Tour favourite admits he’s not as fresh as in the Giro d’Italia but blames stage one crash for putting him out of current contention
Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-SunGard) has admitted that he may not be able to rely on his time trialling prowess to win the Tour de France, according to Sporza. As the race stands on the second rest day the Spanish favourite is exactly four minutes behind yellow jersey Thomas Voeckler (Europcar), and 2’11” behind Fränk Schleck (Leopard Trek), the best-placed of the riders that he sees as his competition for the overall title.
He is also placed 1’54” behind Cadel Evans (BMC Racing), the best time triallist of the major contenders.
Much of the reason for Contador’s poor position in the overall classification, relative to his rivals, is thanks to the crash on stage one. The Saxo Bank-SunGard rider was caught behind the incident with eight kilometres to go and lost 1’20” to stage winner Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto).
Since then he has kept his time losses to a minimum, although the stage two team time trial cost him 28 seconds, and Fränk Schleck’s late attack on Luz-Ardiden took a further 33. It was the stage one crash that has cost him most though, for more than one reason.
"If I hadn’t lost time in the first stage, I would now be in a position to win the Tour," he told Saxo Bank-SunGard’s rest day press conference.
Not only was the time lost costly though, but the crashes in the first week have prevented him from riding with his usual prowess in the mountains. While he has been able to follow virtually all of the attacks, he has not been able to launch any decisive moves of his own.
"Because of the pain in my knee I’ve had to adjust my pedal stroke and I had to compensate with my other knee,” he said. “But now my is knee better again."
If, as he claims, his knee problems are over, Contador is likely to attempt some of his devastating mountain accelerations, the kind that won him the stage to Verbier in the 2009 Tour, and Mount Etna in this year's Giro d'Italia. Whether he will have the fitness to sustain such an attack remains to be seen.
Having ridden a tougher build up to the race this season than virtually anybody, with a victory in one of the hardest Giri d’Italia in years, Contador admits that he is a little jaded. He also concedes that he will not be able to solely rely on the final time trial to put him into yellow in Paris.
"I'm not as good or as fresh as in the Giro,” he admitted, “but I will be better in the Alps than in the Pyrenees. I will take the slightest opportunity to take back time. I also definitely have to make up time before the time trial.
“I can’t win the Tour if I can’t take back some time before the time trial on Saturday."
In top form Contador should have nothing to worry about from any of the overall contenders against the clock. In the Annecy time trial in 2009, which he won, he beat Andy Schelck by 1’45”, Fränk Schleck by 2’34”, and Evans by 1’14”. In 2010 though, where he was visibly less dominant than the previous year, he only managed to beat Andy Schleck by 31 seconds.
In 2007, when he was battling to win his first Tour, he lost to Evans by 1’27” in the Cognac time trial, although this was four years ago.
Certainly, on paper, Evans would be his biggest rival, should the race come down to the final time trial; with the Australian appearing to be on top form, and Contador not, Evans would likely come out on top.