Giro D'Italia 2015

[Vader]

Where will Contador rate all time after this Giro?

He's just the 2nd rider to win all 3 of the Grand Tours twice, joining Bernard Hinault. He now has 2x Tours, 3x Vueltas and 2x Giros.

The all-time list of Grand Tour winners is as follows:
Eddy Merckx - 11
Bernard Hinault - 10
Jacques Anquetil - 8
Miguel Indurain, Fausto Coppi, Alberto Contador - 7

He's currently equal 4th on the all-time list. He'd be a clear 3rd if he was allowed to include the 2010 TdF and 2011 Giro from which he was excluded due to his doping offence.

 

[matty p]

He's just the 2nd rider to win all 3 of the Grand Tours twice, joining Bernard Hinault. He now has 2x Tours, 3x Vueltas and 2x Giros.

The all-time list of Grand Tour winners is as follows:
Eddy Merckx - 11
Bernard Hinault - 10
Jacques Anquetil - 8
Miguel Indurain, Fausto Coppi, Alberto Contador - 7

He's currently equal 4th on the all-time list. He'd be a clear 3rd if he was allowed to include the 2010 TdF and 2011 Giro from which he was excluded due to his doping offence.

Plus he'd be the only rider in history to have won each Grand Tour three times. Definitely one of the all time greats.

 

[ben_1301]

The next big question is how much this has taken out of Contador and what it does to his chances of backing up in Le Tour? The climbs in Le Tour aren't quite as nasty as those in the Giro, but the opposition will be stronger. Nibali rides for Astana and his baseline ability is higher than Aru's, presumably with the same doping program in place that they used for the Giro. Then there's Froome, UK Postal and their chemical enhancements. Contador isn't clean, not by any stretch of the imagination, but he's up against two riders backed by the most comprehensive and effective doping programs of the last decade - doping programs that Saxo Tinkoff haven't been able to match.

Contador got away with the Giro because Astana backed the wrong horse. They thought Aru was their best hope, when it turned out that Landa's drug program had turned him into an absolute beast and their best rider by a country mile. With UK Postal working for Froome and Astana working for Nibali, he'll have two teams operating with the sole purpose of beating him. I'm not sure he'll have the legs, or the ability to counter two powerful and drug enhanced teams.

And to think not one of those three will win the Tour!

 

[blue gunslinger]

Really enjoyed the epic 2nd last stage : not sure Le tour will match it