Although Alberto Contador has today announced that he will compete in the Tour de France, the Spaniard has said that he is cautious about the after-effects of his Giro d’Italia victory and he knows that this could make the Tour campaign a very difficult one.
“If I go to the Tour, it is to try to fight for victory. But that’s always from the standpoint of how the legs are, compared to other years when I’ve been fresh,” he told Europa Press.
“I have been studying the route and I think the last week could seem long for me. The drain of contesting the Giro and the previous races could cause the final week, at best, to weigh a bit on my shoulders. We can just take it day by day until the end, and see how it works out.”
Many of the riders in last year’s Giro struggled to replicate that form at the Tour. The winner Ivan Basso was only 32nd in France, while others who rode both and were below-par in the second include Alexandre Vinokourov, Bradley Wiggins and Cadel Evans.
The latter was injured during the July race, and attributed much of his folding in the Tour to that. Still, this year’s Giro saw many of the Tour de France contenders stay away due to concerns about cracking in the second race due to going too deep in the first.
The 2011 edition of the Italian event poses an extra challenge due to its severity. Contador tested his form and came away knowing that he has some way to go in terms of recovering and sharpening up again.
“The test yesterday was not as positive as other occasions at this point,” he said. “But it is necessary to try to interpret everything in terms of the fatigue you get after a Grand Tour, particularly as this Giro has been the hardest of recent years,” he explained.
He admitted that it would be easier for him to simply concentrate on winning the Vuelta, repeating the double he pulled off in 2008. Despite that, though, he has decided to aim for the bigger target.
Mixed reactions certain:
Talking after today’s inaugural 'Primara Marcha Alberto Contador’ group ride, Contador told journalists that he and Saxo Bank SunGard team owner Bjarne Riis had spent a long time thinking about things and weighing up the options. The conclusion was that he should ride.
“We talked about the idea of going or not going, but there’s no doubt that it’s essential for the team that I am there,” he said. However he warned that the stronger lineup at the Tour plus the fatigue from Italy meant that it would be a tough challenge. “People want me to do the same thing has been done recently in the Giro and it is difficult,” he insisted.
A major additional factor to consider is the fact that he is returning to the race one year after testing positive for Clenbuterol. The reaction to him by the roadside, in the media and in cycling in general is certain to be a mixed one; some believe his account that his positive test for Clenbuterol came from tainted meat, while others question this explanation and so too his insistence that he has always ridden clean.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport is seeking to determine the truth, and will hear an appeal by WADA and the UCI against his clearing by his national federation, RFEC. That hearing was initially due to be held this month and a conclusion given before the Tour, but all parties recently agreed to postpone it until August.
As a result, he will head to France aware that an eventual ruling against him could see him lose his 2010 victory, his 2011 Giro result and, if he wins this year’s Tour, that title as well.
Alternatively, if he is cleared, his run of Grand Tour victories will continue.
One big target for him is to become the first since Marco Pantani back in 1998 to net Grand Tour victories in both countries. “It motivates me that it is almost fifteen years since anybody won the Giro and the Tour. It's a great challenge.”
Stepping stone to even bigger target:
Contador has also said in the past that he would love to be the first rider in history to take the treble of Giro, Tour and Vuelta in the same season. Whether or not he goes to the Vuelta this year, getting the first two of that triple is important vis-à-vis the bigger goal.
Aside from his recovery, his rivals will also play a big part in determining his chances of success. He said that he believes that the rider who finished as runner-up in 2009 and 2010, Andy Schleck, as being his biggest rival, along with his brother Frank. They chose to compete in the recent Amgen Tour of California rather than ride the Giro, and Contador said that he considered that they and their new Leopard-Trek team have been riding at a very high level.
He’s happy with what he has done thus far, though. “The season could not have been better. I managed to get a result in almost all the races I've gone to and the Giro has left me with an incredible taste,” he said. “The season is more than saved.”
Even so, he remains hungry and wants to chase more success in France.