Contador: Which Team?

gabriel959

Valverde said in an interview after the disappointing Worlds that he would be glad to have Contador in the team and Contador could go for the Tour and Giro and he could go for the Vuelta and Classics ...

victorponf

gabriel959 wrote:

Valverde said in an interview after the disappointing Worlds that he would be glad to have Contador in the team and Contador could go for the Tour and Giro and he could go for the Vuelta and Classics ...

I hope so

wildmoustache

no way valverde is winning the Tour ever unless loads of dudes are busted and he gets handed it. he's just not consistently strong enough in the mountains and is a mediocre time-triallist.

would be nice to see him dig in for contador

OllyBianchi

redbicycle wrote:

I think Christian VDV is great but he's not going to win a grand tour IMO - no disrepsect intended!

By Friday he may have won the 2008 Tour...

jimmythecuckoo

blazing_saddles

Some developments, here. Namely, the gloves are coming off and Armstrong musn't upset the team demographics. :roll: (Spanish)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_s ... 647467.stm

http://www.as.com/ciclismo/articulo/bru ... scic_2/Tes

Patrick1.0

Blazing Saddles wrote:

Some developments, here. Namely, the gloves are coming off and Armstrong musn't upset the team demographics. :roll: (Spanish)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_s ... 647467.stm

http://www.as.com/ciclismo/articulo/bru ... scic_2/Tes

Bloody hell; that's a strong stance from Bruyneel isn't it? He's basically telling Contador that if Lance proves he can win the Tour then Contador will be working for him whether he likes it or not. That's how I interpreted it anyway.

micron

Is it me or is there a veiled threat there? We know what Bruyneel is capable of when someone threatens to leave his team cf the Floyd Landis incident. Is this his way of saying 'you leave and you'll find you've got some dodgy blood values there, mate'?

FJS

Patrick1.0 wrote:

Bloody hell; that's a strong stance from Bruyneel isn't it? He's basically telling Contador that if Lance proves he can win the Tour then Contador will be working for him whether he likes it or not. That's how I interpreted it anyway.

Yes, although to be precise, I saw it as 'that if Lance proves he can win the Tour better than Contador..'. Contador has already proven he can win next year's TdF; so it would be up to Lance to prove he can win next year's Tour, and has a better chance of winning it than Contador. I can hardly see that becoming clear before the first TT and Pyrenees stage of the Tour itself.

joeyhalloran

unless csc get a pure out and out stage racer (like sastre was) thier ability to compeat with astana will be reduced (although we must see the progession of the schleck brothers, espically Andy). Although, of course, contador riding for csc would be a very strong team.

donrhummy

Bruyneel has put his foot down, Contador is screwed:

"He will remain with this team for the next two years. Actually, it’s pretty simple - there’s a contract and there are no options to leave," the Belgian said.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id= ... oct02news2

sonny73

donrhummy wrote:

Bruyneel has put his foot down, Contador is screwed:

"He will remain with this team for the next two years. Actually, it’s pretty simple - there’s a contract and there are no options to leave," the Belgian said.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id= ... oct02news2

Things looking potentially grim for Contador there then if LA does show good form.

Shame really, as personally I think Contador would truly be wasted sat behind someone else in the pecking order and it would be great for the Tour to see them going head to head in different teams!

joeyhalloran

It really would be an interesting tour if they were equally supported on different teams, i dare say it would pretty much split the cycling world it to two halves.

skavanagh.bikeradar

Is it possible that several teams would 'gang up' on Astana (assuming ASO invite them) to prevent another robotic win? Contador as a domestique. Who would've thunk it? Lance and Johann probably.

Inovache

I can't see Contador serving under Armstrong in any scenario short of him having a massive loss of form.

More to the point though, I don't see it as an issue - Lance will not be capable of showing a standard that could realistically suggest he should lead the team. IMO of course

Jez mon

Inovache wrote:

I can't see Contador serving under Armstrong in any scenario short of him having a massive loss of form.

More to the point though, I don't see it as an issue - Lance will not be capable of showing a standard that could realistically suggest he should lead the team. IMO of course

IMHO, Lance would not have come back if he thought he would not be capable of leading the team. There are many other ways in which he could raise cancer awareness without putting himself through the rigmarole of being a pro rider

joeyhalloran

I can see armstrong getting in to form, he hasnt let himself go much and if the past has anything to say arstrong isn't the one to shy away from big challenges. However i can't see either of them working for the other. I guess they'll do another 1-2 leader system like astana in the the vuelta this year. I just feel sorry for leiphimer as he is the one that will most likely get demoted to domestique. However, if you bring vino (riding the tour in 2010?) in to the mix who knows whats going to happen (although lance might have re-retired by then).