Do you know Contador and Levi have done the same time?

victorponf

Contador have win for 46", let´s have a look to the bonifications:

Contador: 58"
20" in Angliru and Fuentes de Invierno
8" in La Rabassa and Pla de Beret
2" in a intermedium sprint in Puertollano stage, el estadounidense no ha podido hacer lo mismo con sus dos victorias, ya que ambas han sido en las cronos individuales que ha habido en la carrera (Ciudad Real y Navacerrada).

Levi: 12"
Just 12" in Fuentes de Invierno

I´m Contador nº 1 fan but i think bonifications are very unfair, if you have them in a normal stage why not in a TT?

Honestly, i prefer a GT without them

redbicycle

Indeed...(from VeloNews)

The showdown between the Astana teammates highlighted how much the pair dominated the Vuelta. Contador was front and center as the local favorite with Leipheimer riding in his shadow away from the brunt of the media crush.

Even more interesting; had the Vuelta followed the lead of this year’s Tour, and not offered time bonuses, Leipheimer and Contador would have tied for the overall.

Contador earned 58 seconds in bonuses, including 40 seconds in his two stage victories. Leipheimer earned 12 seconds in bonuses, from his second place at Fuentes de Invierno, but didn’t earn any bonuses in his two time trial victories.

The tie-breaker, measured in decimals taken in time trials, would have tilted toward Contador, however. Contador’s decimals were 0.0570 while Leipheimer’s came down to 0.1240.

donrhummy

I hear what you're saying but if the bonuses hadn't existed, Bertie/Astana would have raced differently to ensure his victory. And Levi, who rode amazingly well, did also benefit from teams marking Bertie, not Levi during most of the mountain stages. So it goes both ways a little.

Personally, I like the bonuses. It makes for more exciting racing. There was more than one stage where Bertie/Valverde made it a battle at the end BECAUSE of the bonuses. (They admitted as much in post stage interviews) Without the bonuses, they'd have just cruised in on the wheel of another rider, letting them do all the work.

This was the best grand tour of Levi's life. Amazing that he's getting better with age!

blazing_saddles

Yes, without bonifications, Contador would have lost the Vuelta by 28 seconds, never having to lift a finger, while LL worked for him on the Angliru etc. So the gap would probably have been over a minute, if Euskatel had done their job properly. :roll:

Giro: Led it by just 4 seconds, going into the final ITT.

2007 TDF: LL gets a 10 second penalty for holding onto the team car. ( two riders expelled from the Vuelta for drafting team car)
Contador takes net bonifaction of 16 seconds off LL and wins the Tour by 31 seconds.
So, AC wins by just 5 seconds, from LL.

LL is a great GT rider? Good, but not great, I'd say.

Victor, I think you need to re-think that other thread of yours. Just so long as you don't include that aged Texan doper.

Seriously, his results show he's not ET and is clearly beatable. It just won't be the "comeback kid", who does it.

Astana will face serious competition, next year. No point in defending the Giro. That's got Basso written all over it.
Also, if Andy Schleck can learn how to trial..........

pottssteve

What I want to know is, which one of them wrote "GO LANCE" in yellow paint on the TT course yesterday?!

Tom Butcher

I like bonifications where it rewards a victory snatched by a few seconds - the trouble with mountain top finishes is the winners often get 30 seconds plus on their rivals anyway - and the bonification means that these stages become overly important in the final GC against say a tough stage more like a one day classic where attacking riders like Valverde, DiLuca or even a Bettini might profit.

dulldave

I've never really undertsood this. A race should be won by the person who completes the course in the shortest time. I can understand why they would add incentives to keep things interesting but it should never mess with the winner being the proper winner.

Jez mon

During stage 14, Contador was celebrating well before the line, if there where no time bonuses perhaps he would have kept his head down, if he kept his head down, then he would have been in front by a few seconds on actual time.

cswebbo

There should be no time bonus in any tour. You do not get a bonus for winning the time trial, so why get one in a road stage?

However, everyone knows the rules in advance so i'm sure Contador would have raced differently if there were no bonus on offer.
For instance, on the second mountain stage he won- He sat on the wheels until less than 500m to go then sprinted past for the win and bonus. He would have attacked earlier if he needed more time.

calvjones

All things considered, I think AC probably is, just about, the 2nd best GT rider on the Astana team.

I think there is a deliberate decision in Astana to use Klodi in the Cancellara (!) role, so the question never arises as to whether AC would have the beating of him...

secretsqirrel

calvjones wrote:

All things considered, I think AC probably is, just about, the 2nd best GT rider on the Astana team.

I think there is a deliberate decision in Astana to use Klodi in the Cancellara (!) role, so the question never arises as to whether AC would have the beating of him...

I agree,

Klodi is probably more capable than even he believes himself!

He is an absolute gift to any team because he is willing to support and put a great deal of effort into his uber-domestique role. As he has shown in the past with Ullrich, Vino and now Contador, he puts the team effort before his own aspirations (even if he clearly has better from).

Maybe as Sean Kelly has pointed out, this is what he prefers, but I can't help thinking that he makes himself a little too available to be spent at will, and it seems a waste.

It does appear that Contador is very reliant on him and said so after the Giro, so hopefully he will get some recognition for his efforts, and chance to lead in a GT next year when Contdor concentrates on the TDF.