Although his Saxo Bank Tinkoff Bank team placed seventh in today’s time trial, finishing behind the Movistar, Omega Pharma – Quickstep, Rabobank, BMC Racing, Sky and Lotto Belisol squads, Alberto Contador considers himself satisfied with the outcome.
The Spaniard said that it was a “very, very good time. I can be happy, the team has given everything and, independent of the result, I am very happy with the team and its motivation.”
Contador, Dani Navarro, Sergio Paulinho, Bruno Pires and Rafal Majka finished fourteen seconds off the best time. He was pleased with how his team-mates fared, believing they gave their utmost. “I had not seen them for a long time. Although there were only sixteen kilometres in a three week tour, every day is important and so I'm very happy.
“Now we have to go home and recover, tomorrow is a very demanding day.”
Contador did a lot of pulling at the front, compensating for the slight lack of TT firepower his team had compared with some of the other squads which finished ahead. He’s done the same in the past, and now the stage is out of the way, he’ll seek to recoup the lost time in the stages ahead.
Next up is Sunday’s race from Pamplona to Viana. It covers just over 184 kilometres and while it is rolling, a bunch sprint is possible.