GC Contenders in 2011

[gilbertador]

Who would people say was the strongest in all of the Gt s GC s combined this year? If all contenders raced one GT? Who is in the top 10? I would have

1. Contador (Giro)
2. Evans (Tour)
3. A Shleck (Tour)
4. F Shleck (Tour)
5. Cobo (Vuelta)
6. Froome (Vuelta)
7. Scarponi (Giro)
8. Nibali (Giro)
9. Voekler (Tour)
10. Wiggins (Vuelta)

What does everyone else think?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Hard to say, because it would depend on route. Certainly can't argue with your top 3, provided Andy was willing to race. But the Vuelta was such a strange one, with Nibali, Rodríguez and Scarponi all underperforming completely, and Menchov dropping down the standings. Menchov in week 3 of the Vuelta was easily as strong as Wiggins, and probably Cobo and Froome too, but he'd killed his own chances in week 1, so was riding tempo for Cobo up Peña Cabarga and El Vivero rather than Cobo riding it for him, and was riding conservatively on Anglirú so as not to pull Froome back to Cobo; Wiggins by contrast faded, and had the Vuelta had a tougher final week he could well have fallen off the podium. Similarly, the Tour was affected in extremis by the number of injuries and the parcours being so backloaded, so the lower ends of the classification are very open to interpretation. I certainly won't disagree with Giro Contador ahead of Tour Evans as the 1-2 though.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

1. Gesink (Oman)

2 who cares

 

[taiwan]

I'd have Scarponi's Giro and Voeckler's Tour above any Vuelta performances for a start.

 

[spalco]

I would put Nibali a bit farther ahead thanks to being the only one except Contador (unless I'm forgetting someone) with two top10 GT results; ahead of Frank Schleck, Scarponi and Froome for sure, maybe even ahead of Cobo although it's hard to argue with a win.

 

[Parrulo]

I'd have Scarponi's Giro and Voeckler's Tour above any Vuelta performances for a start.

and nibali's giro performance imo. also this 3 performances (nibbles, scarponi and voeckler) were imo more impressive then frank schlecks tour performance, yes he did finish third but good lord talk about being unimpressive in the high mountains mostly on the last 2 high mountain stages where he was the GC contender that spent less time facing the wind and still was much weaker then andy and evans on both stages and also contador on stage 19

 

[roundabout]

Ok, apart from Zoncolan what was so impressive about Nibali in the Giro?

That the competition sucked and he was able to defend for a podium?

He was lucky that Gardeccia is only 6km long and Sestriere is a highway of a climb.

 

[jens_attacks]

1.contador
2.froome
3.cobo
4.evans
5.rolland

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

Cobo was really strong on Angliru, only about half a minute slower than Contador in 2008. That should count for something. Pretty impressive, IMO. Though, of course, the Vuelta can in no way be compared to the Tour or Giro.

and nibali's giro performance imo. also this 3 performances (nibbles, scarponi and voeckler) were imo more impressive then frank schlecks tour performance, yes he did finish third but good lord talk about being unimpressive in the high mountains mostly on the last 2 high mountain stages where he was the GC contender that spent less time facing the wind and still was much weaker then andy and evans on both stages and also contador on stage 19

Indeed. Frank Schleck was strong on Luz Ardiden, then faded like he usually does. He almost got dropped on Plateau de Beille already. Not a good look. Andy appeared very strong, but maybe thought it was best to wait for his brother, or save energy for the Alps. Or both. Either way, huge mistake.

 

[roundabout]

Until Vuelta gets a proper course a top 3 there should always be rated the lowest of all GTs.

 

[c&cfan]

Until Vuelta gets a proper course a top 3 there should always be rated the lowest of all GTs.

nonsense. the riders make the race, that's the reason for le tour to be number one and not il giro.

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

Until Vuelta gets a proper course a top 3 there should always be rated the lowest of all GTs.

Indeed. That doesn't mean Cobo and Froome would have bombed at the Tour, however. It's just impossible to tell.

 

[airstream]

As for nominal strength and advantage over opponents, I agree with your list but in terms of pure strength and the need to overcome the circumstances, I would rate Evans' perfomance ahead of Contador in the Giro mostly because it's le Tour. Even breathing gets harder on the TdF.

 

[spalco]

But Contador did pretty well in the Tour too.

 

[c&cfan]

As for nominal strength and advantage over opponents, I agree with your list but in terms of pure strength and the need to overcome the circumstances, I would rate Evans' perfomance ahead of Contador in the Giro mostly because it's le Tour. Even breathing gets harder on the TdF.

really?? are you serious??

 

[Parrulo]

As for nominal strength and advantage over opponents, I agree with your list but in terms of pure strength and the need to overcome the circumstances, I would rate Evans' perfomance ahead of Contador in the Giro mostly because it's le Tour. Even breathing gets harder on the TdF.

some1 hasn't watched the giro . . .

www.youtube.com/watch?v=szLGtG_yQzo&feature=related

that alone is more impressive then anything evans did at the tour

 

[cineteq]

1. Contador
2. Evans
3. Nibali

 

[airstream]

really?? are you serious??

Absolutely. Contador smashed everyone on the Etna and relatively rested knowing that none of the contenders wouldn't dare attack him. It was rather mental demolition than physical one. But it's amiss to project Giro form on TdF.

some1 hasn't watched the giro . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szLGtG_yQzo&feature=related

that alone is more impressive then anything evans did at the tour

lol. How is it possible to compare 5-6k solo and Evans at Galibier twice? It looks more spectacular from fan view point and not more than that.

 

[Parrulo]

Absolutely. Contador smashed everyone on the Etna, Grossglockner, gardeccia, and the navegal mtt and relatively rested knowing that none of the contenders wouldn't dare attack him. It was rather mental demolition than physical one. But it's amiss to project Giro form on TdF.



lol. How is it possible 5-6k solo and Evans at Galibier twice?

fixed it for you

 

[airstream]

Absolutely. Contador smashed everyone on the Etna, Grossglockner, gardeccia, and the navegal mtt and relatively rested knowing that none of the contenders wouldn't dare attack him. It was rather mental demolition than physical one. But it's amiss to project Giro form on TdF.

fixed it for you

After Etna they didn't fight against him straight and tried to solve their own tasks.
Thanks, I watched Giro very closely.

 

[maltiv]

As for nominal strength and advantage over opponents, I agree with your list but in terms of pure strength and the need to overcome the circumstances, I would rate Evans' perfomance ahead of Contador in the Giro mostly because it's le Tour. Even breathing gets harder on the TdF.

Evans is not even close to Contador as a climber. The sheer numbers Contador can produce easily proves that. Besides, except from Galibier (which was an astonishing performance), Evans never really outclimbed anyone at the TDF. Even Voeckler could keep up with him. That being said, he was very consistent. On the other hand, at the Giro, Contador could ride away from anyone, anytime. He did precisely as he wanted to and the only reason he didn't win 6 stages was because of his generosity. He was so incredibly superior on the climbs that he even managed to ride away on a 800m hill on a flat sprinters stage...

I'm not taking anything away from Evans win but I'm just saying that if you're expecting Evans to be even remotely close to following Contador next year then you're up for a surprise.

 

[airstream]

Evans is not even close to Contador as a climber. The sheer numbers Contador can produce easily proves that. Besides, except from Galibier (which was an astonishing performance), Evans never really outclimbed anyone at the TDF. Even Voeckler could keep up with him. That being said, he was very consistent. On the other hand, at the Giro, Contador could ride away from anyone, anytime. He did precisely as he wanted to and the only reason he didn't win 6 stages was because of his generosity. He was so incredibly superior on the climbs that he even managed to ride away on a 800m hill on a flat sprinters stage...

I'm not taking anything away from Evans win but I'm just saying that if you're expecting Evans to be even remotely close to following Contador next year then you're up for a surprise.

Evans is not even close to Contador on the Giro'11 or Verbier as a climber. It is an essential amendment. There is also another Contador, against whom Evans is able to defend very adequately. My opinion is exactly on what we've watched this season on GT's you put in brackets and has nothing to do with 2012

 

[Zoncolan]

1. Contador
2. Evans
3. Nobody comes close

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Evans is not even close to Contador on the Giro'11 or Verbier as a climber. It is an essential amendment. There is also another Contador, against whom Evans is able to defend very adequately. My opinion is exactly on what we've watched this season on GT's you put in brackets and has nothing to do with 2012

Yes, but this thread is about the riders at X particular race.

Evans might have defended successfully against Contador (Tour '11), but people are asking to compare him to Contador (Giro '11), at which point I'm afraid I have to come down saying Contador ahead. If each rider showed up with their form from their best GT, Contador slays the field using his Giro form. Not necessarily as easily as he actually did at the Giro, but he slays them nonetheless. He could have won by 10 minutes + if he'd wanted to.

 

[Escarabajo]

1-) Contador
2-10) I don't know