Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 5:43 am Post subject: Contador plays down losses
Defending champion Alberto Contador insisted he was satisfied with the opening mountain stage of the Tour de France despite losing further time to his rivals for overall glory in Paris.
The three-time champion began Thursday's 211-kilometre 12th stage across the Pyrenees from Cugnaux to Luz-Ardiden four minutes seven seconds behind race leader Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) - the Frenchman who successfully defended the maillot jaune on Bastille Day - and now sits four minutes behind.
Crucially, though, Contador is 2mins 11secs, 1:54 and 1:43 adrift of second-placed Frank Schleck, third-placed Evans and fourth-placed Andy Schleck, respectively.
The Schleck brothers (Leopard Trek) and Evans are likely to be Contador's main rivals for glory come July 24.
Contador, who won the Giro d'Italia in May, lost more than a minute on the opening stage on July 2 and has been caught up in numerous crashes since, while he has also been complaining of a sore knee.
He said: "It was finally a good day for me because my knee hurt since the Tourmalet and I was feeling very rough.
"I couldn't do anything more, Andy Schleck and Frank Schleck have improved their chances now and Evans and Ivan Basso are stronger.
"I have to race intelligently. I hope the knee gets a little bit better and I'm feeling a bit tired after the Giro.
"It could have been worse and I have to see what happens. Overall, I'm pleased."
Testing times
The Tourmalet was the decisive climb of the 2010 Tour, although the final result will be determined only after Contador appears before the Court of Arbitration for Sport next month.
Contador tested positive for clenbuterol on the second rest day of last year's Tour in Pau - where he and his Saxo Bank-SunGard team were staying on Thursday evening - and is the subject of a CAS hearing to determine his fate.
The 28-year-old Spaniard protests his innocence, attributing the adverse result to contaminated meat.
Contador appeared to be comfortable climbing the 17.1km Pyrenean peak, the Tour's first hors categorie (beyond category) climb, marking his rivals.
It was a race within a race, but Contador saw his resistance broken in the final 500metres of the final climb, the 13.3km ascent to Luz-Ardiden.
After an Andy Schleck attack and two from Frank Schleck, a third from the older Schleck brother saw him break clear.
Frank Schleck closed in on leading duo Samuel Sanchez and Jelle Vanendert (Omega Pharma-Lotto), while behind him Evans, Basso (Liquigas) and Andy Schleck continued to push at a high tempo.
Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) claimed victory, finishing seven seconds ahead of Vanendert, with Frank Schleck three seconds further back.
Basso was fourth, Evans fifth and Andy Schleck sixth, all three 30 seconds behind Sanchez - but crucially 13 seconds ahead of Contador.
Damiano Cunego (Lampre-ISD) was seventh, five seconds behind Basso's group, before Contador crossed the line in eighth, followed by Voeckler in ninth.
Brothers in arms
Frank Schleck said: "The plan was to make the whole race very hard beginning on the Tourmalet.
"We would see what happened with the general classification contenders and see what kind of selection we could make."
Andy Schleck added: "Frank was super strong. His attack was perfectly timed.
"We knew that if we attacked left, right, left, right, they would eventually have to let one of us get away.
"That was the plan, and it's exactly what happened."
Andy Schleck, the runner-up in each of the last two years, does not anticipate Contador's time loss will be have too great an impact, though.
He added: "The time Contador lost today won't make a difference in Paris.
"He is a great champion and he knows tomorrow is another day.
"He could come back and have a super strong day to put time into his rivals."
Voeckler now leads overall from Frank Schleck by 1:49.
He said: "In the last 10 kilometres I surprised myself. It's been hard but I'm very pleased."
Olympic champion Sanchez, too, was delighted.
The Spaniard, who finished fourth overall in 2010, said: "The only goal of the day was to win this stage.
"Now I have the polka-dot jersey, but that is just a bonus."
When later he competed in the Alps for the first time, he fell behind the peloton. So this week, as the Tour celebrates its 100th anniversary in the Alps, Thomson’s experiences illustrate what those mountains often mean to cyclists: part poetry, part pain.
“I’m sure those incredible images that captivated me have had the same effect on millions of cyclists throughout the past 100 years,” Thomson wrote in an e-mail.
To commemorate the anniversary, officials scheduled this week of the Tour de France in the Alps, and filled it with four mountaintop finishes, including the highest finish, in elevation, in Tour history. The entire race features 23 “level two,” “level one” or “highest level” mountain passes or summits. The cyclists will encounter 10 of those in the Alps; a fitting — and steep — tribute.
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