DXchulo

Where does he go from there? That would be 5 grand tours in 4 years and he would have won every grand tour he attempted during that time period. He would obviously be the best GT rider in the sport, so what's left to prove?

Does he try to match or beat 7 TDFs in a row? If not for 2008, I think he'd have a shot. As it stands, he's 27 right now and he'd be 32 for #7. Lance was 33 for #7.

I hear Alberto's riding the Giro next year. Does he just try to pile up as many GT wins as possible? He could make the argument that he was a great winner and he didn't just focus on one race. He also looked pretty good in Fleche Wallonne this year and maybe he could add a couple Ardennes classics to his palmares. He also has a shot at a couple Olympic gold medals, though I'm not sure anyone cares about that.

Personally, I hope he would try to win all 3 grand tours in one year. It seems like the one unique thing he could do and I think it would generate tons of excitement. This could be the one time everybody would care about the Vuelta. Do you think it's even possible? Is 3 in one year simply too much? I'd love to see him try.

Keith99

Winning all 3 tours in one year is just not realistic. Several riders have finished all 3, only a couple with any podiums at all.

He has yet to accomplish a Giro/Tour double.

If the right course comes up for the Worlds he might well try to be the first Tour/Worlds winner in the same year since Lemond. Or he might try for both GC KOM in a single tour. (KOM and GC is more attainable in the TDF these days due to the double KOM points for finishing climbs).

For a reasonable dream accomplishment he could also try to be the first person since Felice Gimondi to win GC and KOM in both the TDF and Giro in one year.

Keith99

Oh if you want possible and obtainable firsts the 2 that come to mind are:

Being the only rider to perform all the possible Tour/Giro/ Vuelta doubles.
Being the only rider to win the Worlds and Vuelta in the same year.

Anything besides those I can think of has either already been done, is fantasy or ends up like a pick and choose that would not have any real impact.

dstrong 

Does he hate Lance enough to try for 8 TDF's? It would be a big risk to commit to something like that...so maybe just as many GTs as possible.

USAZorro

I think this. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------/\

I have to say though, I was bummed when I couldn't find a "pistolero" hat in either Barcelona, or Madrid last December. Hopefully those will become available.

Romans8:28

If you are interested, you can actually order hats, shirts etc from his official website

As for the OP's question,

Based on everything I have read (attributed to him/his comments), he intends to compete and hopefully win as many races/tours as possible and let the eventual "chips" fall where they may. From what I can tell, Lance (and his hard core fan base) is far more concerned with what Alberto does than the other way around. I get the feeling from AC that he intends to define himself based upon a different set of criteria than just the number of TDF win's, but if he does happen to eventually win 8 (tall, tall order) I am sure he would not mind it.

OrionKhan

I agree. We assume that LA is the target that AC wants to eclipse. There is still Big Mig to get past. That 7 grand tours including 5 TdF's in a row and two years in a row of the Giro/TdF double. And he could loftier goals like Eddy Merckx gt victories. I certainly hope AC doesn't turn into a TdF specialist.

USAZorro

Thanks. I see part of the proceeds go to charity, but $65.00+ for a ball cap, (delivered) is more than I want to pay.

gnome

the hour.

USAZorro

Cancellara or Tony Martin would seem more likely candidates for that.

ultraman6970

Actually there are only two that have won the triple crown. The Giro, the Tour and the Worlc Cup the same year, Stephen Roche, and Eddy Merxls.

The big problem with Contador is that he is just like ELMO, everything with him is like Elmo... so eventhought the guy is maybe the best rider ever he doest have the charisma, the brains or anything of what Eddy, Lance, Hinault and Lemond had. If you ask somebody that is not familiar with the sport hey have no idea who this kid is, but people know eddy, or Lance. Probably he will win whatever he wants but there is something missing from him that makes him almost imperceptible by the rest of the world, even the peloton. Thats the reason i dont like this kid, he is just like darn elmo.

Sincerely doubt he will win the tour, some stuff it will happen. This years tour is the weirdest ever, a lot of good racers coming back, routing is different. And if he wins, ok nothing it will happen. All will continue peacefull as always. I believe contador needs to prove everybody the cojones he has (vino does it all the time), he always look like racing very carefully... like... im going to screw up or not? Probably the best is just leave him do to whatever he wants and crush everybody how it should have been a few years ago. Cancelara does that and it did at the beginning of the season. Dont know why AC is so careful... I had his talent i would have sent LA and everybody to hell since day one and i would have won those tours just like eddy did.. taking HOURS ahead of everybody!

HigherGround

Arm wrestling Eddy Merckx.

colombo357

He needs to win all the spring classics, the world championships (both rr and tt) and olympic rr. If he doesn't succeed, that means he sux.

bikeride

The rainbow jersey. You gotta have a rainbow jersey. Heck, even Lance, the TdF specialist, has one.

USAZorro

There's no comparison between Cancellara's riding in one day races, and anyone riding in a three week stage race.

Part of Contador's cautiousness was Bruyneel's doing. Will be interesting to see how differently he approaches the race this year.

DXchulo

I also hope he doesn't try for 8 Tours. It would be an amazing feat, yet kind of boring.

You can say he lacks certain things, but I was impressed how early this year it seemed like he wanted to win every race he was in. He said he wasn't out to win the Dauphine, but it's so close to the Tour and obviously the Tour outweighs it.

He's doing the Giro next year, and I doubt that means he'll skip the Tour. I don't see why he couldn't do a Giro/Tour double. He'd be a killer on the steep Giro climbs. At the Tour who's his competition besides Schleck? I think that will be the most interesting part about this year, actually--Who gets 3rd place?

I like the idea of piling up GT wins. He'll have 5 by age 27. I think 10 would be possible for him. Once he starts getting older he can pick and choose the one that suits him best.

Keith99

I know a bit about Eddy. I could seem his biggest fan here, but I'm a bigger fan of the truth. His biggest time margin was in 1969 at 17 minutes 54 seconds. No rider in the modern (post WW II) has even come clsoe to winning by an hour, let alone hours. But he did also manage to win the KOM and Points jerseys, win the last stage and also lead his team to the team championship.

ultraman6970

We need a thread called... Contador Unleashed or something and then predicts what he could do in the TDF or in his carreer...

DXchulo

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/riis...gning-contador

Riis wants him to go for it. I hope they try.

gear

He's done it in thirteen months, now he should try and do it in six.

colombo357

Would open the door wide open for Schleck in the TDF. I don't think it's going to happen and I don't think Contador does either unless they bump the Giro forward a month.

gear

Right now he's saying he will ride the Giro next year.

Hezz

What does Contador have now. 5 total grand tour victories. I think it's pretty risky for him to think that he will eclipse Armstong's 7 TDF victories. But he could easily exceed 7 total grand tour victories. Something that Lance never did.

However, we are facing a future where more riders and teams may have to ride clean more often. And in this milieu it will be very difficult to do a 7 in a row TDF wins.

OrionKhan

I think its a matter of what Contador thinks is the bigger achievement. To me, 7 TdF victories is great, but Indurain's 4 gt's in 2 years is greater. Giro/TdF wins two years in a row. Something Lance never attempted to due until a year ago. And Merckx's total number of gt wins also eclipses LA accomplishment.

DXchulo

Some Contador quotes here: https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cont...nd-tour-triple

I'm not sure how serious he is about this. He sounds kind of like some of those guys who talk about the hour record but never end up making an actual attempt.