Results tagged “Alberto Contador”

It's probably not even worthy of footnote status in the story of the Tour de France 2010 but the question of cobbles has been bothering me through the last week or so.

Lance Armstrong made a big point of riding the Tour of Flanders and talking about how it was all part of the preparation for Le Tour.

"... he will use the race to prepare for the cobbles that he will face at the Tour de France in July." - cyclingnews.com

Now on the official site you can see the following statement about the stage:

"There will be 7 cobbled sectors over a total of 13,2 kilometres, including the Haveluy sector, only ten kilometres from the stage finish. The finish line will be located at the entrance to the notorious Arenberg Trench, the legendary backdrop to Paris-Roubaix."

Here's their final few kms

Now a quick tot up says that's 10.1km of cobbles in the run in, none of which you'll find in the Tour of Flanders route. In fact they all look suspiciously more like bits of Paris-Roubaix than Flanders.

If there's one thing even my mum could tell you (NB invocation of maternal opinion is the last resort of a desperate hack), it's that Flanders isn't Roubaix. Anyone who watched the way Cancellara won both sure as heck will tell you the same.

Would Armstrong have been better off riding the first half of Paris-Roubaix and then covering his glass than draining it to finish in the chase bunch in Flanders?

I suspect that Roubaix would have been too much of an injury risk but that Flanders was cobbly enough to make the point about how serious his preparation is to his rivals. We know that the psychological war is waged long before they start assembling the Prologue ramp.

By showing that he could ride in the front of the field on the cobbles, Armstrong was flashing his credentials at Contador, the Schlecks and others.

I suspect that, come July, Team Boomshackalack, sorry Radioshack, and everyone else will be trying to line it out as they head towards Arenberg, desperate to protect their leaders while other teams vie for the stage.

On that basis my call is that you might as well bet on Cancellara to win at Arenberg while wearing yellow, having taken it in the prologue. It's as likely as him doing the double was the Friday before Flanders.

A lot of people have seen the signing of Oscar Pereiro Sio as simply an attempt to bolster the Astana squad with an experienced rider who can be there when it matters in the high mountains.

His ability to sacrifice his own interests in working for Alejandro Valverde over the last few years will have been a characteristic that appealed greatly to Contador. This isn't a guy who is going to give him grief or take off in search of a stage win while the real battle is happening behind.

That's pretty vital to a guy who has lost his trusty domestique Sergio Paulinho to Radioshack. Contador still faces having to ride on someone else's team with the return of Alexandre Vinokourov to "his" Astana team.

What is so brilliant about signing Pereiro is that it's a very astute political move given the situation.

We can assume that ASO are going to be asking questions about Astana's inclusion on the basis of Vinokourov's presence. They've not forgiven him for his actions in 2007 which essentially amounted to kicking them in the balls while they were out cold after the Floyd Landis debacle.

Now name the only team in cycling with two Tour de France winners on their roster.

The answer is Astana with Alberto Contador and Oscar Pereiro.

The former is the defending champion who was unable to defend his title in 2008 because of the repercussions for Astana of Vinokourov's ban.

The latter is the rider robbed of his moment of glory on the podium in Paris as a result of Floyd Landis' ban.

In pure political terms the weight of their achievements/history combined may be the necessary counter to Vinokourov's disgrace, which still drags like ten tonnes of shit behind Astana.

We know that being defending champion in 2008 wasn't enough on its own to swing the balance in Contador's favour, albeit the politics then included Johan Bruyneel on the scales.

Given the passing of time and their record, the two riders may be enough to convince ASO not to exclude Astana this year.

Women have the little black dress. Very few women have just the one.

This should tell the predominately male cycling population something. Sadly, far too many choose to ignore a simple truth: black is the most stylish of colours.

Rapha understand this, that's why their classic jersey is black. So did Henry Ford.

For nearly a hundred years cycling seems to have survived with shorts only really available in black. Some would argue this was out of necessity and lack of other viable options in the fabrics available. I'd argue that it was because it works and looks good.

You think Eddy Merckx and Jacques Anquetil wore black shorts for no good reason?

Or Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi?

The latter had jerseys handmade from silk for him by Castelli. If he'd wanted shorts other than black he would have had them.

Take any cycling jersey you own and pair it with any shorts you like. It will always look better with a plain black short.

The World Champion's jersey has always looked better with black shorts. That's not a matter of opinion, that's a matter of fact.

And the same goes for any of the famous jerseys. The trend for shorts matching leaders jerseys started in the 1990s and has never been as cool as some riders and fans would have you believe.

For every Mario Cippolini resplendent in head-to-toe white and rainbow, there's a multitude of Michael Rasmussen looking like a jaundiced famine victim at Le Tour...

(Note Alberto Contador sensibly opting out of white shorts with the Best Young Rider jersey. Remember: you win the jersey not the shorts and matching socks.)

Or like a smallpox outbreak on a bike...

So to recap: If you are serious about looking good on the bike, get some black shorts.

You may also be interested in reading Roadcycling UK's Cycling Style Guidance Notes by Richard Hallett

He's known round our house as "Wee Bert Contador" on account of someone once describing him as "that wee lad who rides with Armstrong" last year.

2010 is going to be a bugger of a year for him if you believe some of the more partisan pieces of criticism of him, such as these two beauties from Versus:

Armstrong vs Contador - Wisdom vs Knowledge - Joe Parkin

Mass Exodus Leaves Team Astana in Shambles - Bob Roll

I can see where Joe is going with his piece, not that I entirely agree. Bob's I've gone long on salt with. Cyclocosm has done a great analysis, thus saving me the typing: Versus' War on Contador.

Which leaves me more time to marvel at the wheels on Wee Bert's new ride in Specialized's promo reel (neat use of CC subtitling btw) which I clocked over on Bianchista

De-badged Zipp 1080s is my guess. An utterly preposterous wheel to be be out on a training ride on. But he's Wee Bert, so he can get away with it.

I really hope he gets to this year's TDF in full form and without all the ball-ache of 2009. Not easy when co-habiting with Vino in a Kazakh team, but it can't be any worse than last year is supposed to have been, can it?

First up, Astana. I think we can dispatch this one pretty quickly.

Is there anything good to say about it? The visual branding is weaker than last year even if the logos are less confused. That's about as good as it gets.

There's just no definition to the colour blocks and it all just goes nowhere. The previous iterations were stronger visually. Perhaps it's an embodiment of a team lacking direction and identity, not to mention lacking strength and depth in the squad.

And now to Quick-Step (found these photos via Maglia Rosa blog although they've been doing the rounds for a while now in various places)

Ignore Tom Boonen in his Belgian Champion's kit, that looks pretty cool and follows a well-worn formula that works: Champion jersey + predominantly black shorts.

And that's where they've gone wrong. Take a look at Tom in last season's abortive "retro look" out on a Paris-Roubaix reccy

The blue up-and-over on the 2010 kit looks like generic cookie cutter kit that any club can get made up by any number of suppliers. Black shorts with white sponsors' names would have worked so much better.

Then there's a concessions to television airtime. The white side panels don't say "guaranteed return on investment while in a break", they say "we're hedging our bets in case our man doesn't win and you can't read the really big logo on his chest".

Both kits also suffer from the poor application of red. In Astana's case it's Specialized; in Quick-Step's it's Eddy Merckx.

Corporate identity is big business, and Specialized have established that red S icon pretty well over recent years. It just doesn't work with that strange cyan and yellow though.

The new Merckx M on the other hand is an absolute abomination. Gone is that incredible EM logo and loving heritage typeface, replaced by another generic re-branding exercise.

It's vile and hateful, but most of all it's typical of the unnecessary need by new owners to make their mark. It brings nothing to the brand at the same time as removing all the acquired heritage value and support.

After the highs of the Tour De France comes August's procession of minor races and exhibition criteriums. It's like a mid-season break before the Vuelta, Worlds and Lombardy.

So that made it the perfect excuse for a holiday. Two weeks in Italy, didn't even throw my leg over a bike but did work hard on the gelateria. Call it "the Contador method" of building up your fitness.

Didn't see many Italian cyclists until we were getting a taxi at 8am and saw loads out for a morning ride before the heat got up. So that's when they go out then, not in the 35 degree heat of mid-afternoon.

Came back about 3kg heavier - claimed as excess baggage/water weight - which promptly disappeared after last night's race. Bradley Wiggins eat your heart out.

Didn't have the legs for the sprint but didn't get dropped either and even had the energy to make a couple of decent digs, which came to naught due to the blasted headwind down the back straight again.

I've got loads of stuff to get through in my RSS reader including a quite emotional interview with Bradley Wiggins in the Guardian: Exhausted Bradley Wiggins now knows he can win the Tour de France which was flagged up by Tour De Ville.

And I've already signed up for my first Cyclocross race of the year which looks to be a bit different from the usual: The Rollapaluza Halloween Cyclo Cross

31.10.09, 17.00 - 22.00
Herne Hill Stadium, Burbage Road, London, SE24 9HE.

• £1000 cash prize list!
• Course to run through bar tent
• Youth events
• Apple Bobbing
• Mulled Cider
• Cheap beer
• Fancy dress with prizes
• BBQ, hot drinks and waffles!
• Separate event for Novice / Single speed mtb / fixed wheel riders.
• Free "have a go" Rollapaluza roller-racing.
• Full Moon guaranteed

Can't wait to see how riding through a beer tent pans out.

Statement of the obvious: shit happens fast in a bike race. You can keep up when all you're doing is watching and shouting at the telly, it's entirely different when you're trying to form coherent, publishable sentences for live text commentary.

One minute the big names are all together on the climb to Verbier and I'm trying to figure out who will be first to go. The next Wee Bert Contador looks across at the group, gives it a withering "any fucking danger either of you can get on with your big attack?" look and disappears up the road so fast I could have sworn the others were brake-testing each other.

Wind back a moment to "big names". There's Armstrong, both Schlecks and Bradley Wiggins. You and me both. I've lost five kilos and I'm not even getting up the stairs any quicker. He's absolutely on fire.

It's the only explanation: he is actually on fire and the flames can only be doused once he crosses the line. Who in their right mind forgoes cake and pie for glory?

Oh yeah: Brad attacked and rode away from them at some point on the climb. And when Frank Schleck went up the road on some sort of dumb hero ride to try and save his brother, it was Brad who went with him and Vincenzo "Nibbler" Nibali.

It's endearing of Frank to cast himself as Jean to Andy's Louison Bobet, but somehow I doubt he'll ever write a thesis on Hemmingway or a book as beautiful as "Tomorrow, We Ride".

Raced last Tuesday for first time in ages, was pretty average, have failed to train since then due to work schedule (not even had a day off), so tomorrow night, barring a headwind on the back straight, I'm tempted to try and tear it up a bit, just for the fun of it.

After all, if there's one thing stage 15 reminded me it's that attacking all out is fun.

1. If you were expecting the GC to be exciting and to change hands like it did last year, then you were mistaken.

Once Cancellara bagged jaune in Monaco it was going to be tough to shift him until the mountains. Saxo Bank did work on the front protecting it and getting the sponsor plenty of talk time. Perhaps they've spent a little more time at the front than they would have liked but that's not their fault (see 2.)

2. The sprinters have decided that they're not going to waste their energy going wheel-to-wheel with Cavendish and Columbia.

Nobody seemed interested in helping them reel in breaks and yet they still couldn't beat them come the finish. In fact, Garmin blew their chances of putting a man into yellow when they got caught behind the gap when the wind changed.

Thor Hushovd showed enough savvy to be in the mix at the line so that he could pick off the green jersey with a strong ride on a hill stage to sweep up intermediate points. Cavendish may find he has to dig deep and do likewise if he harbours ambitions of reclaiming the jersey and holding it to Paris. And let's face it, much as he protests, he's a stubborn and driven blighter who is still in second place, a position he will never learn to live with.

So they're not going to beat Cavendish in a drag race but a sprint is as much about position as power. If they can limit the space Cav has to launch himself off Mark Renshaw's wheel then they have the opportunity to beat him. Easier said than done but if they don't then they'll never beat him. It worked for Petacchi at the Giro after all.

3. Not all opportunities are equal.

Service Course makes the following very good point:

"So, if Lance Armstrong (Astana) spots an opportunity to gain a little time on other GC contenders, teammates included, and spends a bit of his and the team's energy to exploit that opportunity, that's smart, heads up riding."

"If Alberto Contador (Astana) spots an opportunity to gain a little time on other GC contenders, teammates included, and spends a bit of his energy to exploit that opportunity, that's worth several interviews worth of indignant grumbling about how it assuredly wasn't "part of the plan."

Read the full post "Pyrenean Procrastination" on Service Course

4. Brad Wiggins can climb with the best.

Proof if ever any were needed that putting down the pork pie and pint can make a considerable difference. He's now 72kg instead of 78-80kg he was when he considered himself a track rider. At last he is a genuine road rider and a potential podium finisher in Grand Tours. Not quite a Grand Tour winner yet, but with a bit of experience, it's not an unrealistic goal is it?

I've lost about 5kg since Easter, although it fluctuates outrageously depending on "water weight" and I find going up hills easier. I'm currently stuck on around 75kg with an ambition to get down to 70kg which is frankly about as realistic a goal as me suddenly developing into a world-class rider.

Way back in 2006 I made my most successful tip on the race ever: I told a friend who does a fair bit of betting to take Flooyd Landis to win on Betfair at around 70/1. He might well have put a hundred quid on him while I didn't, not wanting to jinx his bet. Regardless of what happened after the race, it paid out in July.

It was probably a month or two out from the start when he placed his bet and that's when the market tends to be at its ripest for picking. But there's still some pretty good prices to be had, even on some of the most obvious favourites you can still make a reasonable return on a 5 quid fun bet if it comes off.

For me the obvious value is currently in the sort of riders who don't get the sort of talk up that Armstrong, Contador and Evans will. They tend to be a bit longer odds until the race starts to shake out.

Most striking is the price on the defending champion, Carlos Sastre, who can still be picked up at the equivalent of 27/1 and last year's 4th place rider, Christian Vandevelde, at monstrous 129/1. Denis Menchov, 3rd last year and winner of the Giro D'Italia 2009, at 15/1 looks decidedly short odds by comparison.

Perhaps it's a case that the money going into the market isn't as smart as it should be. Vandevelde's price probably reflects his injuries at the Giro but if he has a good Tour de Suisse, then it could come in pretty quickly.

If you are an experienced gambler and know how to balance your books, I imagine that there's good money to be made in lay betting, something which I've never been able to get my head round. Looking down the list there's plenty of riders who are unlikely to even start (Alejandro Valverde, Andreas Kloden, Ivan Basso) so it might be worth checking what the policy is. Betting on them not to win would seem to be all too easy, so obviously I've missed something.

Closer to the time you should see head-to-head bets appear (ie X vs Y) which are usually fun and frequently poorly chosen meaning that a bit of cycling knowledge can go a long way, for example in sprints.

He announced it on twitter with the words:

"Just did an interview with AP announcing I am doing the Tour de France in 2009"

Which means the corporate machines kick into overdrive and the press has to figure out the angle they wish to take. The divide will now be clearer than ever between the two opinions on Lance Armstrong: one that he's a cheat, liar and borderline sociopath; the other that his achievements are indeed remarkable.

[rant]
There is no middle ground, no mitigation or moderation. This is cycling in high contrast monochrome, debate at its most boorish and trivialised. And I utterly hate it. I don't hate Armstrong, his riding style or his brash Texan manner. I hate that questioning the hooky logic used on both sides of the debate automatically places you in the opposing camp. [/rant]

Read the AP wire story on ABC News

He's already hinting that his role at the Tour de France may be as a super-domestique for Alberto Contador, although you could read "I'm committed to riding for the best guy" any number of ways. Past form would suggest that Lance has rarely regarded himself as anything other than the best guy in the peloton.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how Armstrong goes in the one-day classics he is accused of ignoring during his post-cancer career. In particular The Tour of Flanders should make for a very interesting race, as it always does, with Lance not being an obvious contender but a figure others will watch the race for.

I'm undeniably of the view that Armstrong's presence in the peloton will give value to cycling, purely in terms of the casual audience of people who watch big events because of the spectacle that they offer rather than a sporting passion. Some of these will filter into the sport but the wider impact is increased visibility for road cycling, which is key for its growth and development.

If there is one way for the Tour to be in some way redeemed for its sins this year, then racing right to the final line in Paris is it. This is how the story should go:

- The sprinter's train of Predictor vs the big bad Disco GC train thundering past Chatenay-Malabry to the first intermediate sprint. Wind 'em up, watch 'em go.

- The valedictorians lead the race into Paris. As with Ekimov last year, Boogerd, Merckx and Vasseur (are there any others who have already announced their retirement?) should be allowed to ride at the front across the line for the first pass on the Champs Elysee.

- The racing begins again for the second sprint on the third pass.

- Should needs be then the final sprint should be decisive. Disco, Predictor, Quickstep and allcomers to the line.

Much will be written about this year's Tour as a definitive moment in the history of cycling. Let us not then forget that, for all the controversy, this has been one of the most exciting races since the glorious 1980s heyday.

So close are the top three that they could probably throw a musette bag over them. A matter of 31 seconds covers them which, if it goes unchanged, will give Contador a victory by 23 seconds, the second smallest margin in the history of the race, bettered only by Lemond/Fignon in 1989.