Contador set to be greatest grand tour rider since Hinault

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

If he wins.

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

I dislike how people think he is a certain to win the tour.

I still think he will struggle from his giro effort, let us discuss the giro-tour achievement once it happens.

 

[Dedelou]

Okay now you opened the gate.. Than no Tour should be compared ever. Amstrong won seven Tours but he didn't be Merckx ever, didn't ride the sames bikes, had different stages length .. you see where you are taking us?
Can you really tell us that a 3 weeks only grand tour is the same as the 4 weeks they had to ride.. I mean in the end in cycling you can't even compare a ITT performance when some of the riders have to ride 3 hours later than others and in the wind or rain.. Once we go down this road , there is not ground for discussion on comparing

 

[Dedelou]

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.

with that argument you open the gates that in fact NO Grand Tour can be compared to another one since essentially they run on different courses over different times and against different riders , etc. So end of discussion Each rider is an universe and we are all getting along. Not need to write ever anything more considering that it all has been said before.

 

[luckyboy]

I can't see CAS taking away three GTs from him. It would be a sad day to see Andy inherit anything from him though.

 

[dlwssonic]

It should be right that he loses last years tour but I dont know about the giro.

 

[Mont Ventoux]

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.

Were you watching the same Tours that everybody else were watching????

Unsportsmanlike behavoir?? revisit Lance's life both ON the bike and OFF for a better definition of this phrase...

 

[ferryman]

He is special. When he wins the Tour, this is the year to make history and go for the Vuelta. The opportunity won't come up again, take it Alberto

 

[Swabian Lass]

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.

Indurain did the Giro Tour double. Twice. 1992 and 1993. Now, I think that if Contador gets through his current difficulties he may well go on to surpass Indurain, but I wouldn't say he's there yet.

 

[Mont Ventoux]

He is special. When he wins the Tour, this is the year to make history and go for the Vuelta. The opportunity won't come up again, take it Alberto

Yes, this might be the year to pull this off.
I think regardless of his result in this year's Tour, his performance AND class at the Giro, is unparalleled. Even greedy Eddy was in awe of Alberto's passion for sharing stage victories. Of course Eddy repeatedly reminded the world that he won't "gift" any stages....Well, good for you Eddy, Alberto isn't trying to be you!
And when one speaks of class or lack thereof, who better to lead the pack of classless knobs than Lance himself.
Pharmstrong rewrote the book on reaching the bottom of the barrel, with his 2009 return to the Tour, and his continued R&D into pharmacology.
He's very lucky he had Alberto as his team mate, a lesser person would've ripped out the uniballer's last nut and chucked it into the Seine...

 

[khardung la]

I am never counting GTs to compare riders for listing them as the best. Different years, different competition. In general during the times of LA and most of the years of MI the competition was not that strong for example.

I prefer to remember all GT cyclists I have seen in my life and balance my "gut feelings" and some objectivity. I would say that right now Contador seems to me almost there with Lemond and Hinault, equal to Indurain and Armstrong, way over Fignon, Pantani, Roche, Delgado or Ulrich.

As for Mercks, Anquetil, Ocana, etc... I was not there, I can´t say

But I must say given Contador´s amazing racing style, character and age he could be soon the best I have seen. If he wins Tour and Vuelta this year he will be, no doubt. To me.

 

[greenedge]

He won't be if he loses time and is not aware of the race

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

He is special. When he wins the Tour, this is the year to make history and go for the Vuelta. The opportunity won't come up again, take it Alberto

I agree. If there's ever a chance it will happen in history, it would be this year. His age and peak abilities are perfect, the courses suit him almost perfectly, and if he can win the Tour, the competition may arguably be weaker at the Vuelta, where he'll also have huge home country support.

 

[palmerq]

I agree. If there's ever a chance it will happen in history, it would be this year. His age and peak abilities are perfect, the courses suit him almost perfectly, and if he can win the Tour, the competition may arguably be weaker at the Vuelta, where he'll also have huge home country support.

Even though i am neutral towards contador I would be delighted if he managed such a feat, but I think it is 100% impossible, I hope I am wrong though

 

[montagna lunga]

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

oh perish the thought

 

[Moviefan1203]

oh perish the thought

That thought could become a reality very soon. Although he might have an uphill fight for this Tour. The TTT tomorrow is going to say a lot for Contador.

 

[StyrbjornSterki]

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

oh perish the thought

That's four fewer than Lance will be losing.

 

[Mambo95]

At the end of the 1997 Tour every journalist said that Jan Ullrich would dominate the Tour for the next decade.

He never wore the Yellow Jersey again.

 

[dlwssonic]

At the end of the 1997 Tour every journalist said that Jan Ullrich would dominate the Tour for the next decade.

He never wore the Yellow Jersey again.

thanks to wonderboy

 

[Mambo95]

thanks to wonderboy

The reason is irrelevant. It just shows you don't know what is around the corner. In 1986 LeMond was expected to be the first six time winner.

 

[dlwssonic]

The reason is irrelevant. It just shows you don't know what is around the corner. In 1986 LeMond was expected to be the first six time winner.

yes and what does lemond have to do with ullrich. If not for armstrong ullrich could have won the tour 3 times more. it is relevant.

 

[VeloCity]

At the end of the 1997 Tour every journalist said that Jan Ullrich would dominate the Tour for the next decade.

He never wore the Yellow Jersey again.

Well actually he wore it again in '98

 

[dbrmuz]

At the end of the 1997 Tour every journalist said that Jan Ullrich would dominate the Tour for the next decade.

It would take at least two AC's to even get close to Ullrich's off-season cake-binge weight.

 

[Polish]

Well actually he wore it again in '98

sweet sorrowful stage.
his last cold day in Yellow
Galibier ouch