Racing hard since the start of the year but frustrated by a series of near misses, Alberto Contador has said that he wants to take time to pause before deciding if he will participate in the Ardennes Classics.
“Now I'll rest a little to see how the body reacts to these efforts of the early season and, more recently, the Vuelta al Pais Vasco,” he said. “From there we will decide what to do.”
Contador picked up his first win of the season on January 26th on stage six of the Tour de San Luis, but has not been able to clock up a victory since then. He’s gone close, netting second on a stage and second overall in the Tour of Oman, finishing third in Tirreno Adriatico and placing third on a stage and fifth overall in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco.
The results are all solid and would encourage many a Tour GC rider, but Contador is a competitor who wants to win throughout the year. He’s been racing flat out to try to add to his tally, and had more frustration in yesterday’s Klasika Primavera when he was caught within sight of the line.
“The legs were heavily burdened,” he said after the race. “The body feels the fatigue of all of these days, but although we could not win, we had fun.”
He attacked on the final climb of the race. “At the end only Beñat Intxausti and I were left. It was a pity that they caught us 25 meters to go and I was only third.” Rui Costa (Movistar) and Pablo Urtasun (Euskaltel Euskadi) got past him before the line, although he was able to hang on for that podium placing.
Contador now feels the need to take a break, suggesting that he has perhaps gone too deep too soon. “I started racing in January, in Argentina, and as I am a rider that always like to get into the battle in races, I did so at the Tour of San Luis. I didn’t have a sufficient base to get into such battles. Although I got good results there, it has taken its toll a little later.”
As a result, it remains to be seen if he will decide to do the Ardennes races. The first of those, the Amstel Gold Race, is in six days’ time.