How to contact Contador?

frenchfighter

Anyone know ways to contact Contador?

I want to ask him what he will be doing from Aug to when he comes back to racing towards the start of 2011 to start winning everything in style with the tactical prowess and professionalism of Riis and Saxo. Why he isn't racing the Veulta or the Worlds (I assume he isn't doing the TT or RR but he could be - anyone seen the Spanish squads?). Why he didn't race Burgos, wont be racing TofB and will he race Lombardia, a race he could realistically place highly in.

ms_tree

He must have a web-site. Usually there's a message board there or an address. Probably you write and just address it AC (town) nr Madrid Spain. It might eventually reach him but as to whether you get a reply...... Or the Astana address?

RichN95.

Have you checked to see if he's on match.com. You could set up a date.

Seriously though, you can send a message via his website: http://www.albertocontador.com/contacto.php. I wouldn't expect much though.

However, I think I could probably answer the question. Cycling isn't like it was back in the 80s (or even the 90s). The Tour winner doesn't ride all year round. He'll have an agreement, probably in his contract, that if he wins the Tour then he gets the rest of the year off. This allows him to do public appearances, represent Specialized & Sidi etc, push his own Pistolero brand, maybe a book, blah, blah, blah.

Maybe, if a World's has a particularly hilly course with a steep uphill finish he'll go for it, but then he didn't bother with the Olympic RR. But Geelong isn't going to suit him. As fans, we can go on about rounded palmares until we're blue in the face. But for these guys, it's their living and making a lot of money means more than winning Lombardy, which isn't really going to enhance his reputation. Contador also has a handicapped brother to provide for.

You may like to think that Contador is a more romantic rider concerned with his legacy, but he's not. He's the same as Armstrong really. He only won the Giro and Vuelta because he was banned for the Tour, only doing the Giro because he was forced to.

Kléber

Sadly "just" winning the Tour is enough. He's been active from February to July and if the season is much longer, he's won where it counted. Given he's told Astana he is off, I doubt he is too popular on the squad.

There were rumours RadioShack got dumped from the Vuelta as a ploy to remove their GC contenders, thus pleasing Contador but the Spanish champ still said no and stopped racing.

Arkibal

Kléber wrote:

Sadly "just" winning the Tour is enough. He's been active from February to July and if the season is much longer, he's won where it counted. Given he's told Astana he is off, I doubt he is too popular on the squad.

There were rumours RadioShack got dumped from the Vuelta as a ploy to remove their GC contenders, thus pleasing Contador but the Spanish champ still said no and stopped racing.

Vino still likes him

Alexandre Vinokourov:
Alberto promises to come to Almaty for the City Day Semptember 19.

He won almost every stage race he entered this year, even gave a serious effort on the hilly classics.

I'm kinda sad he left Astana, but Riis should provide a solid team, something he never has had.

moray_gub

RichN95 wrote:

You may like to think that Contador is a more romantic rider concerned with his legacy, but he's not. He's the same as Armstrong really. He only won the Giro and Vuelta because he was banned for the Tour, only doing the Giro because he was forced to.

Spot on.

RichN95.

Arkibal wrote:

Alexandre Vinokourov:
Alberto promises to come to Almaty for the City Day Semptember 19.

That sort of tallies with what I said earlier. Nowadays, after a Tour win, sponsor's and commercial interests outweigh palmares.

RichN95.

Kléber wrote:

There were rumours RadioShack got dumped from the Vuelta as a ploy to remove their GC contenders, thus pleasing Contador but the Spanish champ still said no and stopped racing.

I can't buy that theory. Contador can't be scared of Leipheimer and Horner. It was probably because they only but forward Horner and Brajkovic as stars and this didn't offset the possibility of the Landis affair overshadowing the event. Plus, they've clearly peed someone off somewhere and haven't put in the spadework like Sky.

pomtarr

FF - fair enough asking him the other questions, but do you seriously think Bertie the Accountant would even consider the ToB???

all show no go

*Anyone know ways to contact Contador?*

Normally such things are done through the team's website, but in this case it would seem a Lonely Hearts column is more appropriate

:roll:

dave_1

to be fair Contador is not good for cobble classics and he drove to Fleche, Liege, so he did ride the spring. How can he motivate himself to stay fit with only half seasons every year? He's hooked on the tour record idea and has maybe already lost a Giro and a Vuelta win cause of it.

Gazzaputt

I thought he'd taken out a restraining order on you?

blazing_saddles

I have to agree with the Love Shackers.
Said it last year.
Contador's racing programme? Lightweight.

shinyhelmut

frenchfighter wrote:

Anyone know ways to contact Contador?

You could write to him;

A Contador
c/o Dr Eufemiano Fuentes
Madrid
Espagne

I'm sure he'd be happy to pass on your correspondence

On a more serious note he's been racing hard, and winning, since march. Now his main priority is next July.

sherer

Arkibal wrote:

Kléber wrote:

Sadly "just" winning the Tour is enough. He's been active from February to July and if the season is much longer, he's won where it counted. Given he's told Astana he is off, I doubt he is too popular on the squad.

There were rumours RadioShack got dumped from the Vuelta as a ploy to remove their GC contenders, thus pleasing Contador but the Spanish champ still said no and stopped racing.

Vino still likes him

Alexandre Vinokourov:
Alberto promises to come to Almaty for the City Day Semptember 19.

He won almost every stage race he entered this year, even gave a serious effort on the hilly classics.

I'm kinda sad he left Astana, but Riis should provide a solid team, something he never has had.

He didn't win the Dauphine this year that went to Brajkovic in RadioShack.

Doubt he would answer something like this but I think messages do get read as there someone over on CN forums got a reply from a mod about charity work.

Contador is rumoured to be riding the Giro next year and I he made comments before about his palmares and does seem interested in winning a hilly classic but seems Lombardia is too late in the season for him.

The problem is with so much money these days he doesn't need the crit circuit like they used to for the money although he has been to a few races since the tour, think he was in Denmark and a crit in France too, not sure about what else.

He is also on twitter so maybe you can send a msg or tweet there

frenchfighter

Ok cool I'll try some of those.

I hope next year he really does two GTs - the best stage racer in the World has no excuses (and not one of a 'lightweight team' or a . I understand that the TofPol and Burgos etc don't have much value to him, but you would have thought that quite simply that a pro cyclist would get bored not racing for so long. Regardless, if people are saying the classics/ardennes riders are good for the Worlds then he should look to take part.

SpaceJunk

Moray Gub wrote:

RichN95 wrote:

You may like to think that Contador is a more romantic rider concerned with his legacy, but he's not. He's the same as Armstrong really. He only won the Giro and Vuelta because he was banned for the Tour, only doing the Giro because he was forced to.

Spot on.

Yep, 100% spot on.

That's why AC has mooted the idea of targeting the Grio and Vuelta in the future, because he is forced to.

sherer

why would be be forced to do that Giro and Vuelta this time ?

Surely a rider of his standing can pick and chose the races he wants now

RichN95.

SpaceJunk wrote:

Yep, 100% spot on.

That's why AC has mooted the idea of targeting the Grio and Vuelta in the future, because he is forced to.

Talking about doing something and actually doing it are completely different things.

History shows that the only post-Tour race Contador has ever done in his winning years is the 2007 Tour of Missouri. I don't believe that this pattern will change, unless it is for commercial reasons. And I don't blame him one little bit.

As for the 2008 Giro, Astana only got an invite five days before the start (reportedly on the condition that they brought Contador). He had just had an operation and was on holiday, so it was hardly a pre-planned objective.

SpaceJunk

RichN95 wrote:

SpaceJunk wrote:

Yep, 100% spot on.

That's why AC has mooted the idea of targeting the Grio and Vuelta in the future, because he is forced to.

Talking about doing something and actually doing it are completely different things.

History shows that the only post-Tour race Contador has ever done in his winning years is the 2007 Tour of Missouri. I don't believe that this pattern will change, unless it is for commercial reasons. And I don't blame him one little bit.

As for the 2008 Giro, Astana only got an invite five days before the start (reportedly on the condition that they brought Contador). He had just had an operation and was on holiday, so it was hardly a pre-planned objective.

So you reckon AC is talking crap when he says he wants to try and win another Giro or Vuelta?

Guess you know best.

The fact people are even talking about AC legacy is a bit pointless anyway - he's barely 1/2 way through his career.

How do we know what he'll achieve by the time he retires? He might not win another GT. He might win the next 5 TdFs. He might get thrashed by AS next year and change his tact to Giro's and Vuelta's.

blazing_saddles

RichN95 wrote:

SpaceJunk wrote:

Yep, 100% spot on.

That's why AC has mooted the idea of targeting the Grio and Vuelta in the future, because he is forced to.

Talking about doing something and actually doing it are completely different things.

History shows that the only post-Tour race Contador has ever done in his winning years is the 2007 Tour of Missouri. I don't believe that this pattern will change, unless it is for commercial reasons. And I don't blame him one little bit.

I agree, especially as Contador followed the Bruyneel model, for the majority of those wins.

Armstrong was very convincing, when he said he would ride the 2001 Vuelta in support of Heras. He also talked fairly regularly in the closed/early season about the possibility of riding the Giro.
Talk is cheap.
I'll believe it when I see it happening on the road. Until then, Contador remains the best, part-time rider in the World.

RichN95.

SpaceJunk wrote:

So you reckon AC is talking crap when he says he wants to try and win another Giro or Vuelta?

Guess you know best.

I don't know what races he will do and neither do you. It's just my opinion. I think he probably will do the Giro again, but probably only once. I also think he will never do the Vuelta in a year when he has won the Tour.

The best laid plans of mice and men.....

frenchfighter

What I don't get is the fact he is an aggressive rider, one that wants to win anything he enters, has a passion for cycling and yet doesn't ride a large amount even if what he does ride is with style and dominance. Supposedly he wont ride the Vuelta because he cannot train properly and therefore wont be in the form he would like to try and win. I think he could do a superb ride regardless of how hard he trained given his World Class ability.

Lets see what happens with Saxo, I think things will work out well with Riis. New ideas and views will hopefully lead to a change in race schedule etc, taking him away from the boring Bruyneel style. I have already read that he will be doing less of the week long stage races so as to concentrate more on quality - Ardennes, Giro and Tour - but who knows.

As Rich says, talk is cheap. I'd give him the fact that most words are said about him and not by him. They are often inferred too.

Jez mon

frenchfighter wrote:

What I don't get is the fact he is an aggressive rider, one that wants to win anything he enters, has a passion for cycling and yet doesn't ride a large amount even if what he does ride is with style and dominance.
.

Are you sure. As a rider he has won two GTs without winning a stage. Sure he is class at what he does, and can put on a show when he wants, but in reality he has also won a number of GTs in a very boring way

frenchfighter

Maybe you only watch the Tour? I watch the majority of races from start to finish of the year and every race he rides in. Sure it would be nice if he won a stage in a GT while winning the GT overall too...I guess he has to stop gifting them to other riders

moray_gub

frenchfighter wrote:

Maybe you only watch the Tour?

Are you forgetting the 2008 Giro already ? I know you are new to cycling but surely you go back as far as that.

dulldave

SpaceJunk wrote:

Moray Gub wrote:

RichN95 wrote:

You may like to think that Contador is a more romantic rider concerned with his legacy, but he's not. He's the same as Armstrong really. He only won the Giro and Vuelta because he was banned for the Tour, only doing the Giro because he was forced to.

Spot on.

Yep, 100% spot on.

That's why AC has mooted the idea of targeting the Grio and Vuelta in the future, because he is forced to.

Yeah, and compare Contador's season running up to the tour to that of the other riders that were considered to be tour contenders at the time. Contador was entering races and winning them or at least being competitive.

frenchfighter

Oh for sure. Contador races hard before the Tour. Not super hard in terms of quantity, but he does actual race hard enough to win from the start to the finish. Unlike many GT riders, he does not turn up and get 'miles in the legs'.

It is worth noting that this year Contador has nine wins. The only rider at PT level of any type ahead of him is Greipel (eighteen). The Tour only counts for one too. That should demonstrate the type of rider he is, how much ability he has and the attitude he brings to races. The wins range from Stage race overalls to Time trials to summit finishes.

For the record he has 51 days racing. Interestingly, Philippe Gilbert also has 51 (no need to think I am putting him down at all - check the sig - I also know he will have another 30 or so before the end of the year. Last year he had the 3rd largest number of race days of any rider, with 97, beaten only by two of his team members I have never heard of).

Jez mon

frenchfighter wrote:

Maybe you only watch the Tour? I watch the majority of races from start to finish of the year and every race he rides in. Sure it would be nice if he won a stage in a GT while winning the GT overall too...I guess he has to stop gifting them to other riders

Sure, looking at his results for the year, he has done extremely well. Take out the tour win, and it's still reasonably impressive.

However, that doesn't take away from my point, which is that you seem to have a rather fairy tale image of the guy, when in reality he is a through and through pro who won't make needless attacks and won't ride needless races. He won't ride the Veulta and the Giro if he doesn't need to, it's a shame that he doesn't need to, but it's cycling's fault not his.