karlboss said:
When else did he want to? ventoux?
Completely agree that Contador's greatest allies will be teams not willing to lose 3rd. Radioshack chasing down the break that includes basso etc.
Ask Contador, Armstrong, or Bruyneel.
All I know is that all have made reflective comments about what went on during the races, about how he-himself/Contador/that-guy-from-the-Pueblo wanted to do things very different, and frequently so.
Contador said he was discouraged from taking the attack on a number of occasions. And from various interview comments by all 3 you can deduce that he would have chosen to let the team ride differently (more aggressively and earlier) for him. Bruyneel made comments about Contador being far more willing to go than was wise. Armstrong mentioned in a Nieuwsblad interview that there were frequent radio conversations during the race in which Contador talked about plans that Armstrong deemed tactically dangerous (I wonder for whom).
Add it all up with what we saw on the road, and we saw a guy holding back teh attacks big time, for the team (once he attacked once to settle the team leadership discussion, brief as it was).
I like that, someone who is keen. I think we will see a very different race this year, when he has no Bruyneel/Armstrong straight jacket to work with.
He shows frequently he is keen to go up a hill and see who can follow. Prettyu much did the same a week ago in Portugal, then with a team that was riding to help him do just that.
Maybe indeed too keen, and he would be wiser blah-blah-blah. But he either can afford some of this "tactically dangerous" silly stuff, as his capacity more than trumps and compensates for his has-much-to-learn-errors, or he is simply a different style of rider who really disagrees with the Bruyneel/Armstrong view of what is wise (for him) and how a race should be tackled if your name is Contador. If you are winning, who can prove you were wrong?
If that attitude works again this year with a team with different/actual support riders ? Time will tell.
And if you ask me: again, with little doubt.
All I know that this tactical numptie trumped both the mighty masters Armstrong and Bruyneel, by simply letting his legs talk, and showing who is boss in the Pyrenees. Exactly when he had to (he had gone earlier if it wasn't for the wind, that day in the Pyrenees, if his comments are to be believed). And how best to keep the high ground, on and off the bike.
I think Armstrong wants to win, and is deadly that way. To me it seems that Contador wants to race as well as win.
I fully expect to see that this year, Contador on a much longer leash. And if he is as capable as he looks, god help the rest with hanging on to his coat tails the moment it goes uphill on a mountain he has set his sight on. I doubt that we will be waiting for the last km on a climb before he takes off, on quite a few occasions this year.
I think there is a docu-movie coming out close to the Tour this year, starring Lance Armstrong, but with footage taken during the entire, in-race and behind the scenes, with access. Focus will be on Lance, but it will have to feature some stuff that went on with Contador too, and I'm dead curious to see how the footage matches the various scenarios that have been given. Contador has declined to provide additional material, but I suspect that what they have will speak volumes, edited or not.
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