Vuelta) and when it’s unclear if he is or isn’t (2016/2017 Tours, 2018 Giro).

 

[Koronin]

Re:

Funniest thing about Kruijswijk is that a week later he had the super obvious move he could follow on the Tourmalet and he didn't, which led to Jumbo having to chase down a breakaway instead of putting pressure on Sky.

If anything, Contador isn't praised for making one brave attack, it's for trying every single time, even conjuring up some raids when he didn't necessarily have the legs.

Even trying raids when he not only didn't have the legs, but was really too injuried to even still be racing. (See 2016 Tour on the stage he ended up abandoning the race.)

 

[Scarponi]

Posted on Instagram a video of 2014 Dauphine of Froomes attack and him following with the caption “biggest attack I faced “ (paraphrased) probably
Forgets how much pain Rasmussen put on him

 

[IndianCyclist]

Posted on Instagram a video of 2014 Dauphine of Froomes attack and him following with the caption “biggest attack I faced “ (paraphrased) probably
Forgets how much pain Rasmussen put on him

The best display of Froome vs Contador. I could not believe what was happening
Regarding Rasmussen i remember Contador attacking Rasmussen and him trying to desperately follow. Not the other way around

 

[kingjr]

Yeah that was an awesome finish. I was so hyped for the clash at the Tour... Would have been a great battle.

 

[Squire]

Posted on Instagram a video of 2014 Dauphine of Froomes attack and him following with the caption “biggest attack I faced “ (paraphrased) probably
Forgets how much pain Rasmussen put on him

The best display of Froome vs Contador. I could not believe what was happening
Regarding Rasmussen i remember Contador attacking Rasmussen and him trying to desperately follow. Not the other way around

Then rewatch the Aubisque stage. That was mano-a-mano stuff of legends.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Posted on Instagram a video of 2014 Dauphine of Froomes attack and him following with the caption “biggest attack I faced “ (paraphrased) probably
Forgets how much pain Rasmussen put on him

The best display of Froome vs Contador. I could not believe what was happening
Regarding Rasmussen i remember Contador attacking Rasmussen and him trying to desperately follow. Not the other way around

Then rewatch the Aubisque stage. That was mano-a-mano stuff of legends.

It was mostly just Rasmussen following and owning him on the last kilometer when Conta had no more fuel left after attacking left and right for the past three days tbh.

 

[Gigs_98]

No idea where the Aubisque hype is coming from recently. I mean it was a good stage, but iirc Contador didn't really look like he was dropping Rasmussen at any point, and actually I think Leipheimer attacked almost as often as Contador did that day which is a massively weird thing to write.

About the Froome comparison, you have to give Froome credit for the way he races but comparing his attacks with Contador's is like an Apples, Oranges comparison. Yeah, Froome couldn't have known his Finestre attack was gonna work the way it did but he surely knew his legs were good that day. This was still a more or less calculated move and to be fair, that's how Froome wins most of his races but it also means that this attack didn't quite give me the Contador vibes, because for every succesful Contador long range attack that worked I can give you two or three that failed. I mean even Contador's crown jewel, the Fuente De stage was a case of him catching everyone off guard, profiting from his opponents weak team and a bad day of that same opponent, being helped by a former teammate and finally still only winning the stage by a matter of seconds. Now I've heard people going on about how that attack wasn't actually that great because he didn't win that Vuelta by being the strongest, but that's exactly the point. Froome attacking like a madman on the Col du Beal was amazing and in general he has put up big shows on mountain top finishes many times, but domination isn't what appeals to me. It's not a coincidence that I started to like Contador more and more the less succesful he got, because that was when you really started to see what he was made of. No other rider of a similar calibre in this generation races the way Contador did and nobody even gets near.

 

[Red Rick]

No idea where the Aubisque hype is coming from recently. I mean it was a good stage, but iirc Contador didn't really look like he was dropping Rasmussen at any point, and actually I think Leipheimer attacked almost as often as Contador did that day which is a massively weird thing to write.

About the Froome comparison, you have to give Froome credit for the way he races but comparing his attacks with Contador's is like an Apples, Oranges comparison. Yeah, Froome couldn't have known his Finestre attack was gonna work the way it did but he surely knew his legs were good that day. This was still a more or less calculated move and to be fair, that's how Froome wins most of his races but it also means that this attack didn't quite give me the Contador vibes, because for every succesful Contador long range attack that worked I can give you two or three that failed. I mean even Contador's crown jewel, the Fuente De stage was a case of him catching everyone off guard, profiting from his opponents weak team and a bad day of that same opponent, being helped by a former teammate and finally still only winning the stage by a matter of seconds. Now I've heard people going on about how that attack wasn't actually that great because he didn't win that Vuelta by being the strongest, but that's exactly the point. Froome attacking like a madman on the Col du Beal was amazing and in general he has put up big shows on mountain top finishes many times, but domination isn't what appeals to me. It's not a coincidence that I started to like Contador more and more the less succesful he got, because that was when you really started to see what he was made of. No other rider of a similar calibre in this generation races the way Contador did and nobody even gets near.

Hey now, Bardet shouts of the rooftop he tried everything every year.

 

[ice&fire]

No idea where the Aubisque hype is coming from recently. I mean it was a good stage, but iirc Contador didn't really look like he was dropping Rasmussen at any point, and actually I think Leipheimer attacked almost as often as Contador did that day which is a massively weird thing to write.

About the Froome comparison, you have to give Froome credit for the way he races but comparing his attacks with Contador's is like an Apples, Oranges comparison. Yeah, Froome couldn't have known his Finestre attack was gonna work the way it did but he surely knew his legs were good that day. This was still a more or less calculated move and to be fair, that's how Froome wins most of his races but it also means that this attack didn't quite give me the Contador vibes, because for every succesful Contador long range attack that worked I can give you two or three that failed. I mean even Contador's crown jewel, the Fuente De stage was a case of him catching everyone off guard, profiting from his opponents weak team and a bad day of that same opponent, being helped by a former teammate and finally still only winning the stage by a matter of seconds. Now I've heard people going on about how that attack wasn't actually that great because he didn't win that Vuelta by being the strongest, but that's exactly the point. Froome attacking like a madman on the Col du Beal was amazing and in general he has put up big shows on mountain top finishes many times, but domination isn't what appeals to me. It's not a coincidence that I started to like Contador more and more the less succesful he got, because that was when you really started to see what he was made of. No other rider of a similar calibre in this generation races the way Contador did and nobody even gets near.

What's in your avatar?

 

[VayaVayaVaya]

No ones talking about Contador and Giro yet?

 

[Red Rick]

No ones talking about Contador and Giro yet?

Seems like a good ol' pupper.

I feel for Tour, everyone in his right mind will love Giro more.

 

[LaFlorecita]

No ones talking about Contador and Giro yet?

I did not expect a new puppy so soon after Tour died but it seems it was a gift from Ivan Basso.
It is so cute.

 

[Red Rick]

No ones talking about Contador and Giro yet?

I did not expect a new puppy so soon after Tour died but it seems it was a gift from Ivan Basso.
It is so cute.

Tour died?

 

[LaFlorecita]

No ones talking about Contador and Giro yet?

I did not expect a new puppy so soon after Tour died but it seems it was a gift from Ivan Basso.
It is so cute.

Tour died?

Oh yeah a couple weeks ago
Alberto posted a video on his Instagram page
https://www.instagram.com/p/BtJGQ9IgwXT/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=16xwb4p7kjp40

Sad times

 

[sir fly]

No ones talking about Contador and Giro yet?

I did not expect a new puppy so soon after Tour died but it seems it was a gift from Ivan Basso.
It is so cute.

Tour died?

Oh yeah a couple weeks ago
Alberto posted a video on his Instagram page
https://www.instagram.com/p/BtJGQ9IgwXT/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=16xwb4p7kjp40

Sad times

Why did he die?
Who allowed him to die?

 

[Salvarani]

No ones talking about Contador and Giro yet?

I did not expect a new puppy so soon after Tour died but it seems it was a gift from Ivan Basso.
It is so cute.

Tour died?

Oh yeah a couple weeks ago
Alberto posted a video on his Instagram page
https://www.instagram.com/p/BtJGQ9IgwXT/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=16xwb4p7kjp40

Sad times

Why did he die?
Who allowed him to die?

It got contaminated

 

[LaFlorecita]

Happy days with the new fur baby

 

[VayaVayaVaya]

What a great looking dog!

 

[gregrowlerson]

Nice to see that Alberto was never really "the second place is no good" guy, posting passionately on social media today about one of his epic last stage - ultimately 'failed' - attacks in the race to the sun.

For me, better than Formigal!

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

Nice to see that Alberto was never really "the second place is no good" guy, posting passionately on social media today about one of his epic last stage - ultimately 'failed' - attacks in the race to the sun.

For me, better than Formigal!

It's fighting for the win that is good. Not the 2nd place.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Re: Re:

Nice to see that Alberto was never really "the second place is no good" guy, posting passionately on social media today about one of his epic last stage - ultimately 'failed' - attacks in the race to the sun.

For me, better than Formigal!

It's fighting for the win that is good. Not the 2nd place.

Excellent point.

 

[Gigs_98]

Re: Re:

Nice to see that Alberto was never really "the second place is no good" guy, posting passionately on social media today about one of his epic last stage - ultimately 'failed' - attacks in the race to the sun.

For me, better than Formigal!

It's fighting for the win that is good. Not the 2nd place.

Yeah, like if he had been happy with 2nd places he wouldn't have attacked in the first place

 

[Koronin]

Here's a link for an interview with Alberto. It's in Spanish. There's a brief part that is written. The video isn't available in all countries, so whoever can watch it, here's the link.
https://video.eurosport.es/ciclismo/contador-en-eurosport-la-caida-que-hizo-que-alberto-decidiese-retirarse-definitivamente_vid1176728/video.shtml