Alberto Contador: I come to the Tour with serenity

“All Tours de France are special, but I come to this one with serenity as I’ve had good results since the beginning of the season”, said the leader of the Tinkoff-Saxo team. “I’m in good form. My condition reminds me the feelings I had at the start of the 2009 Tour de France and I rode incredibly well that summer. I don’t know if my form will allow me to beat Chris Froome who has won last year’s race with a big margin and he’s logically the hot favorite this time around. It’ll be hard to beat him if his level is superior to last year. But I believe other riders arrive here well prepared also. Three or four riders look like being alternatives for winning the Tour and I’m one of them. The most important will be to have the best state of form when we’ll hit the mountains.”
Questioned about the stages in Yorkshire and the north of France, Contador said: “The first week isn’t as crucial this year as in the editions with a prologue or a team time trial. Stages 2 and 5 can create differences. I have seen videos of stage 2. It’s a bit tricky. Many riders will be fresh and the wind might play an important role. I’ll have to remain focus at every moment of the race and I hope my legs will respond well. I’ve seen more of stage 5 by myself. My team has a lot of experience in riding on the cobblestones but that’s also the case for Froome’s team while Vincenzo Nibali’s team is also powerful and able to well on that terrain. I’ll face that stage with respect. It’ll be a survival exercise for all the GC contenders. The Tour can be lost on that day. Today it’s very difficult to make a prediction. I’ll race with a lot of motivation and once we’ll be back at the hotel, we’ll draw conclusions.”