Is Contador's Giro performance credible?
Mike Jacoubowsky
"Seeing these comments from AC [Alberto Contador]. If I were him I'd drop
this drivel and start thanking his team. w/o them, he doesn't win." Twitter
post 27 July 2009
- and have to say that it just doesn't seem true. At this year's Giro, I
think he'd win entirely on his own. With ease.
Is AC really that much better than everyone else? Is AC doping and everyone
else clean? Does it seem likely that AC would be doping with everybody
watching him so closely? Does it seem intelligent for AC to just blow
everyone away and draw so much attention to himself?
The guy doesn't even look like he's trying that hard. If he takes that level
of riding to France, what happens then? Could this be the first year of the
Giro/TdF/Vuelta triad?
Am I the only one watching the Giro?
--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA
ilan
wrote:
Yes, I think it's credible, the point is that his Giro opponents are
well below the level of Andy Schleck who would have put 4 minutes into
them instead of 5. Some years, there just aren't that many
exceptionally good riders, e.g., the Tours of 2006 and 2008 when there
weren't any.
Apart from his physical superiority, Contador has shown that he is one
of the toughest competitors of all time mentally: he won the 2008 Giro
without any preparation, the 2009 Tour with a team riding against him,
and the 2010 Tour below his top form, and the Giro 2011 with a
suspension hanging over him. Other people have done some of that,
e.g., Lemond 1986, Roche 1987 and Armstrong 2003, but he is the only
one to have done it consistently.
-ilan
Scott
Yeah, Schleck was looking particularly strong in CA.
NoDannyNo
wrote:
How can anything Alberto Clenbuterol does be considered credible?
DirtRoadie
wrote:
> The guy doesn't even look like he's trying that hard. If he takes that level
> of riding to France, what happens then? Could this be the first year of the
> Giro/TdF/Vuelta triad?
>
> Am I the only one watching the Giro?
It's a little reminiscent of the Giro a few years back when Basso
looked as if he could just do what he damn well pleased. But we know
from what he said subsequently that he never got as far as actually
doping, even though he had intended to dope.
DR
Michael Press
"Mike Jacoubowsky" <Mi...@ChainReaction.com> wrote:
> I saw this quote from Lance-
>
> "Seeing these comments from AC [Alberto Contador]. If I were him I'd drop
> this drivel and start thanking his team. w/o them, he doesn't win." Twitter
> post 27 July 2009
>
> - and have to say that it just doesn't seem true. At this year's Giro, I
> think he'd win entirely on his own. With ease.
Win, maybe---not with ease.
Bjarne Riis ran a brilliant race.
--
Michael Press
Michael Press
"Mike Jacoubowsky" <Mi...@ChainReaction.com> wrote:
> Am I the only one watching the Giro?
See my other comment.
--
Michael Press
Simply Fred
> - and have to say that it just doesn't seem true. At this year's Giro, I
> think he'd win entirely on his own. With ease.
>
> Is AC really that much better than everyone else? Is AC doping and
> everyone else clean? Does it seem likely that AC would be doping with
> everybody watching him so closely? Does it seem intelligent for AC to
> just blow everyone away and draw so much attention to himself?
>
> The guy doesn't even look like he's trying that hard. If he takes that
> level of riding to France, what happens then? Could this be the first
> year of the Giro/TdF/Vuelta triad?
>
> Am I the only one watching the Giro?
Luckily for Tiralongo he didn't do a Simeoni on Contador before the giro.
BL
clean riders in the other.
yirgster
Anton Berlin
wrote:
I have been bitching for weeks about this exact same problem
Ben Trovato
wrote:
On a more important note... isn't there some sort of iNterpreter app
he can get for his iPhone to make those attempts at interviews with
the Anglophone media less painful, or at least more entertaining...
Randall
On May 27, 5:46 pm, "Mike Jacoubowsky" <Mi...@ChainReaction.com>
wrote:
Mike Jacoubowsky
> news:8cbf6d46-dbc4-4930...@y27g2000prb.googlegroups.com...
> I think Contador rode a very intelligent Giro.
That depends upon what he was trying to accomplish. Let me put it this
way. Suppose you discovered a way to game the system in Las Vegas. How
far would you push it? Would it make sense to go for broke, knowing that
it would call attention to you, or would you hold back a bit, trying to
fly under the radar of suspicion?
Now suppose you're just plain good, even great. You're on an incredible
run. You're not cheating, just outrageously lucky or smart or whatever.
Do you spread things around or go for one grand play after another at
the same venue?
--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com
yirgster
It might be a different story at the tdf if (1) there's stiffer competition -- nothing like this not make a rider appear not only non-dominant but instead struggling at time, (2) he hasn't recovered completely from the giro, and (3) he's just not as "on" for the tour for other reasons. These are not mutually exclusive.
Cyclists are human. Their performance varies. In other sports, dominating teams and individuals are often labeled "machines". Then, all of a sudden they appear vulnerable. There were several instances of this is NBA this season and also at least one in the NFL. Lance, dope or not, was clearly an exception. But, otoh, after 9 or 10 pennants in 11 seasons, losing only 2 world series, the yankees had a mediocre season in 1959. When they lost the pennant to Cleveland in 1954 I believe that yankees still won 103 games. Hardly cheesecake.
Assuming Contador will ride the tour then obviously he would have been wise to conserve energy on the giro. The big thing is winning. Duh.
yirgster
The interesting things for me were:
(1) scraponi elbowing of spectators.
Some of tifosi seemed more obnoxious this year than last.
(2) the italian who push the other ride off several feet in the sprint but couldn't see what he did wrong even though the overhead showed that guy keeping his line. He couldn't see it the next day after he had plenty of time to review the tape.
(3) breakaways that could make it because the sprinters had left so there was no incentive for teams to reel them in.
(4) I missed more sprint stages. I think the giro needed more stages for them, particularly if they wanted it to be so gonzo mountainous.