painfully BAD pro cycling article...

[shoney]

In life, sometimes it is necessary to experience the bad in order to see the good. With that in mind, take a few minutes to read this awful analysis of the tour/future tours. Even taking into account the bias of the author, I still had to read it twice to make sure it wasn't a joke.

VeloNews.com - Inside the Tour de France with John Wilcockson: Can Contador extend his reign?

[MazoMark]

A choppy collection of factoids with no flow or point other than to meet a deadline.

[Ben]

It's a hacky article, but it does raise an interesting question.

Three years or so ago, Sportswriter Bill Simmons wrote an article about how the world had already decided that Tiger Woods was the greatest golfer of all time, despite his not having played against competition as tough as the Nicklaus/Palmer/Player/Watson era, and despite Nicklaus still towering over him in the "Most Majors Won" category. Simmons' point (and he may have been quoting Nicklaus) was, "before we declare Tiger the greatest ever, before we just give him the Majors record, doesn't he have to, you know, win the tournaments?"

Three years ago, that article seemed kind of stupid. Now?

The point is that this is a difficult, fickle, dangerous and often unfair sport at the professional level, and lots of things can derail a brilliant professional career. People get popped for doping, get injured, get sick, get on bad teams, flame out, have (ahem) personal issues, and yes, get shot in hunting accidents. I'm not taking anything away from Alberto Contador, and his accomplishments already place him among history's greats. But before we elevate him to the pantheon of the greatest ever, or pencil him in for five Tours and four Giros, doesn't he have to, you know, win the races?

[shoney]

Ben, I agree 100% with you. No one should be annointed anything in sports. I just couldn't get past the comment that Contador, despite picking up 31 seconds, 'almost lost' on Saturday. Huh?? Or that he is CERTAIN to lose to Schleck or (the 32yr old) Denis Menchov in the future.

[1centaur]

That article must have been aimed at the casual fan, someone the author imagines thinking 7 for Lance, 3 for AC, he'll win for years...not so fast, sir. But to serious cycling fans, the supporting points are dubious. Menchov has a history of spotty performances. Nobody would be surprised if he never podiumed in a GC again. Schleck supposedly spent the last year working on his TT on a team that does the wind tunnel thing and has the world's best to provide tips, he's been a racer for a long time, he was "highly motivated," and yet his TT on Saturday was mediocre. The point was not that he was close to AC, it was that he can't TT very well and history suggests that's a skill that you mostly have or don't after you've learned the basics and adopted the position. Ryder? Teejay? There are many others more likely to upset AC in the next 3 years. And being on his own Lux team would have been a negative for AS this year if that meant he lost Spartacus on the cobbled stage AND slowing the peloton to let Andy catch back up after he crashed.

The real question - is AC fading because he was not as good in the mountains or the TT this year? Not much worse, but a little. If he's fading, he'll lose to whomever. If he was in a lull, Schleck and Menchov won't beat him next year. I look back to his insane climbing attacks vs. Rasmussen and think I can connect the dots from then through now - looks like he's fading. Hope I'm wrong.

[Jef58]

Alberto's form was not there this tour. He said it and it looked it. It shows he can win not on his best performance. The others have to be on top of their game to come close to beating him. This should be a lesson for all involved. Schleck is improving, Menchov is dangerous and Alberto needs to concentrate his efforts to be in top form from now on. This tour should wake him up a little, but give him some confidence that he was able to fight through it.

[rustychisel]

wow, more names than adjectives, a very impressive feat.

I found the conclusion equally revealing: he may win more but it'll be hard. Duh.

[Sean in CA]

It's a hacky article, but it does raise an interesting question.

Three years or so ago, Sportswriter Bill Simmons wrote an article about how the world had already decided that Tiger Woods was the greatest golfer of all time, despite his not having played against competition as tough as the Nicklaus/Palmer/Player/Watson era, and despite Nicklaus still towering over him in the "Most Majors Won" category. Simmons' point (and he may have been quoting Nicklaus) was, "before we declare Tiger the greatest ever, before we just give him the Majors record, doesn't he have to, you know, win the tournaments?"

Three years ago, that article seemed kind of stupid. Now?

The point is that this is a difficult, fickle, dangerous and often unfair sport at the professional level, and lots of things can derail a brilliant professional career. People get popped for doping, get injured, get sick, get on bad teams, flame out, have (ahem) personal issues, and yes, get shot in hunting accidents. I'm not taking anything away from Alberto Contador, and his accomplishments already place him among history's greats. But before we elevate him to the pantheon of the greatest ever, or pencil him in for five Tours and four Giros, doesn't he have to, you know, win the races?

+1 to that. Excellent post!

[GrantM]

Schleck supposedly spent the last year working on his TT on a team that does the wind tunnel thing and has the world's best to provide tips, he's been a racer for a long time, he was "highly motivated," and yet his TT on Saturday was mediocre. The point was not that he was close to AC, it was that he can't TT very well and history suggests that's a skill that you mostly have or don't after you've learned the basics and adopted the position.

The real question - is AC fading because he was not as good in the mountains or the TT this year?

AS will never be a great TT rider, but he'll improve some more in the next couple of years. He's still young.

Contador? Could be a less effective doping program this year.... hey, someone had to say it.

-g

[BBB]

AS will never be a great TT rider, but he'll improve some more in the next couple of years. He's still young.

Contador? Could be a less effective doping program this year.... hey, someone had to say it.

-g

That or less effective directing. While I don't think Brunyeel is the tactical genius Liggett and Sherwin make him out to be, Brunyeel (or whoever at Astana) had Contador on a short leash in the lead up to the TdF last year. Compare tagging along with Evans and Valverde (or getting in the way of Evans) in the Dauphine last year to multiple attacks up Alpe d'Huez this year. Combine this with getting sick in the lead up to the TdF and maybe AC burnt a few too many matches prior to the big event this time round.

[Scott G.]

[snip]Combine this with getting sick in the lead up to the TdF and maybe AC burnt a few too many matches prior to the big event this time round.

Now that we are officially in the post-LA era, is the TdF still going to be "the big event" ?
or do we go back to all the GTs and the Classics being more nearly equal ?