Three Grand Tour in one year -- is it possible?

[reyan12]

my bad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!lol

"if eddy was racing today" lol the guy is alive and fat lol

lol !!!!!!!!!!:d:d:d

 

[reyan12]

If anyone is bored of talking about AC winning 3 GT's in a year and think it is completely absurd, come watch some ping pong with me!

http://www.fromsport.com/v-0/2/78/v-27806.html

liar,thats table tennis

another LOL for me ping pong is table tennis in english

 

[Dedelou]

well.. i have serious doubts. the time when a cyclist was able to won classics, sprints and GTs is over. if eddy merckx was alive today, he would have to chose between being able to try to win some classics and a GT, or 2 GT etc. today it is impossible to win all the season long and all kinds of races. that time is over. in the new days, you have to be "specialized" if you wanna have hopes of win something.

that's another reason for a lot of people to say that contador is the best ever in stage races(even armstrong realizes that). better than merckx, armstrong, pantani, hinault, etc.
if contador try to race (for the win) the 3GT, he can't race anything else during the year. but he is the only one that can do that.
today's cycling is very diferent, much more tougher, with much more competition. they drag each other, they use a lot of strategies etc. a cyclist like merckx (evans for example) will only be able to win a "small" race here, a podium there, etc. but win something really big more than 5 times in a career?no.

it isn't impossible for contador. but it is almost impossible to happen.

isn't it stupid to talk about the best cyclist ever nowadays??merckx or hinault would never been able to win a couble classic against boonen, cancelara or musseuw. merckx or hinault would never been able to win a TT against cancellara etc. merckx and hinault would never been able to win a mountain stage against pantani contador etc. not to talk about sprints (cavendish petachi cipollini etc) or another classics (bettini rebellin boogerd valverde freire zabel etc)

how do you know these things. What tests is there you used to come to that conclusion?
I agree that it is silly to compare riders across generations , but isn't that what you did when you said they couldn't win? I am also not sure that Racing today is demonstrably harder. Certainly it is faster and there are equipment reasons for that, as well as other known factors (better roads surfaces, shorter races (tour de france only three weeks instead of 4 , etc. But harder? again , such statement would have to be measured with specific tools to compare the capacity and will to win of the people you mentioned and as a rule we do not have that type of model or the interest to do that. Research is expensive and generally funded by the possibility of making profits from the results. One thing is sure .. The riders you mentioned to make your comparison were all "tough mothers" and I am sure they would do their best to make it hard to beat them.
PS: Did Eddy passed away and I wasn't invited to the wake? damned mailman always miss my box.

 

[Dedelou]

Well, if he can win the Giro/Tour double why not try the Vuelta as well?

No harm done if he wasn't able to win that one after winning the Giro/Tour...

let the poor guy first try to win the giro-tour .. he hasn't yet. I thought that was part of his program for next year. Last giro=tour winner in the same season was a long time ago

 

[Dedelou]

andy will play with you..

in one year, the guy won paris nice and other races. then he goes to the beach. then, without preparation and in no shape, he wins the giro. after that, the vuelta. yeah i believe that it isn't totally impossible for him.

I am not saying he couldn't , I don't know that. But I like to point out that winning Giro-Vuelta in the same season still means having many months of preparation in between the two races and the time to peek anew, because one is in the spring and the other in fall. Giro-tdf leaves less time but has been done. However more often than not we have seen that doing well at the giro doesn't necessarily means top placing at TDF. Of course there are so many variables (like the level of the competition at the TDF) to consider besides the time in between the two.

 

[Bicicleta]

Alberto signed a 2 year contract. So if Contador/Riis won't go for the 3 GT's in 2011, that leaves 2012, the year of the London Olympics. Interesting.

 

[la.margna]

One main reason why it was difficult in the past do to the triple in one year was the fact that both Giro and Vuelta were taking place in May.

However, now that the placement of these races in the calendar do not pose an obstacle anymore, I would think that it is highly unlikely that he will achieve it.

The Giro / Vuelta double with time to recover from May to Sep is feasible, as AC proved it. But with the Tour inbetween, it is really impossible.

I personally know a Tour de France Top 10 finisher of the 1980's who has never ever taken anything. No injection, no infusion, no tablets never anything. He told me when really running on bread and water it takes more than a year to recover.

Apart from this, it seems, that the contenders are getting better on a relative basis compared to AC. So if he should do it, what I think is pretty unlikely, he might well deserve to be called the greatest or one of the greatest cyclists ever.

Maybe he might also seriously take on LBL or Lombardia next year...

But another big issue, as already mentioned before, is the team. Had he joined an intact Riis team without the Schlecks, this would not be an issue. But Riis cycling seems to be falling apart. With the exception of FC and Riis, not much is left. So AC finds himself again in a team, where the core has not been riding together for a few seasons... But we will see what money can do...

 

[icefire]

let the poor guy first try to win the giro-tour .. he hasn't yet. I thought that was part of his program for next year. Last giro=tour winner in the same season was a long time ago

Last giro/tour: Pantani 98, Indurain 92/93, Roche 87, Hinault 82/85
Last vuelta/tour: Hinault 78

With the current calendar (giro, tour, vuelta), I see AC trying first the tour/vuelta. And next year, he won't have to spend the summer looking for a new team

 

[Hairy Wheels]

Marino Lejaratta (sp?) used to ride the triple in the 80's. He would always be top 5, top 10 and then completely nowhere.

With modern "preparation", maybe it's possible...but you'd have the french police searching your stuff constantly for the rest of your career.

 

[theswordsman]

Can you imagine how crazy things would get if he managed the Giro/Tour double that's been so hotly debated then said he was going for the Vuelta? And if he did it all in 2012 when he had no contract for the next year? That would be a wild August.

On my earlier post I forgot to mention the allergies that can come into play during the Giro.

 

[saganftw]

another LOL for me ping pong is table tennis in english

when you explain a joke its not that funny anymore

back on topic

i thought riis is talking about 3 GT in a season but not with one rider (AC)

but ppl on the thread still keep talking about possibility of AC 3GT wins in a season -which is absurd imho

 

[c&cfan]

when you explain a joke its not that funny anymore

back on topic

i thought riis is talking about 3 GT in a season but not with one rider (AC)

but ppl on the thread still keep talking about possibility of AC 3GT wins in a season -which is absurd imho

absurd is saying that. you are not talking about LA or andy.

you are talking about the best stage racer ever. yes..the guy that starts the season with wins at stage races, goes to the beach, then without preparation wins the giro and after that the vuelta.

after this, how it is absurd?it is dificult, very. but it isn't impossible. absurd?lol

AC is not the kind of guy that only does the tour and nothing else.
armstrong won 7 against medium stage racers. and that's it.
andy did nothing this year and won..a 2nd place.

AC has at least 6 years to win everything..if he founds motivation.

 

[saganftw]

armstrong won 7 against medium stage racers. and that's it.

medium?

i doubt that


anyway why is absurd to win 3 GT in a season is because nobody will even try to win all 3

 

[c&cfan]

some of them already tried.
but any sane person knows that it is extremely dificult. however it isn't impossible for AC to do that.

medium??kloden,beloki, ulrich (after 27), mayo, rumsas, basso (this one was better. however he was never a trully tour cyclist and he was out when he was becoming the strongest.)

you are talking about cyclist that had never won nothing. (ulrich after 27)

yeah. for sure it is below menchov, andy, frank,armstrong, best ever leipheimer, etc etc etc.

 

[saganftw]

some of them already tried.
but any sane person knows that it is extremely dificult. however it isn't impossible for AC to do that.

medium??kloden,beloki, ulrich (after 27), mayo, rumsas, basso (this one was better. however he was never a trully tour cyclist and he was out when he was becoming the strongest.)

you are talking about cyclist that had never won nothing. (ulrich after 27)

yeah. for sure it is below menchov, andy, frank,armstrong, best ever leipheimer, etc etc etc.

if you consider ullrich,beloki,zulle,kloden "medium" oposition i have really no argument here

 

[c&cfan]

ulrich after 27 was never the same. he was always starting the tour in no shape. etc.
zuelle was there at the begining of lance's wins, but it was the end for him.
beloki?what have he won?he was never great. not even close.
kloden?a great domestique.

yep. medium.

 

[karlboss]

I think contador/astana 2009 would have had achance at all 3.

 

[Ferminal]

No, not possible unless you have second rate fields in the Giro/Vuelta who don't have equal preparation.

 

[Ryaguas]

I think is not impossible... That can be made but that would require a PERFECT preparation and some conditions to make it... as other ppl has said: If someone can make it, is Contador!

 

[ericthesportsman6]

Absolutely impossible, even for Contador.

 

[El Pistolero]

No, not possible unless you have second rate fields in the Giro/Vuelta who don't have equal preparation.

Besides Andy Schleck everyone is a second rate field against Contador in a 3 week stage race.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

.

Dicsuss.

Sure it is.
Already did that two times... in Pro cycling manager that is... 1x Contador and 1x some scouted French talent

A sign that it will never happen in real life

 

[Weapons of @ss Destruction]

Perspective : Contador has never even won 2 GTs in a row. He's always had at least 1 GT on the calendar between each of his wins. Why are we even talking about 3 in a row?

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Because Contador never rode 2 GT in a row so you can't say wether he can do that or not.
And if Pantani can win 2 in a row, sure as hell Contador can.

3 is still difficult, but totally impossible? Depends on the field (especially in the Vuelta).

For example, of some strong GC man decide to skip the Tour and enter the Vuelta fresh..

 

[hrotha]

Sure it is.
Already did that two times... in Pro cycling manager that is... 1x Contador and 1x some scouted French talent

A sign that it will never happen in real life

I just did it with some French talent and the poor guy (the world's best climber by a very large margin) was practically dead by the time the Vuelta ended. But he still won.