Contador set to be greatest grand tour rider since Hinault

[Damiano Machiavelli]

He is on the verge of seven wins just like Lance and Indurain. Lance never dared to attempt two grand tours in a season. and Contador will have accomplished the feat twice when he wins the Tour. Indurain did win two grand tours in a season twice, but he never won the Vuelta.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

He is on the verge of seven wins just like Lance and Indurain. Lance never dared to attempt two grand tours in a season. and Contador will have accomplished the feat twice when he wins the Tour. Indurain did win two grand tours in a season twice, but he never won the Vuelta.

If Contador doesn't get banned, he will no doubt eclipse the GT palmares of Armstrong and Indurain, but at this point he has not yet done so. You can't simply assign the same weight to the three Grand Tours, there is a pecking order. A Tour win is worth considerably more than a Vuelta win.

 

[spalco]

He is on the verge of seven wins just like Lance and Indurain. Lance never dared to attempt two grand tours in a season. and Contador will have accomplished the feat twice when he wins the Tour. Indurain did win two grand tours in a season twice, but he never won the Vuelta.

If he wins.

(and there's this other little thing that might spoil his party...)

 

[Lanark]

If Contador doesn't get banned, he will no doubt eclipse the GT palmares of Armstrong and Indurain, but at this point he has not yet done so. You can't simply assign the same weight to the three Grand Tours, there is a pecking order. A Tour win is worth considerably more than a Vuelta win.

Agree, personally, I think you have to win 5 Tour's to be on the same level. That has always been the magic border (until the Texan ).

 

[Zerak-Tul]

He could also be the first rider to lose 3 GT wins with one court ruling.

 

[Captain_Obvious]

He wont lose the titles even if theyre taken away from him, not to the people who matter anyway.

 

[Bye Bye Bicycle]

He wont lose the titles even if theyre taken away from him, not to the people who matter anyway.

Yeah, for those (me included) he never even won them.

 

[pedaling squares]

He is on the verge of seven wins just like Lance and Indurain.

The guy is incredible, no doubt, but you're a little ahead of yourself here. Unless by "on the verge of seven wins" you mean on the verge of lining up for the start of the seventh tour. With all due respect to his abilities, a lot can happen over a few thousand kilometres.

 

[Captain_Obvious]

Yeah, for those (me included) he never even won them.

So who did win in your book? Are there any winners?

 

[Old&slow]

It is certainly arguable he has only one legitimate Tour Win, 2009. Rasmussen won the race in 2007 and deserved the win. Contador simply did not win that race. His 2010 win is certainly tainted with the positive test and his unsportsmanlike behavior stealing the 39 second winning margin. But on the other hand one can certainly argue he was robbed of a chance to win in 2008.

Regardless of what side you are on I think it appears when Contador is done riding his his legacy will be very controversial.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

It is certainly arguable he has only one legitimate Tour Win, 2009. Rasmussen won the race in 2007 and deserved the win. Contador simply did not win that race. His 2010 win is certainly tainted with the positive test and his unsportsmanlike behavior stealing the 39 second winning margin. But on the other hand one can certainly argue he was robbed of a chance to win in 2008.

Regardless of what side you are on I think it appears when Contador is done riding his his legacy will be very controversial.

LMAO @ this post.

 

[Escarabajo]

It is certainly arguable he has only one legitimate Tour Win, 2009. Rasmussen won the race in 2007 and deserved the win. Contador simply did not win that race. His 2010 win is certainly tainted with the positive test and his unsportsmanlike behavior stealing the 39 second winning margin. But on the other hand one can certainly argue he was robbed of a chance to win in 2008.

Regardless of what side you are on I think it appears when Contador is done riding his his legacy will be very controversial.

Lance? is that you?

 

[palmerq]

I think old and slow has a wee bit of a point the 2007 tour win was a bit dodgy, but we cant discuss that in this forum, but also he was unfairly banned from the 2008 tour, but I agree with him the 2011 win if it stands will always be dodgy...

If contador wins the tour it will be an amazing achievement although I think the tour de france is the big one and very special, so lances 7 wins would still rank higher for me, but only just.. Also indurain doing the giro tour double twice impresses me more than a giro/tour giro/vuelta double... So even if alberto wins this tour I would have him slightly behind the other great gt riders, errr that are behind the 2 great great gt riders :S

 

[JPM London]

Lance? is that you?

And I'm LMAO @ this post

 

[JPM London]

It is certainly arguable he has only one legitimate Tour Win, 2009. Rasmussen won the race in 2007 and deserved the win. Contador simply did not win that race. His 2010 win is certainly tainted with the positive test and his unsportsmanlike behavior stealing the 39 second winning margin. But on the other hand one can certainly argue he was robbed of a chance to win in 2008.

Regardless of what side you are on I think it appears when Contador is done riding his his legacy will be very controversial.

How on earth you ever got to the conclusion that Rasmussen deserved the 07 win is beyond me... But, hey, you're entitled to that...

Did you know by the way that he went on the telly last week and said he would like to think that his results were achieved under fair conditions.
When it was later pointed out to him that he was kinda making a non-admission admission, he had to go on telly again to say that it was most definitely not an admission.

 

[The Hitch]

If Contador doesn't get banned, he will no doubt eclipse the GT palmares of Armstrong and Indurain, but at this point he has not yet done so. You can't simply assign the same weight to the three Grand Tours, there is a pecking order. A Tour win is worth considerably more than a Vuelta win.

No doubt. But id say a Giro Vuelta double is worth at least as much as 2 Tours and a Giro Tour double is worth more than 3 tour wins for example.

 

[c&cfan]

I think old and slow has a wee bit of a point the 2007 tour win was a bit dodgy, but we cant discuss that in this forum, but also he was unfairly banned from the 2008 tour, but I agree with him the 2011 win if it stands will always be dodgy...

If contador wins the tour it will be an amazing achievement although I think the tour de france is the big one and very special, so lances 7 wins would still rank higher for me, but only just.. Also indurain doing the giro tour double twice impresses me more than a giro/tour giro/vuelta double... So even if alberto wins this tour I would have him slightly behind the other great gt riders, errr that are behind the 2 great great gt riders :S

you are forgetting something... he just turns 29 this year.

i bet that all of as are assuming that he still has maybe up to 6 good years ahead and he radioshack is still here, he will end up with 20gts.

 

[benpounder]

It is certainly arguable he has only one legitimate Tour Win, 2009. Rasmussen won the race in 2007 ...

No, Rasmussen was leading the race. It is possible that had he not been yanked, he would have won, but he did not win the race.

 

[benpounder]

...id say a Giro Vuelta double is worth at least as much as 2 Tours and a Giro Tour double is worth more than 3 tour wins for example.

While I agree that in terms of how difficult to win, Tour > Giro > Vuelta. But the Giro is typically the most difficult whereas the Tour and Vuelta are, on average, on par. Any double in one year is certainly more difficult than a single, expecially if that rider is only focused on that race (a la Lance). But I dont think we can make a rating system without taking into account all the variables, such as difficulty of course and competitors and their respective level of fitness.

 

[UpTheRoad]

It is certainly arguable he has only one legitimate Tour Win, 2009. Rasmussen won the race in 2007 and deserved the win. Contador simply did not win that race. His 2010 win is certainly tainted with the positive test and his unsportsmanlike behavior stealing the 39 second winning margin. But on the other hand one can certainly argue he was robbed of a chance to win in 2008.

Regardless of what side you are on I think it appears when Contador is done riding his his legacy will be very controversial.

Rasmussen didn't finish the race. That is a prerequisite for a TdF victory, unless I am mistaken. You have to cross the final finish line in Paris. I don't recall Rasmussen doing so, but since you stated he won in 2007, do you have anything showing MR rode on the Champs Elysees in 2007?

 

[gibbells]

For me if contador does a giro tour double he passes out indurain and armstrong. Because of the difficulty of this years giro it would be an extra special achievement if he could do the double. One thing i didnt like about lance is his ignorance towards the giro in those years of his 7 wins. If we take this years giro there is no way lance would of attempted it with its tough route because he knows deep down it would of affected his form possibly in the third week and it would of caught up on him. As hinault once said if merckx done what armstrong done and just concentrated on the tour he would of won 20 tours.

 

[Moviefan1203]

It's hard to be the greatest when you have a strong possibility of being potentially stripped of three grand tour titles.

 

[pedaling squares]

Very true, this would be a special year to do the Giro-Tour double. To win both races (at least temporarily) would be an incredible achievement for Contador.

Old&Slow had a fair point - 2007 was perhaps a bit of a gift and 2008 was perhaps a bit of a rip-off. You win some, you lose some, c'est la vie, and neither occasion was under his control. 2010 may or may not count as a victory in time. 2009 however, was a well-earned victory under truly ridiculous circumstances. And those are just his TDF victories, add the other three and you have a truly special GT rider who could rack up many more before he is done.

 

[Damiano Machiavelli]

There is something to be said for winning different GTs at different times of the year. Indurain never won the Vuelta. He did not handle the cold well when it was held before the Giro.

Each grand tour is a little different. Small climbers that win the Giro and Vuelta often have no chance at the Tour because of its usual number of time trial kilometers. Riders who do well with the Tour's 8-10% climbs might have problems with the 20% sections in the Giro or Vuelta.

 

[Siriuscat]

If CAS find in his favour, there is no GT record in the books that he can't take, not talking stages but GC victories. I've said before I don't think Crybaby Schleck will ever beat him in a straight GT fight the competition isn't there.

Still, if he does have to sit, chances are he'll only come back stronger and start winning again.