How to climb like Alberto Contador

Alberto Contador is one of the best climbers of his generation. He’s explosive, races on instinct, and has his own unique technique of climbing - primarily out of the saddle. GCN had the opportunity to join team Tinkoff-Saxo at their training camp and got this rare footage of Contador and talks to him about his style.

Tags: Alberto Contador

allthegearandnoidea

Excellent stuff - love GCN.
Aussie Bazza

That’s a great interview. Great to see Contador has a sense of humour.
- Demi mate
  
  You may also say ‘great to see Contador portrayed as a normal human being’. Funny how the comments a public figure attracts based on their accessibility by journalists from one’s own cultural group may vary accordingly.
  - velocite
    
    An excellent point. Public personas are apt to be cardboard cutouts, not real people at all. Contador used to ‘El Pistolero’, associated with arrogant posing and suspect attacks, quite a negative image. That interview did show a human being, an impressive one at that. Conducting the interview on the bike is a terrific idea, removes the tension and makes for interesting scenery as we listen. GCN did one with Chris Froome, I think during last year’s Vuelta, at least it was screened during it. His public persona is nice guy, but who believed it? After this interview I did.
    
    Love to see more of these. One with Simon Gerrans would be excellent. Having a better appreciation of the person might cause people to be less likely to abuse.
    - Whippet
      
      To follow up on Demi mate and velocite’s points, I have always liked Contador. He is an exciting rider to watch. But I notice that many native English speakers don’t like him. Part of the reason is probably because most of his interviews are in Spanish. It is much easier to hate an abstraction than a human. Perhaps he realised as much and has decided it is good for his public image to do this type of interview.
      - velocite
        
        I think that Russian chap is pretty out there with the PR. He might have something to do with that.
    - Dave
      
      Gerro would evade and obfuscate all the way through the interview, and only answer a question in the last 15 seconds.
      - velocite
        
        Dave, you just demonstrated why ‘getting to know the human being’ interviews are a good idea.
Stompin

Really, really enjoyed that interview with Alberto Contador. Top bloke.