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Pro Cycling

Nabali is the big loser from Contador case taking so long (4 posts)

  • Profile picture of Jack Bulkley Jack Bulkley said 3 months, 1 week ago:

    In the 2011 Giro, Contador was dominant. In the middle of the race, Nabali looked to be the second strongest and was in fact in second on GC. He launched a vicious, but desperate, attack because he felt he had to try something to crack Contador. It didn’t work and he fell to third in GC.

    If Contador had been suspended within even 10 months of testing positive, there would have been no pressure for Nabali to attack Contador, he could have ridden against Scarponi and seems like he could have defended that lead. Instead Scarponi is now considered the winner of the 2011 Giro.

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  • Profile picture of Chico Brian Chico Brian said 3 months ago:

    Jack, that is a good point. Also, however, Andy Schleck could be a big loser in last year’s Tour. Remember, he spent the entire race fixated on Alberto. He only animated the race when Alberto tried his breakaway. This allowed Cadel to remain within striking distance right up to the TT when he took the yellow and won the Tour. Not taking anything away from Evans (his race was pure genius), but things could have been very different if Andy would have focusedmon the real threat rather than the guy who had just spent himself on the Giro. Just an idea…what do you think?

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  • Profile picture of Jack Bulkley Jack Bulkley said 3 months ago:

    I think Andy attacked all he could in the Alps. Perhaps if he hadn’t been worried about Contador he would have tried something in the Pyrenees as well. But it seems Cadel was able to battle back at his pace on the climbs and really limit his losses. Andy couldn’t do anything about it.

    Right now for 2012 I would pick Frank Schleck for the Giro, a diesel climbing and TT battle between Cadel and Wiggins in the TdF, and Contador for the Vuelta.

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  • Profile picture of Chico Brian Chico Brian said 3 months ago:

    Well, Alberto will be on fresh legs for the Vuelta…that’s for sure. Frank taking the Giro is certainly what RadioShack/Leopard will have in mind. Here is my concern with that. The profile for the Tour is not as tortuous as the past few years. If R-Shack thinks Andy is a favorite in the tour this year, they are in for some surprises. Your two picks are clearly favorites…both great riders for the profiles with outstanding support. I would keep my eyes on Vockler again. I’m not going to go so far as to call Levi a favorite, but this profile, the TTs, and his the apparent strength of the new QuickStep team will be interesting to watch. All-in-all, the changes in the teams have made for some interesting possibilities.

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