Giro 2011: Stage 16 Belluno - Nevegal12.7 km ITT

[peacefultribe]

Alberto Contador is a champion with the kind of humility and class that is not seen often enough. He is a joy to watch, and a true professional.

This Giro has to be one of the most stressful and difficult bike races of all time. The way that Alberto Conatdor has handled himself both on and off the bike is awe inspiring.

Hats off to a great champion.

 

[moi123]

Alberto Contador is a champion with the kind of humility and class that is not seen often enough. He is a joy to watch, and a true professional.

This Giro has to be one of the most stressful and difficult bike races of all time. The way that Alberto Contador has handled himself both on and off the bike is awe inspiring.

Hats off to a great champion.

This. Absolutely

 

[Siriuscat]

I'm surprised that people can't see the class that Contador has, I always think he carries himself very very well, he's humble and I think pretty honest. However like us all he makes mistakes and he does appear to learn. If anyone needs a reminder look at the tour in 2009, where Armstrong, the Hog and the Astana team under them did everything possible to undermine him yet his own integrity and class as a person took him through it. 100% maybe stretching it but he's not far off.

On the road he is a different character, he wants to win, he's a pro, of course he does. I dont think he was anywhere near top form in France last year and in Giro form would have won by a couple of minutes. Should he have attacked Schleck last year, yeah course he should, Schleck attacked first he's entitled to counter that. Should he have attacked again on Saturday on the Zoncolan yeah of course, he's there to win, nothing else.

I truly hope CAS find in his favour because we have a GT rider again who rides with the panache of a Merckx or an Hinualt and one who respects his sport and what is going on around him. I'd love to go to France and trounce them as he easily would in this form then, go to the Vuelta with no expectations. He's the champion the sport has missed since Indurain

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Well, one thing is he had the cajones to stand up to LA in last year's Tour.

Very nicely done by AC in today's Giro ITT.

 

[forumlurker]

Alberto Contador is a champion with the kind of humility and class that is not seen often enough. He is a joy to watch, and a true professional.

This Giro has to be one of the most stressful and difficult bike races of all time. The way that Alberto Conatdor has handled himself both on and off the bike is awe inspiring.

Hats off to a great champion.

ditto .

 

[Michielveedeebee]

Alberto Contador is a champion with the kind of humility and class that is not seen often enough. He is a joy to watch, and a true professional.

This Giro has to be one of the most stressful and difficult bike races of all time. The way that Alberto Conatdor has handled himself both on and off the bike is awe inspiring.

Hats off to a great champion.

You've said it all

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

lol apparently Rujano said that today showed he is 3rd best climber in the world = D

Well he is right isn't he? He climbed the 2nd fastest time up the climb after Contador.
Only Schleck can keep up with Contador.

So...

 

[Angliru]

Andy was the one who attacked before he forgot how to shift. Contador was responding and kept going, as he should have.

That's it in a nutshell. He attacked, his opponents responded and he lost his chain, whatever the cause may have been. I can't understand how it can't be understood that if you initiate the aggressions you have to deal with the outcome. Schleck wasn't up to the task of taking responsibility for his plight. Instead he chose to blame others.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

That's it in a nutshell. He attacked, his opponents responded and he lost his chain, whatever the cause may have been. I can't understand how it can't be understood that if you initiate the aggressions you have to deal with the outcome. Schleck wasn't up to the task of taking responsibility for his plight. Instead he chose to blame others.

Exactly. And that incident provided ammunition for the Lance fans who were bitter about how Contador destroyed their hero in two consecutive Tours to attack Alberto's character.

 

[Ildabaoth]

Rujano did great. And to people who underestimate his 5 minutes loss at the beginning of the Giro: had Contador lost 5 minutes too, he wouldn't be in the lead yet, despite his otherwise crushing domination.

 

[jens_attacks]

again alberto owned them....pure high class
garza riding like a young man, too bad he was tired after that magnificent breakaway from sunday,he could have won this...
ok so nieve out is checked,next target:gadret...rujanito will get the podium spot no doubt.i see nibali losing more than 4 minutes on finestre,can't get all that back on the descent.

 

[Parrulo]

Rujano did great. And to people who underestimate his 5 minutes loss at the beginning of the Giro: had Contador lost 5 minutes too, he wouldn't be in the lead yet, despite his otherwise crushing domination.

tbh if contador had lost 5 minutes he would have crushed every1 everywhere to gain it back and he would be already in the lead. he rode a "defensive race" or a as defensive as possible race on both saturday and sunday but mostly saturday

 

[Ryaguas]

Well, one thing is he had the cajones to stand up to LA in last year's Tour.

Very nicely done by AC in today's Giro ITT.

Cojones

 

[Climbing]

again alberto owned them....pure high class
garza riding like a young man, too bad he was tired after that magnificent breakaway from sunday,he could have won this...
ok so nieve out is checked,next target:gadret...rujanito will get the podium spot no doubt.i see nibali losing more than 4 minutes on finestre,can't get all that back on the descent.

Rujano is going very good indeed... but still 4 minutes to recover it's alot, and he had up and down too, as everyone else (apart Contador that is).
Not an easy task at all to get on the podium, considering the final ITT too.

 

[Ildabaoth]

tbh if contador had lost 5 minutes he would have crushed every1 everywhere to gain it back and he would be already in the lead. he rode a "defensive race" or a as defensive as possible race on both saturday and sunday but mostly saturday

Defensive race? On saturday and sunday? On saturday he was just slightly better than Nibali. He only arrived a few seconds before him, even whan he attacked at more than 1 km from the finish line. And sunday? Are you kidding? His first attack was at 50 km from the finish line. If that is "defensive", I guess he had to attack at the Piancavallo to be aggresive.

 

[jens_attacks]

the final itt is just 26 km and lots of corners,guys like gadret,purito,rujano won't lose much.
on the sestrieres stage the differences will be huge,third week and rujano will attack at the base of finestre,probably alberto will go with him.

 

[Publicus]

tbh if contador had lost 5 minutes he would have crushed every1 everywhere to gain it back and he would be already in the lead. he rode a "defensive race" or a as defensive as possible race on both saturday and sunday but mostly saturday

You spared me having to explain this fact to him.

 

[Mellow Velo]

the final itt is just 26 km and lots of corners,guys like gadret,purito,rujano won't lose much.
on the sestrieres stage the differences will be huge,third week and rujano will attack at the base of finestre,probably alberto will go with him.

Anyone attacking from the base of Finestre alone, will run out of gas at some point.
2005 when the attack went pretty early, Di Luca and Simoni did all the work and consequently suffered big time, allowing Rujano to ride away on Sestrieres.
Jose had sat in 3rd spot all the way up; a wise move as it turned out.

IMO, to take 4 minutes on Finestre, you are talking about someone bonking big time, rather than flying off into the distance.

 

[jens_attacks]

well i might be wrong because i blindly cheer for rujano but i have the feeling nibali will somehow crack big time.

oh and i remember poor danilo doing 80% of the work on finestre.he was just over-confident in his power.mentally he still think he could it again on sestrieres but on the flat to the climb,cramps over cramps.sad to see him like that.rujano was like a fox.

 

[will10]

I might be wrong but I think Rujano worked with Simoni and Di Luca on Finestre. He certainly did on the descent and up to Sestrieres (before he dropped Gibo).

Such a brilliant stage, hardly seems 6yrs ago

 

[Parrulo]

Defensive race? On saturday and sunday? On saturday he was just slightly better than Nibali. He only arrived a few seconds before him, even whan he attacked at more than 1 km from the finish line. And sunday? Are you kidding? His first attack was at 50 km from the finish line. If that is "defensive", I guess he had to attack at the Piancavallo to be aggresive.

on the zoncolan stage contador just stayed with the main rival that was most up the road (first part of the climb scarponi, second part nibali) he attacked nibali at 1k from the finish but thats not riding offensively. on etna and friday he attacked way earlier. his tactics on the zoncolan were defensive no doubt about that, or you think he couldn't keep up with anton if he wanted?

on sunday he made an attack 70k from the finish cus he saw nibali was suffering (that attacked caused nibali to get dropped) then he sat behind the movistars nibali eventually got back on the descent and attacked but contador just stayed behind the movistars and only had to close the final meters by himself. then on the fedaia he attacked when nibali was once again suffering. when he saw what a appeared to be a finally bonked nibali he sat behind rujano and others that were setting the pace. he then only attacked on the last climb when every1 was done (cept scarponi) even tho it seems like he raced very aggressively he actually didn't. all he did was attack what he thought was his biggest threat to drop him then wait for every1 else and let them pace the group hoping that nibali was finally done for good. a good prove of this was when attacked on fedaia and dropped nibali as soon as he reached arroyo he signed him to get onto his wheel. i doubt arroyo would be able to do that if contador was really attacking like he has done on etna.

thats why i said he rode as defensively as possible on that stage

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I can't see Nibali cracking like in the past anymore.

He learned from the Vuelta past year to always ride his own tempo and never go with accelerations anymore.
Since he has done that, he hasn't significantly cracked once. Always manage to at least keep the damage limited.
As long as he doesn't respond to attacks he'll be fine.

I don't think he is stupid enough to make the mistake again by following a pace that is too high and completely crack like he did a lot in when he was younger

 

[Ryaguas]

the final itt is just 26 km and lots of corners,guys like gadret,purito,rujano won't lose much.
on the sestrieres stage the differences will be huge,third week and rujano will attack at the base of finestre,probably alberto will go with him.

mmmm If Rujano is very hungry He will attack from the base but one thing is sure... He will make the decisive attack and be sure that Alberto will follow it... Nibs could "bonk" again in Finestre... His endurance is not that good!

 

[Parrulo]

mmmm If Rujano is very hungry He will attack from the base but one thing is sure... He will make the decisive attack and be sure that Alberto will follow it... Nibs could "bonk" again in Finestre... His endurance is not that good!

actually nibali's endurance and recovery seems to be just fine. remember how on the bola del mundo he not only managed to cut his losses to mosquera but he actually got back to him and arguably he could have passed mosquera as his pace was much higher at that point

also D_T saying something not that bad about nibali. some1 captures this moment please because that is one rare sight

 

[luckyboy]

Just hoping Scarponi cracks big time somewhere.

the final itt is just 26 km and lots of corners,guys like gadret,purito,rujano won't lose much.
on the sestrieres stage the differences will be huge,third week and rujano will attack at the base of finestre,probably alberto will go with him.

Rujano is much better TTer than those two anyway.