Vying to become the first rider in 13 years to do the Giro-Tour double, Alberto Contador has admitted that riding the Italian Grand Tour has potentially hurt his chances of winning the French event.
“It’s always very hard to get the victory in the Tour, even doing everything specifically for that,” he told Sporza. “The best preparation for the Tour is not going to the Giro, especially this year because it was one of the toughest Giros in history. I see it as being difficult [to win],” he says.
Contador won the Giro decisively, taking two stage victories along the way and ending the race a clear six minutes ten seconds clear of Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD) and six minutes 56 ahead of Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale).
Since then he’s rested, then started doing altitude training and reconnaissance of the Tour de France climbs. He said that he still doesn’t feel like he has recovered. “I still have fatigue in my legs. I'm a little more recovered, but the muscle still feel the Giro,” he said. As a result of that, he believes that it has made his bid to win the Tour “very difficult and complicated.”
However he has by no means given up hope. He will ride the Spanish time trial and road race championships this week, then continue giving himself time to recover. That might mean that he starts the Tour less than at 100 percent, but he believes that he will settle in and get stronger in time.
“I am a rider who doesn’t notice the lack of competition too much,” he said. “If I work hard, I can easily pick up the pace. The first mountain stage is the twelfth day. I think it's good preparation. The important thing now is rest.”
Several of his team-mates have however said that he is riding well, and so it remains to be seen if he is bluffing or not. The Spanish championships will give a better insight into his form.
As regards the Giro-Tour double, Stephen Roche wrote in his autobiography about advice given to him by Jacques Anquetil. Roche won both races in 1987; Anquetil did the feat in 1964 and, 23 years later, spoke to Roche about the matter as he prepared for the French race.
He told him that year’s Tour was the most difficult of his five to win, because of his exertions in Italy. However he added that doing the Giro first also made it possible for him to dig deeper than usual, and that this would counterbalance the fatigue.
Contador will soon have the chance to see if that also applies to him.
He is riding the race after an appeal before the Court of Arbitration for Sport in relation to his Clenbuterol positive was delayed until after the Tour.