Can Contador improve his TT position and become faster ?

[theyoungest]

Not really how much did evans lose the tour time trial by?! On top form and with a more aero position he could save a minute and on top form thats probably all he is behind martin or cancellara

About as hilarious as rating Rujano = to contador in the mountains

But what's the point of saying this? Robert Gesink could be a great time trialist as well if he weren't built so damn unaerodynamically.

But guess what? He is.

 

[maxmartin]

AC also said he might give it a shot at olympics TT, why not? one stone two birds, since tour is heavy on TT next year

 

[Maxiton]

Something we (or... actually my mother...) noticed during a race (I think it was the Giro) was that he [Contador] seemed to make those weird little jumps in the saddle. Without being an expert I'd say that... might be a problem. Of course I don't know if you can even correct that...

That's a sure sign that his TT bike isn't properly fitted. It's inefficient and watt-sucking and I've often wondered why Contador and his handlers allowed it to go on. It may be difficult to quantify how much efficiency and power he loses but he definitely loses some and that has to be significant in a GT. It's also annoying to look at / think about, so I hope they do fix it.

EDIT: Well, the power component should be easy to quantify, if they can get him properly fitted and then compare that to his output from his current set up.

 

[uphillstruggle]

Cancellara can be seen doing the same seat movement and he is one of the best of all time against the clock. As seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA03vSHPBJo

 

[ferryman]

But what's the point of saying this? Robert Gesink could be a great time trialist as well if he weren't built so damn unaerodynamically.


Not sure if that is a real word but sure wouldn't want a game of Scrabble with you

 

[Angliru]

Cancellara can be seen doing the same seat movement and he is one of the best of all time against the clock. As seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA03vSHPBJo

I recalled another top TT rider having the same issue but I couldn't recall who it was. Thanks for this!

 

[hfer07]

Cancellara can be seen doing the same seat movement and he is one of the best of all time against the clock. As seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA03vSHPBJo

Cance was doing it due to the Saddle height-which according to him, he raises it a bit for prologues & short TT to obtain more power & explosiveness. for long TT he prefers to go low, therefore this position counters that constant sliding that happens when the seat position is higher & more forward-which is what is currently happening to Alberto.

 

[greenedge]

Contador is a great ITTer. I have not noticed any flaws in his position on the bike but if the experts have maybe they can work to help him go even faster.

 

[Havetts]

I for one hope he doesn't improve for the excitement of the sport, if he even becomes more dominating it would kill it all.

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

If Conta improves his tting, i wont even bother looking at the tour

 

[LaFlorecita]

If Conta improves his tting, i wont even bother looking at the tour

I will...

 

[el_angliru]

Does Riis know what he is talking about when it comes to TT - I just remember him being a big unit and I cant imagine him being a stylist a la Wiggo or helping small dude much - and he clearly got the Schlecks going well...

Time-trialing has always been a big priority for Riis and his team. He did some great work with Basso and Sastre, and he's always had some very good time-trialists on his team like Hamilton, Julich, Zabriskie, Vandevelde, Cancellara, Voigt etc. I'm sure Riis is very committed in this particular area, and he always seems interested in developing his riders' TT-abilities even further (also for many of the Danish riders who have been on Riis' team over the years like Sandstød, Vandborg, Bak, Fuglsang, etc.).

You could argue, of course, that personal committment doesn't make him an expert. But I think he knows what he's talking about.

 

[uphillstruggle]

Cance was doing it due to the Saddle height-which according to him, he raises it a bit for prologues & short TT to obtain more power & explosiveness. for long TT he prefers to go low, therefore this position counters that constant sliding that happens when the seat position is higher & more forward-which is what is currently happening to Alberto.

That's quite interesting. I did look for a video of a longer time trial of his but couldn't find one where the camera is at the right angle for long enough. Where did you get that from by the way? Its funny, if Barne has direct experience of this with one of his (ex) riders you would think he would have Alberto sorted out by now.

 

[mewmewmew13]

Evans has the most ridiculously long arms for his hieght, it shows when hes out the saddle unless he bends his arms he ends up being very high, its unfortunate for him, i would say that is the one element of his physique that is not perfect for cycling, with shorter arms i have no doubt his tt would rival Martin/Cancellara his engine is awesome

Levis t rex arms....love it and its so true[/quote]

haha yes totally.

Andy knows what he is talking about. If you google Andy and his palmares it is proof that he certainly understands the sport and biomechanics.

I wonder if this next season will see Contador as dominant in GC and also doing so well in TT form. If Fabs could get off the darn TREK and back onto his Specialized machines or others ...

I'm thinking that Cancellara will have a big motive to do well this year. It will be interesting to see him face off against Tony M.

 

[hfer07]

That's quite interesting. I did look for a video of a longer time trial of his but couldn't find one where the camera is at the right angle for long enough. Where did you get that from by the way? Its funny, if Barne has direct experience of this with one of his (ex) riders you would think he would have Alberto sorted out by now.

I got the info from various articles on Cycling Weekly & Cycle Sport. Here it is the man himself explaining that:

"I get the most power out if I sit a little higher, so I do that for Prologues & short Time Trials, where power is everything. Aerodynamics are more important in longer time trials, so then I get lower, more in the ideal position I discovered in the Wind tunnel. Within that though, I also make changes according to how I feel on a particular day."

As far as Riis not having sorted out Contador's position? He's just been with him a year-and in reality 6 months of real racing if you discount all the time he was unable to ride until he was cleared to do so. Those issues are detected in real competition when the body is stressed & needs to perform-not in training.

 

[movingtarget]

Contador does not need more improvement and if he does it will only be marginal. Tony Martin and Cancellara can't ride with him in the mountains and the other GC riders are no better than him, mostly worse. Evans, Menchov and Leipheimer are the only riders that he has to worry about in the TT. But usually Contador has already won the race in the mountains. Those four riders plus Wiggins should be the GC riders to watch in the 2012 TDF TT's. Based on Saxo's 2011 TTT in the TDF it is an advantage for Contador to have two individual TT's instead of a TTT. Same for Sanchez.

 

[RedheadDane]

Sorry for the tone. Noticed that it looked a bit harsh afterwards.

That's okay!

Maybe if I actually started reading stuff in the full before commenting on it...

Fatigued enough and Contador managed to finish 3rd in that ITT

Yeah. And I remember him saying something about taking it easy...

 

[jens_attacks]

he has to have at least the 2009 form for itt's.you never know with wiggins,froome and menchov.also look back at cadel's uberperformance from last tour itt.my guess is that we'll see both in climbing and time trialing the strongest contador until now

 

[LaFlorecita]

Yeah. And I remember him saying something about taking it easy...

 

[RedheadDane]

Pretty much my reaction too!

But of course... it's the same guy who attacked with like 80 Ks to go in the Alpe d'Huez stage just to have fun!

 

[LaFlorecita]

Pretty much my reaction too!

But of course... it's the same guy who attacked with like 80 Ks to go in the Alpe d'Huez stage just to have fun!

What a weirdo he is!