Any of Alberto Contador’s Vuelta rivals who were hoping the Spaniard would be far off good condition after his six month suspension from racing will be disconcerted by his display in the Eneco Tour.
While Contador was not strong enough to take the final stage or the overall victory, he nevertheless performed well on a course that did not suit his characteristics. He was one of the most aggressive riders in yesterday’s finale, attacking on cobbled climbs more suited to Classic specialists, and ended up eighth at the line and fourth in the final general classification.
The Vuelta is the first big target after his return and, worryingly for his rivals, he believes he’s on course to challenge.
“Even though we mostly rode on flat courses, this has been a convincing week of racing for me. I’m in good shape. I’ve felt better and better every day and I believe there’s still room for improvement in the coming week,” the Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank rider proclaimed. “I’m also delighted by the way the team rode for me the whole week.”
In truth, the Vuelta route could hardly be better for him, with ten summit finishes giving him a platform to attack his rivals and narrow down the tussle to just a few specialists. His team sounds confident that he can achieve his target of winning a second edition of the race.
“We’ve often been asked when Alberto will take the lead at the Vuelta but I don’t think it’s in our interest to have the red jersey too early,” said directeur sportif Bradley McGee. “Knowing Alberto, he’ll take it when it comes. He just loves to race. But we just have to concentrate on final details, stay focused all the way and recover when we can.
“There’s no way we’ll envisage by how much he’ll win the Vuelta,” he continued. “This is what makes it difficult to win. I guess Chris Froome will be the main rival. Our advantage will be that even Sky, with all their strength, would have a hard time dominating two Grand Tours the same year. However, I don’t think the challenge will come from individuals riding for GC, but from riders who have nothing to lose.”
Contador will be backed by compatriots Jesus Hernandez, Daniel Navarro and Benjamin Noval, plus Rafael Majka, Bruno Pires and Sergio Paulinho of Portugal, the Italian Matteo Tossato and the Dane Nicki Sorensen.
Navarro and Majka showed well in the recent Tour de l’Ain, with the former winning stage three and finishing third overall, and the latter netting second place on the toughest stage. They and the rest of the team will be fully committed to the leader and if Contador can indeed built on his Eneco Tour condition, he should be in a realistic position to chase the red jersey of race leader.