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Shleck vs Contador - showdown.

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Apr 1, 2009
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benpounder said:
Not to dismiss your later point about Andy in last year's TdF, but chickenlegs was pulled just after getting the better of Berto in 07. Sure, there are no "official" charges against Michael R., but if we hold the same standards some hold to "that dude from Texas", then Rasmussen is guilty, guilty, GUILTY!
There is at least as much on Puerto Client "AC". The one that has always ridden under Saiz and Bruyneel. The one who beat Wiggens in a short flat prologue TT and Rasmussen in a super tough climb (and didn't even breath heavily in doing so).

Contador will smash A. Schleck by virtue of better medical preparation.

The thing that I am going to like least about the Tour this year is Contador's frickin' victory salute. What a w@nker!
 
Mar 30, 2009
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Maybe not this year but wait till next year and beyond.....he may not be up there for 7 tdf' but his gonna be in the mix all the way and I'd put good money on him to win a few! He will learn to TT.
 
Mar 11, 2009
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patswana said:
Contador will smash A. Schleck by virtue of better medical preparation.

Sadly, I think you are correct.

Not that I believe Riis's team is clean, but I will certainly find myself rooting for Saxo as the lesser of two evils.
 
Apr 22, 2009
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patswana said:
.

The thing that I am going to like least about the Tour this year is Contador's frickin' victory salute. What a w@nker!

I've got to agree with you there, Flecha is the only one who can get away with a "shooting stuff" victory salute.
 
Andy has demonstrated himself as a fine climber, but has never dominated. By contrast, Alberto has shown himself to be the best climber in the world till otherwise proven. Personally I think in long, hard stages, Ivan Basso could make things very hard for Contador. Unfortunately we won't know if I'm right at this years Tour. But seriously, that Andy can be considered a better climber than Alberto: I wonder which cycling you've been watching the past 3 years...
 

whiteboytrash

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Mar 17, 2009
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rhubroma said:
Andy has demonstrated himself as a fine climber, but has never dominated. By contrast, Alberto has shown himself to be the best climber in the world till otherwise proven. Personally I think in long, hard stages, Ivan Basso could make things very hard for Contador. Unfortunately we won't know if I'm right at this years Tour. But seriously, that Andy can be considered a better climber than Alberto: I wonder which cycling you've been watching the past 3 years...

Eh ? and which race or incident to you refer where Contador "dominated " a climb ? I don't remember one. Please site examples not rash generalisations.
 
Apr 10, 2009
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Schleck the younger has shown himself to be quite the climber, but TT's are another animal. I think he has to mature a bit physically to compete with Contador. Contador has shown he has what it takes to win a Grand Tour (all three of them) whereas Andy has only had to ride as a domestique and compete for a lesser classification (best young rider). As impressive as his ride was on L'Alpe last year, it is quite a bit easier to mark the moves of opponents (especially tired ones, sorry Cadel) than it is to ride away from your rivals with the pressure of competing for a Grand Tour title. Some crack under that type of pressure, Contador hasn't. In fact, with Lance at the Tour I believe Contador has additional motivation to show he is the new king of the GT's. I honestly think Basso would be more competition for Contador right now.
 
Mar 10, 2009
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Simply put, if having to choose between Andy Schleck and Contador, I'd prefer Andy Schleck to take the win.

I think that Contador is the better time-trailer of the two.
As for climbing, I'm not sure. They can both hold their own in the mountains. It's probably down to the one with the better form on the day.
And how big a part do the teams, and the team directors to an extend (to big?), play in this? They will need the help of their teammates, definetely. But how much will they depend on it? And who's team will be able to hold on longer?
And I doubt the other teams intend to watch idly. I'd say bring in the dark horses. :p

So, can Andy Schleck beat Contador in a Grand Tour? I'm inclined to say not yet. But he is free to prove otherwise. ;)
 
whiteboytrash said:
Eh ? and which race or incident to you refer where Contador "dominated " a climb ? I don't remember one. Please site examples not rash generalisations.

Just off the top of my head he put a minute into the field on a stage at Paris Nice this year(no, he didn't wind up winning the GC but that wasn't the question). During last year's Vuelta he did the same, if I remember right.
 

whiteboytrash

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Mar 17, 2009
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jaylew said:
Just off the top of my head he put a minute into the field on a stage at Paris Nice this year(no, he didn't wind up winning the GC but that wasn't the question). During last year's Vuelta he did the same, if I remember right.

Did he now ? A minute ? Really ? Perhaps you should check the results...... he did win a stage but this is after losing time on Chavanel and of course after his so called domination he completely blows up ! Domination you say ?

...and you go on.....so the question wasn't him winning the GC !!! Eh ? So whats the point of dominating if you don't win ! Thanks for proving my point. A.Shleck for the Tour. No need to respond.
 
Mar 13, 2009
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rhubroma said:
Andy has demonstrated himself as a fine climber, but has never dominated.

He could have dominated hands down though up l'Alpe d'Huez, if he hadn't had to help Carlos Sastre!
 
Its no accident that Contador has won all three GTs - he's the best GC rider around at the moment - I am not sure about dominating anything - but he sure does win things. I expect this trend will continue and for some time. ;)

Will Andy Shleck have his day? Yes! I am sure he will but not this Summer me thinks.
 
Mar 18, 2009
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A very insightful thread this - but one thing is for sure (as Alpe d'Huez rightfully remarked) - it is ALSO going to be the battle of the wills from the team car !!

How much of that mentality will come into play and sacrifice a rider - we will have to wait for July to see. Both JB and BR are excellent DS's and can drive their riders pretty hard !!
 
Apr 12, 2009
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whiteboytrash said:
Did he now ? A minute ? Really ? Perhaps you should check the results...... he did win a stage but this is after losing time on Chavanel and of course after his so called domination he completely blows up ! Domination you say ?

...and you go on.....so the question wasn't him winning the GC !!! Eh ? So whats the point of dominating if you don't win ! Thanks for proving my point. A.Shleck for the Tour. No need to respond.

where has schleck dominated he had a great ride in L-B-L but contador has wone every race he' competed in since August 2006 except for paris -nice thats domination and as I remember andy was in paris nice where was he. it is obvious that yo don't like astana I dont like them either but there is a difference i know how good they are for whatever reason. andy will probably be on the podiumbut he's not gonna win this year
 
We can only hope...

Whiteboytrash,

Says,

Contador, “He will attack outside team orders.”

-0-

That’s what I like to hear.


Reminds Me of Bernard and Greg. You gotta love it. We can only hope…
 
whiteboytrash said:
Did he now ? A minute ? Really ? Perhaps you should check the results...... he did win a stage but this is after losing time on Chavanel and of course after his so called domination he completely blows up ! Domination you say ?

...and you go on.....so the question wasn't him winning the GC !!! Eh ? So whats the point of dominating if you don't win ! Thanks for proving my point. A.Shleck for the Tour. No need to respond.
What is your problem? Are you like this in person too, or just anonymous internet forums?
Your question: "and which race or incident to you refer where Contador "dominated " a climb ? I don't remember one. "
I simply answered your question off the top of my head. Sorry, the PN stage wasn't a minute, it was 58 secs.:confused:

I don't know what your definition of domination is but the fact is, I could easily list at least 10 races Contador has won by outclimbing his opponents. In the last 3 seasons, Contador has competed in 16 stage races and won 9. If that's not domination, I don't know what is.

I like Andy and I think he's going to be absolutely terrific(it wouldn't even shock me if he did win the Tour), but he's hardly won any races in his entire career, including none in 2007 or 2006. Lets not anoint him yet.

And dude, we're just talking about about some guys riding their bikes really fast. There's no need to behave like an ***.
 
Apr 16, 2009
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I suspect AC is the better doper. Don't get me wrong, AS is one fine doper, but not in the same class as AC.
 
whiteboytrash said:
Eh ? and which race or incident to you refer where Contador "dominated " a climb ? I don't remember one. Please site examples not rash generalisations.

Ok: at this years Paris-Nice he road away from everbody on a stage. He has dropped the leaders on the Angrilu climb at the Vuelta last year. There are other examples too at the smaller Spanish stage races in the spring. He has lacked a bit of consitancy on other occasions and he wasn't able to dominate in the Giro last year, though that was apparently due to inadequite preparation. In any case, Alberto has been recognized among his collegues as the most explosive climber at there. When he's on his day and accelerates on a tough climb, nobody can stay with him. By contrast, Andy hasn't yet demonstrated this class. Thus, again, I ask what cycling you've been watching the last three years...
 
Mar 11, 2009
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I love Andy to bits (awesome rider, seeming lovely person) and hope he will win but I've not seriously entertained the idea of him winning while Astana are still in it, unless they fall apart as a team due to too many GC riders and even then there is always one of them willing to step up to bat. We all saw how Lance won most of his Tours - not just by being a great rider but but having his team control the race the whole way. Yeah Riis could be tricky and use this to his advantage but it's never worked as long as Johan's had a quality rider to work with. I really don't think the ITT will make a lot of difference, Riis will include it in his tactics just as they did with Carlos last year and as others have said already, Mont Ventoux.

Personally i hope this is another exciting year like last year was, I'll be bored out of my mind (probably quite literally having to stay up to at least 2am every night for 3 weeks when I'm used to getting up at 4:30am) if I have to watch another year of Tour domination by one rider/team. Maybe the other teams can band together and take Astana down!!
 
Mar 11, 2009
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Oh and +1 to whoever said the comment about seeing another all-rounder rider. Most of us have not seen the likes of Merckx in our time, it'd be great to see that again.
 
Apr 1, 2009
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Hold your horses

I have to disagree with all of you. In a GT, is not how strong and hard of a beating you can put in the field. Well, probably in a sense it is, but most importantly is about limiting your losses when you are having a bad day. Last year at the Vande Velde had that problem and lost a podium chance. For Schleck on the Hautacam stage he lost 9 minutes.
Now you may say that he was not the leader of the team. Let me ask you, is the young Schleck in a spot where he can be a team leader? If I am Riss, I would bank my buck with the Frank.