Recent focus on five-time Grand Tour winner's time trial position paid off in Murcia victory
While Alberto Contador's future still looks murky as he waits to see what the UCI's next move will be, the three-time Tour de France champion's season took off last week at the Vuelta a Murcia. The Spaniard won the final two stages and the overall at the three day race. The first win came on a difficult mountain stage, and the second came in the race concluding time trial.
Following Contador's sizzling effort in the time trial, which cemented his overall triumph, the normally laconic Saxo Bank manager, Bjarne Riis, was effusive in his praise of the Pinto native.
"Contador is the strongest rider I've ever had on my team, and that applies in comparison with Tyler Hamilton, Ivan Basso, Carlos Sastre, and Andy Schleck. Alberto is of the same caliber as Eddy Merckx, Lance Armstrong, Bernard Hinault, and Miguel Indurain," said Riis to Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport.
It's not often that a rider comes along that is more or less equally as good in the time trial as he is in the mountains. Lance Armstrong was the last to manage the feat, but Contador was certainly born a pure, explosive climber, making his prowess in the time trials all the more impressive.
"He's a fantastic climber, because he's simply an animal in the mountains, and in the time trials, he manages to almost pull off the same power."
How much? The pink paper, La Gazzetta, estimated his average wattage in the neighborhood of 430 to 440 watts for the 14 minutes and 10 seconds it took him to cover the 12.4 kilometer course. That's a 52.518 kph average.
Riis isn't too concerned with Contador's numbers in the time trial though, instead, the former Amstel Gold Race winner sees the five-time Grand Tour winner's aerodynamic improvements as essential to his success.
"In the time trial, it is more about the aerodynamics. Contador already had a good time trial position on the bike before, but I had some new ideas that we have worked on over the winter. We have made some small, but important changes. He's now more compact on the bike."
The changes didn't come without their share of pain and struggle though. In the team's recently completed training camp in Mallorca, Contador and his teammates spent a difficult four and a half hours straight on their time trial steeds in hopes of honing their positions to perfection.
Afterwards, Contador admitted it wasn't the easiest of days, but the fruits weren't long in coming.
"I often train for the time trial, but I've never ridden 150 kilometers in one day before. It was very hard, but now you can see the result! We have worked to find a compromise between speed and comfort, and the last position we worked on, was the one I used in Murcia."
Contador's excellent time trial in Murcia was a welcome return to the type of effort against the clock that the still only 28 year old rider built a reputation on over the last few years. The 2010 season did not see nearly the same caliber of time trialist as in years past. That's something that Bjarne Riis hopes to resolve, as his team leader sets his sights on not only the Tour de France, but the Giro d'Italia as well.
Alberto Contador's 2011 campaign will continue with the Volta a Catalunya, March 21-27.