Contador's Leg

tailwindhome

Everyone* seems unusually agitated about Contador's injury.

Why?

Do you have a vindictive streak and wish him more harm?
Do you believe he overstated his injury and feel he should have been more honest?
Do you think there's something rotten in the DS of Denmark?






Well not quite everyone, but a lot of posters/twitterers including some I'm surprised at.

RichN95.

TailWindHome wrote:

Do you believe he overstated his injury and feel he should have been more honest?

This one is closest - but not for an honesty reason, more that he was be milking* it a bit.

(Also it winds his fans a bit, which is always fun)

*This is not a cue for another round of cow jokes

Macaloon

Do you believe in miracles?

r0bh

I just think it's hard to reconcile the facts of his injury - as we were told them - with his form so far in the Vuelta.

BenderRodriguez

Given how serious his injuries seemed to be Froome is not going too badly either. Then again, as an 'honorary Brit' and member of Team Sky it just wouldn't be the 'done thing' to suggest that he was guilty of 'milking it', producing 'miracles' or being 'dishonest'. On the other hand, Contador is Spanish, so he is fair game.

RichN95.

BenderRodriguez wrote:

Given how serious his injuries seemed to be Froome is not going too badly either. Then again, as an 'honorary Brit' and member of Team Sky it just wouldn't be the 'done thing' to suggest that he was guilty of 'milking it', producing 'miracles' or being 'dishonest'. On the other hand, Contador is Spanish, so he is fair game.

You don't pedal with your hands though, do you?

menthel

I suspect it may be declared a holy relic by the Roman Catholic Church (and FF) because of the miracle!

blazing_saddles

RichN95 wrote:

BenderRodriguez wrote:

Given how serious his injuries seemed to be Froome is not going too badly either. Then again, as an 'honorary Brit' and member of Team Sky it just wouldn't be the 'done thing' to suggest that he was guilty of 'milking it', producing 'miracles' or being 'dishonest'. On the other hand, Contador is Spanish, so he is fair game.

You don't pedal with your hands though, do you?

Some people on cycling forum do.

I'm for number 2, too, although I do like the: "Do you have a vindictive steak and wish him more ham?." option. :P

BenderRodriguez

RichN95 wrote:

You don't pedal with your hands though, do you?

But taking time out from training because you can't hold on the the bars is likely to take just as long to recover from as taking time out due to any other reason...

blazing_saddles

BenderRodriguez wrote:

RichN95 wrote:

You don't pedal with your hands though, do you?

But taking time out from training because you can't hold on the the bars is likely to take just as long to recover from as taking time out due to any other reason...

Which injury is going to effect conditioning the most?

RichN95.

BenderRodriguez wrote:

RichN95 wrote:

You don't pedal with your hands though, do you?

But taking time out from training because you can't hold on the the bars is likely to take just as long to recover from as taking time out due to any other reason...

You can use a turbo trainer. You don't really have to hold the bars then.

r0bh

BenderRodriguez wrote:

RichN95 wrote:

You don't pedal with your hands though, do you?

But taking time out from training because you can't hold on the the bars is likely to take just as long to recover from as taking time out due to any other reason...

He would have been able to ride on the turbo almost immediately after leaving the Tour. If a punter like me can try to maintain form on the turbo riding one handed with a broken collarbone I'm pretty sure a pro could too.

RichN95.

r0bh wrote:

If a punter like me can try to maintain form on the turbo riding one handed with a broken collarbone I'm pretty sure a pro could too.

I reckon Froome could crash a turbo, though

iainf72

Like I said to that general manager of Tinkoff - It annoys people because he overstated it. Oooh, me legs borked, I can't ride the Vuelta. 2 weeks later, ok, I'll ride the vuelta and maybe do something in 3'rd week. To being the best in the race.

And this from a guy who about 90% of the population don't trust.

mm1

RichN95 wrote:

I reckon Froome could crash a turbo, though[/quote]

Certainly (as Kelly would say). I once crashed off rollers into a sideboard, my Mum was not impressed.

dsoutar

mm1 wrote:

RichN95 wrote:

r0bh wrote:

I reckon Froome could crash a turbo, though

Certainly (as Kelly would say). I once crashed off rollers into a sideboard, my Mum was not impressed.

Pity you didn't video it. That would have been £250 in the bank (or whatever it is Harry Hill pays people these days)

tailwindhome

iainf72 wrote:

Like I said to that general manager of Tinkoff - It annoys people because he overstated it. Oooh, me legs borked, I can't ride the Vuelta. 2 weeks later, ok, I'll ride the vuelta and maybe do something in 3'rd week. To being the best in the race.

And this from a guy who about 90% of the population don't trust.

Is 'lying' about form, injuries, weight and objectives not part of the game?

deejay

RichN95 wrote:

I reckon Froome could crash a turbo, though

Remember Jan Ullrich (Dope Cheat) and the comments about his descending skills on corners being like a threepenny bit coin.
I thought the same while watching The Froomedog descending in the Stage 10 Time Trial that he did the Fifty Pence Piece cornering.

frenchfighter

Haha fact is many dislike him so are trying to find a stick to poke him with rather than be happy that not only has the greatest stage race rider of his generation managed to start but he is able to be competitive.

You dont just lose insane form over night with an injury. His fantastic form coming into the Tour would help him get back up to race level quicker.

He has never broken his leg before so how is he to know how it will respond. Having had a less than ideal preparation it would be silly to assume you will be amoung the best so it is not lying to say GC isnt a realistic target but I will take it day by day. If he then turns up and surprises himself and everyone else you can't then talk bad about him.

Also one 'goodbye vuelta' tweet is irrelevant in the grand scheme. Maybe he was feeling low at that point which would be totally understandable since he had a below par 2013 (by his standards) and was flying this year and top favourite for the TDF.

I hope he holds on to win his 8th, then takes the Tour next year then takes another Giro the year after to make it 10.

Also fyi Voeckler will be back in competition later this month.

tim000

i think he was glowing at the tour and worried about a possitive test so needed an excuse to pull out.

RichN95.

tim000 wrote:

i think he was glowing at the tour and worried about a possitive test so needed an excuse to pull out.

Yes, because if I wanted to fake an injury I'd definitely do it by crashing at 75kph on a downhill section. And I'd definitely come second on a stage two days before to ensure I don't get tested.

shockedsoshocked

Basicaly he's done the pro equivalent of when the local chippers line up, when one turns to the other and asks "have you been getting out much?" the other replies "nah, not much", despite racking up 250 miles a week since November.

Mind games.

mfin

The reason people have a pre-disposition to not like him is that he is a liar and he is a cheat, or at least he has been.

Of all his GT wins that stand, half of them are a bit of a joke really, and will historically only be considered like Armstrong's ones.

All this leg-gate business is only a bit of a fun really, he's not superhuman, there's nothing special here, he hurt his leg and now it's better. He's put a bit of a spin on it, but generally sports fans are a bit thick as are the general public, so it's hardly serious.

danlikesbikes

mfin wrote:

The reason people have a pre-disposition to not like him is that he is a liar and he is a cheat, or at least he has been.

Of all his GT wins that stand, half of them are a bit of a joke really, and will historically only be considered like Armstrong's ones.

All this leg-gate business is only a bit of a fun really, he's not superhuman, there's nothing special here, he hurt his leg and now it's better. He's put a bit of a spin on it, but generally sports fans are a bit thick as are the general public, so it's hardly serious.

Pretty spot on for me, he's still exciting to watch but I still wonder about his past.

Leg gate was just a bit silly if you ask me but there you go.

Macaloon

Maybe it's a genuine translation issue. We're asking a lot for a precise medical diagnosis (in French?) to be rendered sympathetically in Russian, Spanish, Danish and English. I'd wager that the Russian "broken leg" is at the extreme end of the hangover spectrum. In English it has much more of a career-ending ring.

Hence the chortles at their credibility.

Pross

Was his leg ever in a cast? To me broken leg = plaster cast and crutches. I found the broken leg statement odd at the time as he went on to ride the climb without losing serious time. When I've broken bones I would have done anything possible to avoid putting any pressure on the affected body part. I suspect 'broken' was just a lost translation for a generic injured leg rather than a fracture of some sort.

rick_chasey

I broke my arm/elbow and I was never put in a cast.

Type 2 radial head fracture.

Carried on playing basketball for 20 mins after I broke it.

smithy21

Did you dunk on Jordan in those 20 minutes?

mm1

dsoutar wrote:

mm1 wrote:

RichN95 wrote:

r0bh wrote:

I reckon Froome could crash a turbo, though

Certainly (as Kelly would say). I once crashed off rollers into a sideboard, my Mum was not impressed.

Pity you didn't video it. That would have been £250 in the bank (or whatever it is Harry Hill pays people these days)

Way before video, spose I could ave got someone posh to film it on super8?

mulletmaster

I've said elsewhere a "broken leg" can be a bit of bone chipped off the end of your fibula, he could have been walking the day after and gently cycling 5 days after. On the far end of the scale you have Taylor Phinney who obviously could not have been.
Either nobody ever asked or he just didn't qualify what a "broken leg" meant.

einriba

For me it's all historical and I think Contadope has proved he's not a sportsman in the way us Brits like.

Numero uno - the doping / or steak-gate. Almost as lame as JTL's excuse. If he'd come out and just been honest I think that would win back some fans.
Numero dos - the attack against Schlek when he had a mechanical. I mean come on.....is that really how you want to be remembered as a grand tour winner? I wouldn't want to win a 4th cat race like that.

I agree that it's all mind games, but in the context of Contadopes previous fibs, it just feels like fibs rather than mind games.

You can't deny that he is an amazing rider - doped or not. But I can't warm to him.....although he is growing on me for some reason.