Contador 2008 vs Froome 2016, who had the better year

[Red Rick]

From the derail of the Sagan vs Cav thread. So who which year was better according to you?
For the sake of convenience, I'm ommitting other stage victories and minor stage races. If you want them added, please list them and I'll edit the OP.

Contador 2008 -
1st Pais Vasco + 2 stages
1st Giro d'Italia
4th Olympic TT
1st Vuelta a Espana + 2 stages

Froome 2016
1st Dauphine Libere + 1 stage
1st Tour de France + 2 stages
3rd Olympic TT
2nd Vuelta a Espana + 2 stages


Poll incoming

 

[Valv.Piti]

Contador's 2008 season better than Sagan's 2016? Hell no. I'd take Froome's 2016-season anyday over any Contador-season.

 

[Red Rick]

Sagan's season I'm not sure. But any season with 2GT wins is better than any season with one GT win for stage racers. A relatively lucky 3rd place at the Olympic TT and a Vuelta podium don't change that.

 

[Mr.White]

Re:

Contador's 2008 season better than Sagan's 2016? Hell no. I'd take Froome's 2016-season anyday over any Contador-season.

Contador slightly better imo. Giro/Vuelta combo is better than Tour/Vuelta 2nd. Other results are similar. Sagan 2016 is better than both, though...

 

[PremierAndrew]

Contador's 2008 season better than Sagan's 2016? Hell no. I'd take Froome's 2016-season anyday over any Contador-season.

I'd say Froome's 2016 is better than Contador's 2008, especially when you consider the competition they had

 

[Red Rick]

Froomes competition - sick quintana, tt disaster bardet, richie porte on flat tires and more
Vuelta, lost to healthy quintana. Beat chavez and out of shape and crashing contador.

Contador's Giro.
Ricco, Menchov, Pelizotti, Di Luca and more

Contador's Vuelta
Leipheimer (domestique), Sastre, tdf champion, podium in Vuelta where have i seen that before Valverde, Gesink, Mosquera, Purito.

Good joke.

 

[roundabout]

Re: Peter Sagan vs. Mark Cavendish. Who has the best palmare

If I were to play your game re 08 Vuelta

Leipheimer - would have won on a different team

Sastre - riding the double

Gesink - second year pro riding his first GT

Rodriguez - his best GT GC result was 17th before the Vuelta

Valverde - was doing Valverde things

 

[Miburo]

Re: Peter Sagan vs. Mark Cavendish. Who has the best palmare

If I were to play your game re 08 Vuelta

Leipheimer - would have won on a different team

Sastre - riding the double

Gesink - second year pro riding his first GT

Rodriguez - his best GT GC result was 17th before the Vuelta

Valverde - was doing Valverde things

Ah ha mate but you keep quiet about the giro field which was 10 times harder than the tour field that year, hmm i wonder why

Cherry picking at its finest people

 

[Valv.Piti]

Just consider the fact that Aru was very close in doing the double in 2015, Chaves two podiums in 2016 as well. Its obviously far, far from easy, but the Tour is the pinnacle when it comes to stage racing. With a good margin.

Lets say Dauphine = Pais Vasco

So it comes down to what you value higher:
Contador: Giro win (0 stages) and Vuelta win (2 stages)
Froome Tour win (2 stages), Vuelta 2nd (1 stage) Olympic TT

Its pretty even, but Froome for me.

 

[roundabout]

Re: Peter Sagan vs. Mark Cavendish. Who has the best palmare

If I were to play your game re 08 Vuelta

Leipheimer - would have won on a different team

Sastre - riding the double

Gesink - second year pro riding his first GT

Rodriguez - his best GT GC result was 17th before the Vuelta

Valverde - was doing Valverde things

Ah ha mate but you keep quiet about the giro field which was 10 times harder than the tour field that year, hmm i wonder why

Cherry picking at its finest people

No, I don't have the time to go through all of them.

But ok

Bruseghin finished 3rd. Real tough field that one.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Peter Sagan vs. Mark Cavendish. Who has the best palmare

If I were to play your game re 08 Vuelta

Leipheimer - would have won on a different team

Sastre - riding the double

Gesink - second year pro riding his first GT

Rodriguez - his best GT GC result was 17th before the Vuelta

Valverde - was doing Valverde things

Ah ha mate but you keep quiet about the giro field which was 10 times harder than the tour field that year, hmm i wonder why

Cherry picking at its finest people

Its cherry picking, but so was Red Rick's post. Contador won those 2 GTs with low margins, Riccó was slightly better uphill than Contador in that Giro, while an argument could be made that Leipheimer would have won that Vuelta as a captain. A Vuelta Contador won on bonus seconds, if Im not mistaken. His Angliru-ascent was magnificent tho, but apart from that, he wasn't all that impressive in either of the 2 GTs

 

[Red Rick]

Contador won that Giro while not in top shape. Take a look in the clinic if you wonder what the level of the field was like. This years Vuelta had an absolute cake field except for the top 4.

But if field is your only argument on why winning Tour plus Vuelta podium is better than Giro plus Vuelta, then I could argue Sastres 2008 is better than Froomes 2016 in GT terms. Or do you think you can have it both ways just because you want to?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

You also omit the only guy that could stay with Valverde and Contador on Bonaigua and Beret, Igor Antón, although he crashed out because he's Igor Antón and that's what he does.

Anyway, Emanuele Sella was the man in that Giro. All of the top 5 are thanking their lucky stars every single day that he crashed and dropped time because he would have annihilated everybody in the heads of state if he got to rest until the final climb, cos let's face it, Baliani and Pérez Cuapio weren't going to hold back. Then, Pozzovivo might have been let off the leash as well.

If I was going to take drugs to win bike races, Lelle's 2008 Giro is how I'd want to do it.

 

[El Pistolero]

Re:

Just consider the fact that Aru was very close in doing the double in 2015, Chaves two podiums in 2016 as well. Its obviously far, far from easy, but the Tour is the pinnacle when it comes to stage racing. With a good margin.

Lets say Dauphine = Pais Vasco

So it comes down to what you value higher:
Contador: Giro win (0 stages) and Vuelta win (2 stages)
Froome Tour win (2 stages), Vuelta 2nd (1 stage) Olympic TT

Its pretty even, but Froome for me.

Why count the Olympic TT, he was third, and only because Rohan Dennis had bike trouble. He would have been fourth otherwise. You know who else was fourth in the Olympic time trial in 2008? Alberto Contador.

Third is meaningless to me. As is second in the Vuelta. Almost no one remembers that Sastre also podiumed the Vuelta after winning the Tour (although I do think Sastre is an underrated cyclist in general).

 

[yaco]

The thread has been derailed - Its about Sagan and Cavendish.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

The thread has been derailed - Its about Sagan and Cavendish.

I split the topics, poll is incoming

 

[EroicaStradeBianche]

Re:

Just consider the fact that Aru was very close in doing the double in 2015, Chaves two podiums in 2016 as well. Its obviously far, far from easy, but the Tour is the pinnacle when it comes to stage racing. With a good margin.

How was Aru very close to win the giro? Who almost made the double was Nibali in 2013, destroyed only by Turbohorner (he climbed the angliru faster then Contador in 2008).

 

[Sciocco]

Contador's 2008 was best GT rider season since Pantani 1998.

 

[hazaran]

Climbing performances in the Giro are always well below the Tour, it's very clear that Tour >>> Giro.

 

[El Pistolero]

Re:

Climbing performances in the Giro are always well below the Tour, it's very clear that Tour >>> Giro.

Not during 2008, trust me. Contador would have wiped the floor with the likes of Carlos Sastre and Frank Schleck.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

I actually think Froome had his best ever season in 2013, not this year. I also think it can be argued if 2009 or 2014 were better years for Alberto aswell. Nevertheless, in my opinion a 'double' will always win against a single TDF win, so Alberto's 2008 season is/was better than Froome's season this year.

 

[dacooley]

Bertie 2008.as he is a people champion while froome is a disgrace of the sport

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Re:

Bertie 2008.as he is a people champion while froome is a disgrace of the sport

What?

 

[Ashhutch97]

Contador 2008 easily, considering he won 2 grand Tours which Froome has never won. You also have to remember that Contador only found out that he was going to the Giro that year just before it started meaning he did no preparation for it. It also showed how Contador is a very smart rider, during the first week other riders were noticing how he was riding very economically, during the first few days you hardly saw Contador because he was just sitting in the bunch trying to build up some form, while others like Ricco and Di Luca were attacking all of the time. Anyone who has raced a bike before knows that turning up to a race like the Giro without any preparation and winning it against rider who had prepared for months specifically for that race is remarkable. And his performance on the Angliru was brilliant, and had there been no time bonuses he would have gone out and got the time needed in the mountains.
Lets be honest, in 8 years time we are not going to be talking about how Froome came 2nd in the Vuelta, or a 3rd in the Olympic TT or him winning the Dauphine Libere. But 8 years on we still remember that Contador won the Giro and the Vuelta in the same year, the first rider since Pantani to win 2 grand Tours in one year.

 

[jsem94]

Easily Contador.