David Millar re: Armstrong, Contador....

[Angliru]

I hijacked this from the Lance Interview thread. It was posted by WBT and after reading it I thought it quite interesting and worthy of its own thread. I wouldn't want folks to miss it.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009...trong-comeback

If the link is wrong check the "Lance Interview" thread should I be unable to correct it.

 

[franciep10]

Well I agree and disagree, I think contador needs to win two more grand tours in dominating fashion to be considered as one of the greats, he is really good but i haven't seen him dominate yet. and maybe a couple classics which he can do

 

[Anonymous]

i dont rate him yet..

A tour win, the vuelta was too simple, and the giro, well.. i dunno, he didnt have competition like some tour/giro winners have had in the past, personally i think menchov had it harder this year.. ... hes got a long way to go, before i consider him one of the greats..

ask me again in 3 or 4 years,...

although i honestly beleive he will be caught out sometime between now and then..

 

[Snake8]

Couple of interesting things about that article. Millar notes that LA has the kind of single minded drive unlike most everyone else - except Alberto. I have to say that I like the scenario this creates for the TDF, much like the Hinault/LeMond same team duel in '86.

Second point of interest is the French perspective. Sorry I am not a basher of the French like many in the US, but how funny is it that the guy basically says that the French will admire LA more if he loses. Vive La France.

 

[**Uru**]

I do not know if Contador will ever be the greatest of all time. He is certainly a great talent, but there is a certain guy named Eddie that might never be de-throned.

 

[Ninety5rpm]

Thanks

Thanks for posting this. Interesting pieces, but especially Millar's.

The link was broken; here it is:

www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/jun/28/lance-armstrong-comeback

 

[Angliru]

Thanks for correcting that Ninety5.

 

[Angliru]

I do not know if Contador will ever be the greatest of all time. He is certainly a great talent, but there is a certain guy named Eddie that might never be de-throned.

I think Millar was saying that Contador was the greatest he had competed against not of all time. IMO Merckx is in a stratosphere all his own with only Coppi and maybe Hinault coming close.

 

[180mmCrank]

Great article

I found many things of interest but Millar's comment about the anger and determination of Contador was what really struck me. I suppose we shouldn't be surprised to hear that someone who has won all 3 GTs has this kind of passion. But it seems that most of the cycling pundits talk about LA's mental strength and AC's raw talent. Millar's insight would seem to suggest there is a lot more to Contador than most of us have seen.

I am looking forward to the theatre of how this all plays out. My only hope is that the Contador, Armstrong, Evans, Schleck, Sastre, Menchov are all in shape to compete and we get the race that we are all looking forward to watching.

Bring on Monaco

(Great thread)

 

[uphillstruggle]

. IMO Merckx is in a stratosphere all his own with only Coppi and maybe Hinault coming close.

Yeah, I agree but Coppi probably would have won more tours if it hadn't been for the war. And although Merckx was there best cyclist of all time, Coppi was the coolest. If Wikipedia is to be believed that stuff about him cycling and hitching back from the POW camp is brilliant.

You can just imagine Millar complaining that the POW camp was too tough 'we're not animals' he cries.

Back to the point of the thread I think that Contador will eventually have a record comparable with the greats, this is a big one for him if he doesn't win his rep will take a big blow.

What Millar says about the tour in the last few years of Lances reign was spot on. It was essentially a race for second place - boring. Now it's more interesting. I think this is telling as true greats are made by the manner in which they win as well as the amount of times they win.