Wow, 6 Garmin riders finished in the top60 today, 8 in the top85. I remember tons of races in recent years in which they had no more than 1 rider in the main group at that point.
I also admire Hesjedal's commitment to helping his team-mates. Not many GT winners ride like this.
Paul23 wrote:
How can someone, who pushes incredibly hard yesterday, be that good today, after a broken leg?
Maybe by being a professional athlete? The small(!) tibia fracture, that put him off the bike for around 2-3 weeks and which he ignored when he managed to ride for 15 kilometers after that crash, is a non-issue by now. Vuelta is in third week, Contador aimed for this third week. He, Contador, has easily enough race & training kilometers in his legs by now. It's a Grand Tour after all. Same goes for Froome.
In any case, looks like Contador fulfilled his promise of "going for stage wins" in third week.
Being a professional cyclist? Really? It is not, that he has won the stage...it is the way he won it against other riders like Froome, Valverde and Purito...Valverde and Purito looked like amateurs and Froome was easy for Contador, too.
If you win that easily after a day, in which you are exhausted as f***, it's unhuman.
Also...i don't know, what you know about cycling(i think you know very much), but I am riding about 120k's every second day(ofc i am slow as hell, and the road is pretty much flat and i'm not even close to a professional cyclist) but i just don't think, that this kind of recovery after such a stage is real. My cycling club has the same opinion.
Might have misinterpred it: So for you, it is more about Contador's general ability to recover in Grand Tours rather than the small tibia issue he had before?
Contador has shown countless times before that his recovery is exceptional and he regularly peaks in third week. He has also stated before that he wants to go for stage wins for third week. Q and Froome have been peaking for this time-frame too btw.
Riders profited today from strong tailwind today and Contador had Froome, doing some serious leadout work for him. I don't want to discard anything, you can believe to know what you want. Maybe he's full of dope and is a damn cheater and when you ask and that's all the explanation you want to hear, than fine. I merely want to clarify on the "broken leg" that gets thrown around here on a regular basis and take other aspects of the race into account.
But Valverde and Purito for example most certainly did not look like amateurs, they have just been shown their boundaries in a multiple mountain stage compared to Froome and Contador. Maybe they also realized in this moment that they were only left to fight for scraps. Who knows.
And today's victory has most certainly not been won easily by Contador as you say.
P.S. Keep that wheel spinning, 120k is some awesome effort.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
TimoCycling wrote:
I actually don't mind the Columbians failing for once. Will only benefit them as a rider, to get some bad luck and generally it gives them more experience.
Trust me. Trust me, I dont.
You don't like columbians?
I do, generally. Not particular fond of Urán and Sergio Henao, but thats all. Ah, maybe except Betancur also. My point was that I wasn't surprised you didn't mind they failed. Rest of them I see as a huge plus for cycling.
And btw, ruben, why do you have to act like a fuckin jackass all time? Your dutch guys have sucked more wheel than any of Rodriguez and Valverde ever will, yet you are the first to write those dumb comments every time. Mollema, Ten Dam, Gesink, Kruijswijk and the rest of that dutch armada wannabe Tour-winners someday has never shown any will to make a race remotely more interesting.
Shonak wrote:
Shonak did not write that. It was Jacdk.
Paul23 wrote:
Spoiler
Shonak wrote:
Paul23 wrote:
How can someone, who pushes incredibly hard yesterday, be that good today, after a broken leg?
Maybe by being a professional athlete? The small(!) tibia fracture, that put him off the bike for around 2-3 weeks and which he ignored when he managed to ride for 15 kilometers after that crash, is a non-issue by now. Vuelta is in third week, Contador aimed for this third week. He, Contador, has easily enough race & training kilometers in his legs by now. It's a Grand Tour after all. Same goes for Froome.
In any case, looks like Contador fulfilled his promise of "going for stage wins" in third week.
Being a professional cyclist? Really? It is not, that he has won the stage...it is the way he won it against other riders like Froome, Valverde and Purito...Valverde and Purito looked like amateurs and Froome was easy for Contador, too.
If you win that easily after a day, in which you are exhausted as f***, it's unhuman.
Also...i don't know, what you know about cycling(i think you know very much), but I am riding about 120k's every second day(ofc i am slow as hell, and the road is pretty much flat and i'm not even close to a professional cyclist) but i just don't think, that this kind of recovery after such a stage is real. My cycling club has the same opinion.
Might have misinterpred it: So for you, it is more about Contador's general ability to recover in Grand Tours rather than the small tibia issue he had before?
Contador has shown countless times before that his recovery is exceptional and he regularly peaks in third week. He has also stated before that he wants to go for stage wins for third week. Q and Froome have been peaking for this time-frame too btw.
Riders profited today from strong tailwind today and Contador had Froome, doing some serious leadout work for him. I don't want to discard anything, you can believe to know what you want. Maybe he's full of dope and is a damn cheater and when you ask and that's all the explanation you want to hear, than fine. I merely want to clarify on the "broken leg" that gets thrown around here on a regular basis and take other aspects of the race into account.
But Valverde and Purito for example most certainly did not look like amateurs, they have just been shown their boundaries in a multiple mountain stage compared to Froome and Contador. Maybe they also realized in this moment that they were only left to fight for scraps. Who knows.
And today's victory has most certainly not been won easily by Contador as you say.
P.S. Keep that wheel spinning, 120k is some awesome effort.
First of, yes i have quoted that whole thing
Second of, you are right...for me it's not about this injury in the first place. For me, it about his recovery...of course it's exceptional, but don't you think too exceptional?
P.S.: Was there really strong wind? I did not know that, because the german commentators are a bit too busy telling everyone, that every rider is a great rider...
admirschleck wrote:
Not just my opinion, actually. It's proven that he used it. I am sorry.
I thought we are talking about this very Grand Tour, Vuelta 2014? Do you want to sell your opinion as the very science that really, really proves that he is currently doping? If that is not the case, than it's your opinion & explanation, which you are free to express.
(If you think your opinion is some sort of doping oracle, I think you should talk to some journalists who pay you good cash for this information instead of hanging around here )
Edited by Shonak on 08-09-2014 19:28
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
Smoku wrote:
As I watched a replay, it's my time to comment on the most important of the many events of the day:
SSJ2Luigi wrote:
Froome does something
BRING IN THE HATE
Not this time mate. He certainly didn't know the game he tried to play as good as Contador did and got punished for that, but still.... I am honestly shocked.
PS. Looks like Contador strategy yesterday was a good choice. As for all the doubts about Bertie, his watts, injury and form - still Froome did some more unexpectable moves, both today and over the last few days.
You and me both i am not by any means a Froome fan but when he attacked today i was 100% sure that this would be full steam ahead and nothing but pain for the other GC´s and Contador. Particular when both Rod and Valverde couldn't follow and lost a fair amount of time fast.
Also when you talk about injuries i think its worth mentioning that all 3 top guys except Valverde who like Rod have a tour in their legs have crashed and been injured So Contador being the best of the injured is not that big of a surprise.
Froome has been looking bad almost all year, Rodriguez hasn't been himself for awhile also, and Valverde, well he had the Tour. And the only one left who could have beaten contador left the race after the TT crash he had.
First of, yes i have quoted that whole thing
Second of, you are right...for me it's not about this injury in the first place. For me, it about his recovery...of course it's exceptional, but don't you think too exceptional?
P.S.: Was there really strong wind? I did not know that, because the german commentators are a bit too busy telling everyone, that every rider is a great rider...
Do you have any real proof as to how serious the injury really was? because for this to be anything but speculations based on hot air, we all need proof that Contador was as badly injured as the rumors and spin said. Which him being seen as early as end july suggest clearly it wasn´t.
Also is his recovery that exceptional compared to Rodriguez? Froome´s recovery? or a Valverde with a Tour in his legs?
This is after all a 31 year old top rider not a 41 year old
I'm not the only one in the world, nor are Dutch people the only one in the world, who say Valverde and Rodriguez are wheelsuckers with their boring 1km attacks sometimes.
You are the one who ALWAYS, without exception, in every argument, start to comment about the posters nationality and their riders when they critic someone.
Now that to me, is no class And furthermore I will not react to your ridicolous postings anymore. Because you always turn it into such a battle, like I said before. Everybody who doesn't agree with your opinion about a rider, you always start about their favorite riders or nation.. it's dumb.
admirschleck wrote:
Not just my opinion, actually. It's proven that he used it. I am sorry.
I thought we are talking about this very Grand Tour, Vuelta 2014? Do you want to sell your opinion as the very science that really, really proves that he is currently doping? If that is not the case, than it's your opinion & explanation, which you are free to express.
(If you think your opinion is some sort of doping oracle, I think you should talk to some journalists who pay you good cash for this information instead of hanging around here )
No need to be upset. And yes, we're talking about this Grand Tour, but being caught for using dope in past doesn't really make me think he's 100% clean this time, especially because he "just" had one pretty tough (as he said it himself) injury. Not willing to get into a discussion now either, as there's no reason for that, seeing you guys were arguing whole day. I can't be 100% sure he's doping either, as there's clearly no proof, but still, I believe he does. Just as you said, it's valid to have an opinion.
But yeah, thanks for recommendation. Some big and known journalists asked for my opinion, but I refused. My awesomeness can't be bought for money, I'm sorry.
Edited by admirschleck on 08-09-2014 19:46
Another thing to that point: Bjarne Riis has always said that he definitely expected Contador to ride the Vuelta, more or less from the day he fell. Could indicate that it wasn't as serious as some have stated it was.
Whether he is doped I don't have clue. The only time that thought has struck me (that someone is doping due to them being vastly superior to others or suddenly just are miles better than what he were used to seeing from that particular rider) is Armstrong, Sky in 2012, Froome in 2013 and Riccó. Contador definitely hasn't come across like they did when watching it on TV. But this is just speculation. There is definitely a possibility, but.. meh. We dont know.
I'm not the only one in the world, nor are Dutch people the only one in the world, who say Valverde and Rodriguez are wheelsuckers with their boring 1km attacks sometimes.
You are the one who ALWAYS, without exception, in every argument, start to comment about the posters nationality and their riders when they critic someone.
Now that to me, is no class And furthermore I will not react to your ridicolous postings anymore. Because you always turn it into such a battle, like I said before. Everybody who doesn't agree with your opinion about a rider, you always start about their favorite riders or nation.. it's dumb.
It's not about nationality, its about you obviously rooting for those guys who at the end of the day do nothing more than 'wheel sucking' anyways. It just seems weird that on one hand, you hate Valverde and Rodriguez (the so-called wheel suckers), but on the other hand, you like all the dutch guys. And they are not better. Are they?
But nah, I have told myself numerous times not to get infuriated buy your comments, but it just happens that I can't respect myself without pointing out how big of a hypocrite you are.
I wasn't at any point upset and I hope I didn't sound that way.
And yes, we're talking about this Grand Tour, but being caught for using dope in past doesn't really make me think he's 100% clean this time, especially because he "just" had one pretty tough (as he said it himself) injury. Not willing to get into a discussion now either, as there's no reason for that, seeing you guys were arguing whole day. I can't be 100% sure he's doping either, as there's clearly no proof, but still, I believe he does. Just as you said, it's valid to have an opinion.
Yeah I get the doubts, thoughts and all But like you, little interest in discussion when I have a football match to watch.
(I also try to keep my discussion purely to cycling, tactics and the riders and that stuff, but try to avoid doping discussions altogether - yet I'm not blind to it - but for me it's a hot minefield)
But yeah, thanks for recommendation. Some big and known journalists asked for my opinion, but I refused. My awesomeness can't be sold for money, I'm sorry.
It's good to know you don't sell out your gift to some wicked guys. I still hope humanity will profit from it one day.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
Dusen wrote:
Technially Contador was never taken for doping. If i remember correctly they found a "cover up drug" in his sample and didn't buy his beef story.
Then one can speculate that the only reason one would take a cover up drug would be to dope. But that is only speculations.
Yep the same drug Rodgers was later and a few others were acquitted for.
Also they normally didn´t test for such low amounts as was found in Contador´s sample, but apparently some over zealous lab-rat decided to run a full higher test on it and "found" 0.00000005% or something like that.
And furthermore I will not react to your ridicolous postings anymore. Because you always turn it into such a battle, like I said before. Everybody who doesn't agree with your opinion about a rider, you always start about their favorite riders or nation.. it's dumb.
