discussion!!! contador

[luckyboy]

Improving day by day. Still think he needs to get a bit of time before the TT.

 

[hrotha]

Had no problems today. Looks better and better. Might need a few days more to be fully fit?..

To me it looked like he still had some trouble accelerating, but he's definitely improving. Serves the Schlecks right, really.

 

[El Pistolero]

Glad there's a flat stage tomorrow

 

[rides like a girl]

Improving day by day. Still think he needs to get a bit of time before the TT.

I agree..he looked better and a bit smarter, followed others who closed the gaps instead of covering all of them.

To me it looked like he still had some trouble accelerating, but he's definitely improving. Serves the Schlecks right, really.

I was happy that the last acceleration, where he lost time last stage, he made it this time. I thought he got left behind, but he was hiding behind Uran.

Glad there's a flat stage tomorrow

A flat stage is exactly what he needs to recover even more.

Still amazed that the Schlecks missed this opportunity to put him out of the race, had two stages, after he showed weakness, to get time on him to knock him out of out, and they let him off the hook. Hoping it comes back to bite them!!!

 

[mr. tibbs]

...

Still amazed that the Schlecks missed this opportunity to put him out of the race, had two stages, after he showed weakness, to get time on him to knock him out of out, and they let him off the hook. Hoping it comes back to bite them!!!

Yeah. Andy could have won the Tour twice over now. Remember when Contador first attacked in 2009 (at Arcalis, I think), and even his own team mates were saying that it was too early/not significant enough to justify the effort? Turns out that that's how you win GTs. By taking time when you can. It just kills me that the big tactic for 2011 is to wait. For your brother, for the other contenders to rejoin after you've broken the elastic, for the Alps, for the final km.

Eventually, Contador may find some form. If he does, he's not going to wait.

 

[GJB123]

Morale must be high with Contador, seeing that both Schlecks are still so afraid of him that they almost soil themselves. If his confidence was low, Andy and Franck are doing their utmost to get his confidence back up.

Regards
GJ

 

[No_Balls]

Morale must be high with Contador, seeing that both Schlecks are still so afraid of him that they almost soil themselves. If his confidence was low, Andy and Franck are doing their utmost to get his confidence back up.

I don´t think his confidence has sustained some vital damage these two days. I think its what he expected before going into the pyrenees given how he counted them off for his own part.

But he has crept under their skin for sure. Even when he is off they are still paralysed with fear.

 

[Cimber]

All I've seen in this thread is a lot of Contador glory hunters panicking that he's not going to bring them any glory this time.
Don't worry boys, you've still got the Giro result and that's a much better race that Le Tour

and the knowledge that without the Giro Bertie would have ripped the Schlecks apart. That the Schlecks cant drop any1 is a sign that they cant win the Tour without COntador being better. They need him to make the attack and then they can follow. If Contador doesnt get better by the alps I reckon the Schlecks wont win the Tour. Isnt that ironic.

 

[ladyvader]

and the knowledge that without the Giro Bertie would have ripped the Schlecks apart. That the Schlecks cant drop any1 is a sign that they cant win the Tour without COntador being better. They need him to make the attack and then they can follow. If Contador doesnt get better by the alps I reckon the Schlecks wont win the Tour. Isnt that ironic.

I want to see Andy Schleck win the Giro and then do the Tour and see if he can even stay near the leaders. Which I doubt. Contador dominated the Giro. That is something AS has never done. Dominate anything.

 

[webvan]

I don't know whey everyone thinks he's going to get better in the Alps, if anything the fatigue of the Giro is going to be even more taxing. Last year Basso hung on in the Alps and then blew up in the Pyrenees.

Having said that it's hard to understand why Andy doesn't sustain his attacks, I've never seen anyone race like that really, childish.

 

[Cimber]

Btw is it just me or did his "riding style" look a bit better today?

 

[hrotha]

I don't know whey everyone thinks he's going to get better in the Alps, if anything the fatigue of the Giro is going to be even more taxing. Last year Basso hung on in the Alps and then blew up in the Pyrenees.

Last year Basso was sick in the Pyrenees. And if Contador's problems are largely due to his knee, and that's getting better, it's only natural he'll improve in the Alps. Of course by then the fatigue might be too much to bear, but then again, maybe not.

 

[webvan]

Basso was just exhausted, like Menchov in 2009 and who wouldn't be after giving it all in a grueling Giro? If Evans has a problem then maybe AC can win...on the other hand if Voeckler starts the ITT 2' over Evans...if anything it looked like he was itching to go today and certainly would have if he hadn't had the jersey. Form of his life no doubt.

 

[BYOP88]

Yeah. Andy could have won the Tour twice over now. Remember when Contador first attacked in 2009 (at Arcalis, I think), and even his own team mates were saying that it was too early/not significant enough to justify the effort? Turns out that that's how you win GTs. By taking time when you can. It just kills me that the big tactic for 2011 is to wait. For your brother, for the other contenders to rejoin after you've broken the elastic, for the Alps, for the final km.

Eventually, Contador may find some form. If he does, he's not going to wait.

Great post, if it was the other way round Contador would've nailed the Schleck door firmly shut by now. Maybe the best thing for the Schlecks is for one of them not to be in the race(maybe the Italian authorities, can sort that one out), that way they're not looking for each other. I so hope that anyone but a Schleck wins the overall, just to hear their excuses, which Frank already started today.

 

[hrotha]

Maybe the best thing for the Schlecks is for one of them not to be in the race(maybe the Italian authorities, can sort that one out), that way they're not looking for each other.

I don't know about that. Last year Fränk wasn't there but Andy still wasted whole stages without trying anything, preferring to gamble it all on the Tourmalet. The problem, I'm sure now, is that Andy doesn't like cycling, so he wants to win with the least effort.

 

[BYOP88]

I don't know about that. Last year Fränk wasn't there but Andy still wasted whole stages without trying anything, preferring to gamble it all on the Tourmalet. The problem, I'm sure now, is that Andy doesn't like cycling, so he wants to win with the least effort.

We may have found the truth at last. Also anyone think that if Schleck won the Tour, riders would copy the Armstrong template?(which it appears that Andy does)

 

[Parrulo]

We may have found the truth at last. Also anyone think that if Schleck won the Tour, riders would copy the Armstrong template?(which it appears that Andy does)

thats one of the things with this tour.

if contador wins rider will see that is possible racing all season long at a good level and still achieve your goals, they may also be tempted to have several goals per season. all this would be a comeback to the good days of cycling.

if andy wins its a win for the super peak style of race that armstrong used and that honestly disgusts me

 

[Jan the Man]

The schlecks are allowing contador time to get his knee back. The Pyrenees have largely followed the pattern predicted by contador.

Evans is a major threat now and contador knows he needs time on evans if he wants to win. I am looking for Hernandez and navarro to do some serious damage on the izoard.

 

[Cimber]

The schlecks are allowing contador time to get his knee back. The Pyrenees have largely followed the pattern predicted by contador.

Evans is a major threat now and contador knows he needs time on evans if he wants to win. I am looking for Hernandez and navarro to do some serious damage on the izoard.

CAS is looking better than Daniel and Jesus tbh. But he has a good tem in the mountains, 4 good helpers (the 3 mentioned above and Porte). And he hasnt wasted them in the pyrenees either.

 

[jilbiker]

Great post, if it was the other way round Contador would've nailed the Schleck door firmly shut by now. Maybe the best thing for the Schlecks is for one of them not to be in the race(maybe the Italian authorities, can sort that one out), that way they're not looking for each other. I so hope that anyone but a Schleck wins the overall, just to hear their excuses, which Frank already started today.

Today I saw something. AS and FS do not have the AC style, attack, rest a bit (fast cadance), attack, fast cadence, attack and continuous. They have one burst and thats it and even then it isn't a long burst. AC is the only one I know that has that. We saw that in the Giro where scarponi was worn down after the second burst. AC has not done that to AS, if he does, he will dust AS. Problem is that AC needs all engines firing to do it. He has to find a way to do it with 3 out of 4 engines working. He is smart guy and must have figured he would not have all 4 engines back for TDF, so must have practiced mentally and physically for 3 engines. Can he get 3 engines back for the Alps? He is hoping so, and think it is possible.

The bigger question is can he put 4 minutes on VT with 3 engines? Unless VT cracks badly, not sure I see that with 3 engines. Lets watch VT, this might be a TDF for the underdog.

 

[thirteen]

Alberto Contador: The Tour Far From Being Over:

Today, Saxo Bank-SunGard's Alberto Contador let everyone know that he is still in the Tour to win and while he was not able to gain time on his rivals, he neutralized all attacks is looking forward to some precious recovering time before the Alps. However, the Spaniard doesn't like to be neutralizing. He wants to do the race in his characteristic style, attacking.

“I don't like to ride like this at all. This is a totally different kind of cycling to me, but for one thing or other I'm not as strong as I want to be,” said the leader of Saxo Bank-SunGard after crossing the finish line.

 

[taiwan]

If Contador is coming into form, I think he's pulled off a major coup by getting the pressure off his shoulders and onto the Schlecks'. He's won the thing 3 times, yet in today's stage 14 he looked like just one contender out of many - without the responsibility, and it was Andy that was being watched. If that were what they had done, it would confirm that both Bert and Riis are smart cookies.

 

[thehog]

If Contador is coming into form, I think he's pulled off a major coup by getting the pressure off his shoulders and onto the Schlecks'. He's won the thing 3 times, yet in today's stage 14 he looked like just one contender out of many - without the responsibility, and it was Andy that was being watched. If that were what they had done, it would confirm that both Bert and Riis are smart cookies.

I agree. Leopard/Shleck have played all their cards very early on. All the pressure is on them. If Contador pulled out tomorrow no one would be surprised. He won't but like Armstrong used to do; some how he made himself the underdog. Leopard are trying to control the race but they can't do it with 7 guys so tightly congested on GC.

Contador needs to post more pictures of his gammy knee to lull those Shlecks.

 

[ggusta]

Contador's big mistake was to try and win the Giro and Tour in the same year. Only two riders (Pantani & Indurain) have won the double in the past 20 years and neither had the same number and depth of challengers for the tour.

This makes absolutely no sense to me. I wanted to learn how to ride in real mountains. So I went to mountains and rode.

Guess how the first trip went? Really badly. And that was just what I expected. Because I was born with a brain. The second trip went pretty well because then I knew what it was like.

I hope I made my point.

I hope AC's 2nd trip will go better for him than this has (so far, it still could improve). I doubt he can win it but it's not impossible.

I hope his 3rd, and 4th trip also are very good, too.

 

[BYOP88]

A what if? If you were Contador and knew you had great from for 1 stage of those that remain in this years Tour, what stage would you select to use it?