Contador : Angliru : Vuelta 2008

[limerickman]

Phenomenal climbing.
Just look at the gradients.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4ZUeAx38OU&feature=related"]YouTube - Vuelta 2008 - Puerto L'Angliru - 1º Alberto Contador (2/2)[/ame]

 

[gtm]

In the immortal words of Alan Hanson - 'he's got it all'. A genuine mountain specialist who can also ride time trials. I can see him dominating the grand tours / stage races for at least 5 years & maybe a bit longer.

 

[cwdzoot]

2010 TDF is going to be fantastic although I can't really see anyone beating this guy.

 

[gtm]

2010 TDF is going to be fantastic although I can't really see anyone beating this guy.

Agreed - his only realistic rival is Schleck the younger (sorry Lance) & in this years T de F the Schlecks threw everything they had at him with no effect. Simply far to good. Contador is the real deal & not a false messiah like Basso.

 

[limerickman]

I realise that there are questions about how/why Contador has done as well as he has in the sport, but looking at the Angliru climb it's apparent that he is a phenomenal rider.

As gtm said, his climbing allied to his time trialling makes Contador almost unbeatable.

 

[Grater]

I realise that there are questions about how/why Contador has done as well as he has in the sport, but looking at the Angliru climb it's apparent that he is a phenomenal rider.

As gtm said, his climbing allied to his time trialling makes Contador almost unbeatable.

When Cancellara drops his weight down to 75kg, he'll start winning GT's.

I mean, looking at things, Schleck is probably the only rider that can stop Contador at this point in time. Lovkvist could in a few years time, as could Martin, but highly doubt it.

Cancelalara is the man that could easily **** on everyone.

 

[Andrija]

When Cancellara drops his weight down to 75kg, he'll start winning GT's.

I mean, looking at things, Schleck is probably the only rider that can stop Contador at this point in time. Lovkvist could in a few years time, as could Martin, but highly doubt it.

Cancelalara is the man that could easily **** on everyone.

Cancellara could be a real threat if he can lose these five kilos without losing power. But even if he gets to magic 75 kilos, he'll still be a power climber without real climber's "instinct". He'll have to learn how to control his cadence and power on climbs given that never before he's been in situation to follow climbers till the end. This would be totally different from what he's used to. It would take some time to accommodate on new riding situation. But even if manages to lose weight and learn how to climb with pure climbers, I can't see him beating Contador. Contador became excellent TTist and will always have advantage in mountains.
It's more feasible to improve Andy's TTing and make another super domestique of Cancellara, than to try to develop Cancellara in GC contender.

 

[limerickman]

When Cancellara drops his weight down to 75kg, he'll start winning GT's.

I mean, looking at things, Schleck is probably the only rider that can stop Contador at this point in time. Lovkvist could in a few years time, as could Martin, but highly doubt it.

Cancelalara is the man that could easily **** on everyone.

Canc is a very impressive talent - although age wise he's a bit older than the Schlecks and Contador.

 

[Franlebe]

Phenomenal climbing.
Just look at the gradients.

I live very near from there, and i know people who was working there, asphalting that road, and they had serious problems because melted asphalt fell down across highest gradients sections.

You have to put a cassette bigger than 25 if you dont want to put your foot on the floor.

 

[sopas]

Cancellara could improve in the mountains if he dropped weight, BUT he would never climb like Contador, Pantani, etc. His style would me more like Ullrich or Indurain, using all his strenght without getting out of the saddle.

The 2010 TdF is going to be great. Contador is the man to beat, but I wouldn't rule Lance out. This year he had a broken collarbone and rode the Giro first, while Contador and the Slecks didn't.
For 2010, he has announced that he will not be riding the Giro, so it is clear that Lance is going back to the old days trainning, focussing exclusively on the Tour.

Regarding Contador I still think he is much better climber than Time trialist. Yes, he beat Cancellara in the last TT of the TdF. But remember that it was not a flat TT, it had a climb at the beginning. On top of the climb Contador had 40 seconds over Cancellara, and at the finish line that difference was reduced to only 2 seconds. Cancellara cut the difference (38 seconds) in the last part of the TT. On a flat TT he is not the best, he simply doesn't have the big body frame of Indurain, Ullrich, or Cancellara and never will be at that level in my opinion.

In the monuntains however he is pretty much unbeatable. Do you guys think he will ever beat Pantani's record on Alpe D'huez??

 

[swampy1970]

I live very near from there, and i know people who was working there, asphalting that road, and they had serious problems because melted asphalt fell down across highest gradients sections.

You have to put a cassette bigger than 25 if you dont want to put your foot on the floor.

I live close to a climb that Jonathon Vaughter raced up about 6 years ago and claimed "it's like the Angliru, just a little shorter and a little narrower". Sadly for me, that climb is blocked in winter due to rocks/debris across the road from the winter rainstorms, rider unfriendly in the spring (mountain lions) and 110F heat in summer (the lions chill when it gets too hot) - so I get to deal with it in the heat.

Vaughters used 38x28 in the 7.7mile stage. Chris Horner had 39x27 and wished for lower.. LOL

There's another climb too that he mentioned - Lagos de Covadonga - anyone know of that climb?

 

[cwdzoot]

Where do you live? Move to Florida

 

[classic1]

There's another climb too that he mentioned - Lagos de Covadonga - anyone know of that climb?

Jalabert has won there. Its in the north of Spain iirc, in the Picas de Europa. Apparently Lagos de Covadonga is pretty remote - there are still wolves in the national park

 

[sopas]

Lagos de Covadonga:
LAGOS DE COVADONGA - Altimetrías de Puertos de Montaña

Angliru:
ANGLIRU - Altimetrías de Puertos de Montaña

 

[Orange juice]

Contador is clearly better in the mountains, but it's his ability to TT that impresses me the most. I don't remember ever seeing a rider his size who could TT nearly as well. It really is remarkable. How does he do it?

 

[gtm]

Contador is clearly better in the mountains, but it's his ability to TT that impresses me the most. I don't remember ever seeing a rider his size who could TT nearly as well. It really is remarkable. How does he do it?

Therein lies a question - my guess is he's on something stronger than orange juice

 

[Franlebe]

There's another climb too that he mentioned - Lagos de Covadonga - anyone know of that climb?

Lagos !!! of course !!! I climb there two or three times every year. It´s longer but lighter than Angliru. On that road had been wroten a lot of memorable legends of professiona cycling. Duels between Hinault vs Lejarreta (in words of Hinault "Harder than Alpe d´Huez"), Pedro Delgado vs Fabio Parra, Carlos Sastre vs Menchov ...

 

[swampy1970]

Therein lies a question - my guess is he's on something stronger than orange juice

I guess being Spanish U23 time trial champion at 18 years of age proves nothing about his ability against the clock. 9 years later he'd go on to win the Spanish Pro TT title...

 

[Yakko]

I kind of remember the opposite being said of Armstrong back in the day.

"Sure he can TT, but I can't believe how he can climb"

I suppose history is repeating itself, no?

 

[steve]

I kind of remember the opposite being said of Armstrong back in the day.

"Sure he can TT, but I can't believe how he can climb"

I suppose history is repeating itself, no?

I remember an magazine article from the mid 90's that outlined why Lance would never win a tour de france It'd be fantastic if someone could post it here.