Will Contador Be Juiced Up Again Upon His Return

[sniper]

i think it was ferminal who suggested upthread that tinkov may have paid some protection money this year giving saxo a dope-sky-style free card.
it would explain contador's topform as well as riis' optimism and confidence.
needless to say it is attractive from uci/aso perspective to have contador challenging froome, so this is a win-win situation.

(just like having a brittish tour winner in the year of the london olympics was a major win-win.)

 

[Samson777]

I'm curious as to what the response might be if Contador arrives at the TdF in tip-top Bang Bang form...and still gets smoked by Froome/Porte/Wiggins.

Will that mean the Sky are just so damn good that they can pummel this proven and suspicious doper from Spain with their scientific edge?

Or will that prove that Contador is now clean (yet can still ride like it's 2007), and is obviously reduced to having to rely only on his inferior physical capabilities?

Hypothetical, of course. But isn't that what fuels most of the pre-Tour conversation?

Well they kicked Valverde's *** last year, who is also a proven spanish doper, but of course he don't have the GT history Contador got.

Most mainstream speculation will always be nonense, but should Contador prove to be better than when he was with Bruynell and wonderboy, and some journalist realize this. Then it should at least lead to a question or two, at this stage of the " saga" about pro cycling. Now that Armstrong and Bruynell at least have been proven to be cheaters.

 

[Granville57]

froome wont pummel contador in T-A form

But what if he does?

What would that say about either rider?

That is the question.

 

[Samson777]

froome wont pummel contador in T-A form

Well, I wouldn't be so sure about that really. To me very little about Froome makes sense anyway, so why not step it up a notch?

Not very scientifically at all, I apologize already. But anyway, during this Tour I had the feeling Froome had a extra gear more than he showed at least, but that will always be speculation. July will tell.

 

[Granville57]

July will tell.

I just hope they both show up at the top of their game. I also can't wait to see the look on the face of whichever one gets smoked






...by Horner

 

[roundabout]

Heh

5.67 for the best

5.50 for second best

5.40 at best for the 3rd best rider in a WT race

Not saying that Contador did 7 w/kg, but 5.67 doesn't pass the plausibility test

 

[sniper]

if tinkov has paid his bills, contador will be in froome's wheel this year or jumping out of it.

 

[del1962]

Heh

5.67 for the best

5.50 for second best

5.40 at best for the 3rd best rider in a WT race

Not saying that Contador did 7 w/kg, but 5.67 doesn't pass the plausibility test

It wasn't a mountain top finish.

 

[Hugh Januss]

This is as silly as an average Sky fan defense.

losing 20 seconds to Peraud up the last bit is more telling.

but that was after a 33k solo.

Not saying he's not doping. Just wondering if he really is doing it any better than last year, like some are saying. It was a nice ride, but not necessarily something that screams "Dawg better look out".

 

[jens_attacks]

Heh

5.67 for the best

5.50 for second best

5.40 at best for the 3rd best rider in a WT race

Not saying that Contador did 7 w/kg, but 5.67 doesn't pass the plausibility test

keeping in mind that the advantage of the breakaway was destroyed on the first ramps on lanciano, which suggests a very fast pace by movistar, i would think that contador did around 6 w/kg for all the climb, 37 minutes or something. for sure he did that for the last 28 minutes.

froome in my opinion will still beat alberto in catalunya by more than 30 seconds on the mtf. also nairito is not the same from san luis,he was well advised to chill and peak for giro not here. but alberto can improve too for le tour. hopefully.

 

[LaFlorecita]

keeping in mind that the advantage of the breakaway was destroyed on the first ramps on lanciano, which suggests a very fast pace by movistar, i would think that contador did around 6 w/kg for all the climb, 37 minutes or something. for sure he did that for the last 28 minutes.

froome in my opinion will still beat alberto in catalunya by more than 30 seconds on the mtf. also nairito is not the same from san luis,he was well advised to chill and peak for giro not here. but alberto can improve too for le tour. hopefully.

Didn't Froome beat TJVG by 20s? If he beats Contador by 30 Berto might as well retire.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Heh

5.67 for the best

5.50 for second best

5.40 at best for the 3rd best rider in a WT race

Not saying that Contador did 7 w/kg, but 5.67 doesn't pass the plausibility test

Feel free to calculate his power output yourself then.

 

[deviant]

I think regardless of Contador's form, Froome now knows how to win a TdF....no more silly mistakes this year like bonking on a climb and getting a time penalty, no more letting the crosswind on a fairly anonymous looking stage split the leaders etc etc...if Thomas could keep his pelvis in one piece this year it would help too!

The domestiques are looking good....Porte riding well despite the withdrawal, Stannard riding well, Thomas riding well despite the crash, Kennaugh enjoyed a good leg stretch this week too....only question mark for me is Wiggins at the moment, he may be a dead weight they dont need this year....Sky may be better off giving Boasson Hagen a more prominent role this year as i gather he is being approached by the 2015 Alonso team and they would do well to keep him and shuffle Wiggins off somewhere else.

I think Brailsford is keen to pull riders from races at the first sign of a slight niggle, keep them fresh for the big prizes, obviously they would ride on injured at the Giro, TdF etc but no point ruining a rider's season this early for the sake of some UCI points.

 

[red_flanders]

But what if he does?

What would that say about either rider?

That is the question.

That he might even be close is more information than anyone should need to draw their own conclusion.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Contador was 42s slower than Basso in 2006 in the last 5km of Lanciano.

 

[Miburo]

Contador was 42s slower than Basso in 2006 in the last 5km of Lanciano.

That's very good/suspicious from Contador then since that Basso was one the best riders i've ever seen.

I always wanted to see that Basso against LA.

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

https://twitter.com/ammattipyoraily/status/445852014048587777/photo/1


Contador probably didn't go all out once Quintana was left in the dust and knowing what was still to come. The fact that he just kept on going in full beast mode in the valley made it obvious that he still had plenty in the tank.

 

[jens_attacks]

That's very good/suspicious from Contador then since that Basso was one the best riders i've ever seen.

I always wanted to see that Basso against LA.

taking only a part of the climb and calculate it ...that's not reliable. at all.

csc in 2006 stormed the first kms at 21-23 km/h....carlito sastre was destroying the field. for all the climb, contador was more than 2 minutes slower than ivan. of course alberto kept some energy for descent and guardiagrele so it wasn't an all-out effort. also the level in giro is much higher than in march in tirreno

we will learn more on vallter 2000

 

[Miburo]

taking only a part of the climb and calculate it ...that's not reliable. at all.

csc in 2006 stormed the first kms at 21-23 km/h....carlito sastre was destroying the field. for all the climb, contador was more than 2 minutes slower than ivan. of course alberto kept some energy for descent and guardiagrele so it wasn't an all-out effort. also the level in giro is much higher than in march in tirreno

we will learn more on vallter 2000

Yea you're right. It's only march anyways.

 

[the sceptic]

taking only a part of the climb and calculate it ...that's not reliable. at all.

csc in 2006 stormed the first kms at 21-23 km/h....carlito sastre was destroying the field. for all the climb, contador was more than 2 minutes slower than ivan. of course alberto kept some energy for descent and guardiagrele so it wasn't an all-out effort. also the level in giro is much higher than in march in tirreno

we will learn more on vallter 2000

well I think we can all agree that Contador is vastly improved this year. Even 2 minutes slower than RoboBasso is pretty good isnt it?

now I just want him to beat Wiggins in this ITT.

 

[Saint Unix]

Well, at least there was none of that freakish 2009 time trialling domination from him today.

 

[Samson777]

Well, at least there was none of that freakish 2009 time trialling domination from him today.

No, he is not there yet, at all. Today prove that. He didn't even beat Quintana. But then again, it's not July yet.

 

[red_flanders]

No, he is not there yet, at all. Today prove that. He didn't even beat Quintana. But then again, it's not July yet.

I wonder if he went full gas. His lead was essentially unassailable. Maybe that's all he had, don't know.

 

[Samson777]

I wonder if he went full gas. His lead was essentially unassailable. Maybe that's all he had, don't know.

Well perhaps he didn't went full gas, but would be a bit strange. You would think he would like to test his skills in this discipline, since he will seriously need to improve this, to take on Froome. Unless he plans on killing Froome totally in the mountains.

 

[red_flanders]

Well perhaps he didn't went full gas, but would be a bit strange. You would think he would like to test his skills in this discipline, since he will seriously need to improve this, to take on Froome. Unless he plans on killing Froome totally in the mountains.

Yep, and short TTs are definitely not his thing. Dunno. I was a bit surprised at the time.