Contador : I ain't afraid of no cobbles

iainf72
iainf72 Posts: 15,784
edited April 2010 in Pro race
http://www.lequipe.fr/Cyclisme/breves20 ... paves.html

He prefers having pave in the race to being on the same team as Lance. I think he might find pave slightly tougher than he's expecting....

But then, with his team mates from Quick.Step controlling things it might be a cake walk for him
Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
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Comments

  • Doobz
    Doobz Posts: 2,800
    he will find out soon enough.. Looks like he is doing a recon and testing some new equipment on Tuesday
    cartoon.jpg
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    Look who's teaching him

    http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/3934/ ... ience.aspx

    Doesn't muck about, does Bertie.
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • William H
    William H Posts: 61
    He's not exactly going to say that he's quivering in fear and praying no one will attack him there. Unless he was actually really confident
  • pedro118118
    pedro118118 Posts: 1,102
    Last time I looked, Radioshack's GT roster wasn't exactly packed with cobble monsters. Shlecks will be well placed, having the likes of O'Grady, Breschel, Cancellara and Voigt on bodyguard detail!

    Personally, Berties seems to be a decent bike handler and produces decent power output. That said, he is very light and tends to spin low gears, which isn't the technique favoured by the classics specialists.

    Bottom line is, riding the pave is more unpredicable and risky. We'll have to wait and see?!
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,236
    Last time I looked, Radioshack's GT roster wasn't exactly packed with cobble monsters. Shlecks will be well placed, having the likes of O'Grady, Breschel, Cancellara and Voigt on bodyguard detail!

    !

    I would have thought that the naturally selective nature of cobbles makes having a few riders who are good on cobbles not much use if you're rubbish on them.


    What would be of use would be a few riders who can plant you in position 4 just before the cobbles.

    For me, the one most likely to suffer would be Gesink, who seems to find positioning before important moments quite difficult.

    The Schleck's positioning seemed to be find in the Ardennes, Contador's similarly, and Amrstrong can make his way through the middle of a peleton ala Boonen (though not as well obviously :wink: ) without too much difficulty.
  • dave_1
    dave_1 Posts: 9,512
    LA showed he can still very much handle racing on the cobbles...his Flanders form showed he isn't a fish out of water on this terrain. He will kill Contador's GC campaign early like he did mayo's...Contador is tiny and will lose 5 minutes on the cobbles.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,236
    Dave_1 wrote:
    LA showed he can still very much handle racing on the cobbles...his Flanders form showed he isn't a fish out of water on this terrain. He will kill Contador's GC campaign early like he did mayo's...Contador is tiny and will lose 5 minutes on the cobbles.

    Roubaix cobbles are quite different to Flanders.

    I doubt Contador is that bad on cobbles compared to Armstrong.

    He won by 5 minutes over Armstrong in a course deliberately designed to keep things close anyway.
  • dave_1
    dave_1 Posts: 9,512
    Last time I looked, Radioshack's GT roster wasn't exactly packed with cobble monsters. Shlecks will be well placed, having the likes of O'Grady, Breschel, Cancellara and Voigt on bodyguard detail!

    Personally, Berties seems to be a decent bike handler and produces decent power output. That said, he is very light and tends to spin low gears, which isn't the technique favoured by the classics specialists.

    Bottom line is, riding the pave is more unpredicable and risky. We'll have to wait and see?!

    I saw Armstrong appear on the front leading Boonen in the final hour of Flanders...think you will find radio shack do a mayo to Contador -who is too light and can't turn huge gears...he's a climber, in no way suited to cobbles and the high cadence stuff AC thrives on doesn't work on cobbles...AC will catch up in the last week
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    Didn't Mayo fall on a non-cobbled section and just not manage to get back on? Not much to do with his small size or lack of cobbles experience.

    Heras survived the cobbles that year without problem.
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • dave_1
    dave_1 Posts: 9,512
    iainf72 wrote:
    Didn't Mayo fall on a non-cobbled section and just not manage to get back on? Not much to do with his small size or lack of cobbles experience.

    Heras survived the cobbles that year without problem.

    but this year's cobbles seem much more severe than 2004...and LA knows he has no chance mano a mano against AC in the mountains so will pull out one of those tricks like 04 or 09 as well as LA being quite a lot more physically suited to and experienced in cobbled classics than AC who is very unsuited-he's tiny and spins like a hamster---he'll be bouncing all over the shop compared to the others.
  • Moontrane
    Moontrane Posts: 233
    Riding the cobbles for a few days to prepare for the TdF is about as meaningful as preparing for skydiving by jumping out of a kid’s tree house. He missed the opportunity to experience the ludicrous speed of the peloton entering the pave during a race (P-R & RVV). No one is guaranteed smooth sailing over them, but you gotta wonder if he’ll be facing rougher seas than other GC riders.

    Did Astana send any TdF riders to P-R or RVV this year?


    wxIMG_9987.jpg
    Infinite diversity, infinte variations
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,069
    I'm minded of a comment by Sean Kelly in 'The Man For All Seasons' book. To paraphrase, the cobbles used in the Tour de France are nothing like the cobbles used in Paris-Roubaix.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,236
    andyp wrote:
    I'm minded of a comment by Sean Kelly in 'The Man For All Seasons' book. To paraphrase, the cobbles used in the Tour de France are nothing like the cobbles used in Paris-Roubaix.

    Except when the Tour de France uses cobbles actually used in Paris-Roubaix....
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,069
    You missed his point, what he meant is that in April they are slick with mud after being used as farm tracks through the winter. In July, most of that mud has turned to dust and blown away.

    Plus they aren't going to use the 4 or 5 star sections, but smoother ones.
  • LangerDan
    LangerDan Posts: 6,132
    andyp wrote:
    I'm minded of a comment by Sean Kelly in 'The Man For All Seasons' book. To paraphrase, the cobbles used in the Tour de France are nothing like the cobbles used in Paris-Roubaix.

    Except when the Tour de France uses cobbles actually used in Paris-Roubaix....

    Kellys quote related to the fact that when the Tour has used "actual" Roubaix cobbles in the past, the surfaces have been tidied up - holes filled, verges levelled out etc. Not to mention the fact that, back then anyway, the weather would be far better than in April.

    Theres a picture in the Kelly book mentioned by Andy of the Tour on the Roubaix cobbles - to be honest, they looked like someones driveway.
    'This week I 'ave been mostly been climbing like Basso - Shirley Basso.'
  • William H
    William H Posts: 61
    andyp wrote:
    You missed his point, what he meant is that in April they are slick with mud after being used as farm tracks through the winter. In July, most of that mud has turned to dust and blown away.

    Plus they aren't going to use the 4 or 5 star sections, but smoother ones.

    Haveluy is 4 star, I think
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    LangerDan wrote:

    Theres a picture in the Kelly book mentioned by Andy of the Tour on the Roubaix cobbles - to be honest, they looked like someones driveway.

    That's coz those fellows from round your way had been over and sorted it out for them for a reasonable price :wink:
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • secretsqirrel
    secretsqirrel Posts: 1,713
    The Schlecks are also flyweights. Won't they be in the same boat? Although I understand Sparta is going to carry them on his shoulders. Vino could have a kiddie seat with Zertz inserts?

    Either way, I'm sure Spesh are on the case and will produce the cobble basher for skinny boys very soon. :wink:
  • pb21
    pb21 Posts: 2,170
    Isn't this just making a mountain out of a molehill?

    Its only a couple of sections of pave.
    Mañana
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,069
    Yes. Contador can ride hard on the flat if he needs to. Cobbles are just a flat road with intermittent gaps. :wink:
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,137
    I think the potential for time loses in this stage doesn't really come from any individual's ability to ride on them, but more from the fact about half of the peloton won't have ridden cobbles like these before. This is bound to lead to nervousness, which leads to mistakes and crashes. And with the cobbles coming near the end of the stage, you don't want to be behind one of those.

    With that in mind, there are going to be about 15 legitmate GC candidates fighting (with teammates and no doubt HTC and Quick Step too) to be in the top 25 places, and only one of those 15 has ever ridden in Paris-Roubaix.

    It may all pass off without a hitch, but the potential for carnage is definitely there.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • takethehighroad
    takethehighroad Posts: 6,599
    edited April 2010
    Edit: Delete: Bad spelling
  • RichN95 wrote:
    I think the potential for time loses in this stage doesn't really come from any individual's ability to ride on them, but more from the fact about half of the peloton won't have ridden cobbles like these before. This is bound to lead to nervousness, which leads to mistakes and crashes. And with the cobbles coming near the end of the stage, you don't want to be behind one of those.

    With that in mind, there are going to be about 15 legitmate GC candidates fighting (with teammates and no doubt HTC and Quick Step too) to be in the top 25 places, and only one of those 15 has ever ridden in Paris-Roubaix.

    It may all pass off without a hitch, but the potential for carnage is definitely there.
    Come on the carnage! :twisted:
  • oldwelshman
    oldwelshman Posts: 4,733
    Last time I looked, Radioshack's GT roster wasn't exactly packed with cobble monsters. Shlecks will be well placed, having the likes of O'Grady, Breschel, Cancellara and Voigt on bodyguard detail!

    !

    I would have thought that the naturally selective nature of cobbles makes having a few riders who are good on cobbles not much use if you're rubbish on them.


    What would be of use would be a few riders who can plant you in position 4 just before the cobbles.

    For me, the one most likely to suffer would be Gesink, who seems to find positioning before important moments quite difficult.

    The Schleck's positioning seemed to be find in the Ardennes, Contador's similarly, and Amrstrong can make his way through the middle of a peloton ala Boonen (though not as well obviously :wink: ) without too much difficulty.
    Well if you got 4 good cobble riders in your team you can stick them up the front to ride tempo to stop others attacking for one, for two if anyone does attack they can be used to chase it down.
    I dont think the cobbles will make a huge difference as it is a stage race not classic so not many will be allowed to go if danger to GC, unless someone punctures or falls off of course :D
  • iainf72 wrote:
    Didn't Mayo fall on a non-cobbled section and just not manage to get back on? Not much to do with his small size or lack of cobbles experience.

    Heras survived the cobbles that year without problem.

    That was how I remember it. He fell off in a layby dicking about at the back of the race about 5km from the first sector, whilst everybody else was fighting for wheels near Hincape... this of course doesn't preclude him from falling off on the pave too!
    "In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"

    @gietvangent
  • pedro118118
    pedro118118 Posts: 1,102
    A group of friends and I rode the last 120km of Paris Roubaix last weekend. The pave was a shock. Energy sapping, poorly maintained in places, dangerously cambered, narrow etc.........it destroys your rythm and it becomes a fight. That said, some sectors were better than others and not sure which are included in the Tour stage.

    Add to that the element of nerves, panic and sheer number of bodies during a Tour stage, it's going to be edge-of-your seat stuff, but I would back Bertie to come through it. All eyes will be in Menchov..........I can see him taking the record here for bike spills and re-mounting in a single stage from the Chicken!!!
  • frenchfighter
    frenchfighter Posts: 30,642
    "He gave me a lot of advice on how to ride on the pavé and about the material, etc. In these two days I learned more about the pavé than I have in my whole life. His advice will be very important."
    http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/3950/ ... -fear.aspx
    Contador is the Greatest
  • dougzz
    dougzz Posts: 1,833
    The guys who ride the cobbles well won't affect GC, so AC doesn't have to match them. I think that the cobble sectioned will be interesting and I (sort of) hope for a bit of mayhem, it makes the race interesting. But surely a cobbled section within a 3 week GT will not be like a one day race.

    If AC is smart, and I think he is, he'll be prepared to lose a bit of time anyway. He keeps himself out of yellow early, so less pressure on a not elite GT team, and with his TT and climbing ability, he'll have plenty of time to make back any losses. What he has to be careful of is getting hurt chasing unnecessarily.

    Who can do real damage to him on the cobbles that can maintain that through TT and climbs?
  • frenchfighter
    frenchfighter Posts: 30,642
    Hinault's comments are interesting:
    http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/3945/ ... -Tour.aspx
    Contador is the Greatest
  • simon_e
    simon_e Posts: 1,706
    Hinault is often predictable but never boring :D
    Aspire not to have more, but to be more.