Contador Crash - Tour Disaster ?

[Fight.The.Power]

Now that the main 2 contenders are out Nibali just needs to walk through an open door ?


Right ?

Right ol' rubbish ?

 

[SeriousSam]

It greatly diminishes the achievement, should he win the Tour, although that isn't, of course, his fault.

There's only one rider left who might try and challenge him.

 

[Afrank]

Yes, this Tour has been greatly changed I believe. What could have been a awesome 2 man duel is now a one man race. I don't see anybody being able to challenge Nibali like Contador would have.

When Nibali wins (I should say if, but I'm pretty sure he'll take it easy) I will be very happy to see him with a Tour win. But with Froome and now Contador out, this Tour will always have a * next to it or me.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Maybe Astana will relax on one of the next two transistional stages and grant an 'Oscar' half an hour

 

[Der Effe]

Let's hope the French collaborate and destroy the field.

 

[Alcanelo]

Yes, this Tour has been greatly changed I believe. What could have been a awesome 2 man duel is now a one man race. I don't see anybody being able to challenge Nibali like Contador would have.

When Nibali wins (I should say if, but I'm pretty sure he'll take it easy) I will be very happy to see him with a Tour win. But with Froome and now Contador out, this Tour will always have a * next to it or me.

This 100%

10char

 

[Fight.The.Power]

Posted this on the stage thread but think it more relevant here

----------------------------

I agree with carlton Kirby

I think the Tour is wide open now.

A podium is staring potentially 10 riders in the face.

Horner
JVDB
Talansky
Porte
Mollema
TJVG
Valverde
Rolland
Kwia ?? Possibly (gains time in TT)
Rui Costa - scraping the barrel now ?


If anyone of these gets a few minutes on Nibbles in an attack then the Yellow is up for grabs.

Also can Astana defend against so many teams ??

Game on I think (hope )

 

[warmfuzzies]

It will be refreshing to see a new TdF champion. The old guard knows that bike handling is very important to staying in the race. With 2 former TdF winners crashing out, it underscores the risky and unpredictable nature of the competition. Rest assured, the best man will win. Better luck next year to Froome and Contador.

 

[Futuroscope]

Now that the main 2 contenders are out Nibali just needs to walk through an open door ?


Right ?

Right ol' rubbish ?

I don't care, it's a B-race no matter who wins it. Most likely Nibali will win the B-race though. Pointless to watch. If Froome and Contador recover in time (and want to race) then the Vuelta will be the most important race of the year. Froome, Contador and Quintana are the best.

 

[hfer07]

Yes & No

Yes- because Alberto is great to watch & his attacking style will always provide excitement.
No- because with Alberto's depart, Some riders will dare to attack more and try more things, which can only help for the overall spectacle.

 

[Futuroscope]

It will be refreshing to see a new TdF champion. The old guard knows that bike handling is very important to staying in the race. With 2 former TdF winners crashing out, it underscores the risky and unpredictable nature of the competition. Rest assured, the best man will win. Better luck next year to Froome and Contador.

No, the best men (Froome/Contador) already lost or didn't compete (Quintana).

 

[Futuroscope]

Yes & No

Yes- because Alberto is great to watch & his attacking style will always provide excitement.
No- because with Alberto's depart, Some riders will dare to attack more and try more things, which can only help for the overall spectacle.

Nothing will happen. GC contenders will just TT together up the mountains. Nibali will control things and win without much happening.

 

[manafana]

with contador gone Nibali and his team have a strong field to worry about now nothing comes easy.

 

[King Boonen]

No, the best men (Froome/Contador) already lost or didn't compete (Quintana).

If they can't ride a bike I wouldn't call them the best.

 

[Ramira]

If they can't ride a bike I wouldn't call them the best.

Ok lets examine the evidence:

Froome got sideswiped by Keukeleire who had to avoid a Belkin rider - Not his fault!

We don't yet know what happened to Contador, but it seems his frame broke somehow - Not his fault.

Will Nibali deserve the Tour if he wins, in my opinion yes, he'll be the strongest rider in this race, but lets not pretend Froome and Contador caused their own downfall.

 

[The Hitch]

It will be refreshing to see a new TdF champion. The old guard knows that bike handling is very important to staying in the race. .

From what I've heard though Contador's crash had nothing to do with bikehandling

 

[King Boonen]

Ok lets examine the evidence:

Froome got sideswiped by Keukeleire who had to avoid a Belkin rider - Not his fault!

We don't yet know what happened to Contador, but it seems his frame broke somehow - Not his fault.

Will Nibali deserve the Tour if he wins, in my opinion yes, he'll be the strongest rider in this race, but lets not pretend Froome and Contador caused their own downfall.

Froome crashed several times and put himself in a position to get taken off whereas Nibali put himself up front out of harms way.

The likelihood that the frame snapped and caused the crash is very small, we'll have to wait and see, but it's much more likely it snapped when he fell.

Both of them are partly responsible for their retirements (Framegate pending).

 

[Futuroscope]

If they can't ride a bike I wouldn't call them the best.

They are the best. Enjoy the B-race.

 

[Ramira]

Froome crashed several times and put himself in a position to get taken off whereas Nibali put himself up front out of harms way.

Yeah again, no. Froome got sideswiped sitting in a fine position in the peleton the day before the P-R stage. That crash caused him to break his wrist, because of that he couldn't control his bike the day after and crashed again. Not his fault.

 

[Dutchsmurf]

I voted yes, because I'm realistic. Attacking racing is very rare and has been like that for years. So I doubt Contador quiting will suddenly make all those others find their attacking legs.

 

[Eclipse]

We will miss Contador's presence for sure.

With that said though now it's Nibali against the rest, and if the rest come out fighting we can still have an extremely exciting race.

Just depends on how people race it basically.

 

[Jspear]

Nibali has this in the bag now. Of course I thought AC had it and he has crashed. So barring crashes he has it. This will go down as one of the worst Tours for me personally.....the 2 strongest riders crashing out.

 

[djpbaltimore]

I voted yes mostly because of the cobbles. I can see Nibali losing some time in the mountains, but he has such a big gap on his rivals that it looks like it will be a procession. But I thought that about Contador right after the Froome crash, so what do I really know?

 

[MBotero]

Voted for 3rd option,Nibali is in pole position at the moment,but is not over yet.In this Tour the riders seems more nervous than usually,lots of crashes every day,weather was very bad also,i think more surprises could come.

 

[roundabout]

Best rider on the best team with a big lead already.

Just needs to keep it on the road