Contador: How good?

wicklow200 said:

The "accountant" looks unstoppable. Already has the overall win in the tour of Castilla and Leon, and blew Paris Nice apart in 2007.

And then just in case we weren't sure, he won the final day time trial at the Basque tour, significantly ahead of the other main contenders.

I must admit not knowing much about him before this year. But his display of climbing in PN was astonishing. Bordering on the easy, if his immediate post stage tv interviews are anything to go by

How far can he go assuming he can stays on the juice?

My guess is he can podium in the Tour this year if he was given the licence to.

He's way better than Hincapie.

He reminds me of Herras.

GThe Spanish press were talking about him 3 or 4 years ago as 'The New Indurain' because of his ability to climb and TT.

He might be a white jersey contender at the TdF but more than that may be beyond him - he's shown he's great in week long tours but there's nothing to suggest he's strong enough for a GT podium (and things to suggest he has a ways to go - the way he tied up on that long run in on the Friday stage at P-N wasn't good). He wasn't fantastic in the Basque Tour and didn't finish in the TT significantly ahead of either Sanchez or the overall winner, Cobo.

I've been a fan of Contador since he first started making waves a few years ago and am excited to see him going well. But I wish he hadn't signed for Disco since, effectively, his moment in the sun is now over - for the rest of the season he'll be a domestique and we won't get to see him climbing the great GT climbs until he leaves Discovery and is given free reign - he certainly won't get that where he is.

He will get regular tune ups of his Ferrari engine, though 😉

Contador is not as good as his missing twin Cantador!

But seriously, AC was a superb prospect three/four years ago as Micron said.
He's a product of the ONCE/Liberty school of M.Saiz : I remember him as a good ITT'ist initially (2003/4)
From 2005 onwards, he seems to have developed well as a stage race rider.
He's 25 and has time to develop.

limerickman said:

Contador is not as good as his missing twin Cantador!

But seriously, AC was a superb prospect three/four years ago as Micron said.
He's a product of the ONCE/Liberty school of M.Saiz : I remember him as a good ITT'ist initially (2003/4)
From 2005 onwards, he seems to have developed well as a stage race rider.
He's 25 and has time to develop.

...and not bad for a guy who two years ago was told to stop riding by doctors for a heart problem..... and funny enough he was the only rider that Fuentes came out publicly and said he didn't treat him.... I saw him last year in Tour of the Basque country and thought to myself that this guy will win a grand tour one day....

Contador can also mean a "one who gives an account", or to give a report, similar to other the English usage of the word account. But one things for sure, he better hire a good accountant, he's going to need it if he keeps improving.

I first noticed him and was impressed when he and Sanchez attacked together and basically won the 2005 Tour Downunder for Sanchez on the very hilly Willunga stage.

Obviously he's good, as his P-N and Castilla-Leon victories prove, but right now I don't think he has the stamina of some of the older riders like Vino who get stronger in the third week of the Tour, but give him a couple more years...

That's really dumb when reporters say things like "The new Indurain", it puts a young rider under enourmous pressure, comparisons are never any good.

I think he is as good as Valverde and Cunego.

I think Valverde, Cunego, Luis Leon Sanchez Gil and Contador are a level above Fothen, Gerdemann, Dekker, Lovqvist.

Tell you after the Giro how far I think Brajkovic can go.

Valverde, Cunego, LL Sanchez, and Contador will all win atleast one (more) GT each.

forgot Robert Gesink of Netherlands and Nibali.

Dont worry about Dekker at Rabobank, Gesink is the GT future for that squad.

Can climb like one of Armstrong's domestiques and is only 21, and his timetrialling suggests he could get to a level like Vinokourov. Very strong tt'er for his age, and 6 foot, so has latent potential if he adds a little power and appropriate musculature.

ac is very good imo. he will factor at the dauphine. he will be mixing it up in the short stage racs for years to come. no evidence to suggest that he can win a gt yet, but we will see.

vitamin s said:

he will be mixing it up in the short stage racs for years to come. no evidence to suggest that he can win a gt yet, but we will see.

Bruyneel will have him mixing it up in the doctors lab as well which should help... or is that his vanishing twin Cantador ?

Eagle of Toledo said:

but right now I don't think he has the stamina of some of the older riders like Vino who get stronger in the third week of the Tour, but give him a couple more years...

I am not sure that it is stamina that makes the GT riders stronger in the third week...

bomber said:

I am not sure that it is stamina that makes the GT riders stronger in the third week...

see euphemism for recovery.

If you werre implying dope, touche

Doping not withstanding, I meant that riders *generally* do not really get really strong until their late 20's and even early 30's. By strong I mean it in the context of keeping the pressure on in a three-week race with tough climbs.