Tour 2015: Alberto Contador | Tinkoff-Saxo
FACT FILE
Reason enough to worry? Maybe not. Contador remains a formidable rider when he hits the front — briefly losing the lead to Fabio Aru after being caught behind a crash on stage 13 of the Giro was the first time he had ever had to surrender a Grand Tour leader’s jersey. But his rivals will have noticed the little wobble in the race’s penultimate stage that cost him a couple of minutes. If he is going to pick up his first Tour win for six years, he will need to be rock-solid.
Age: 32
Height: 1.76m
Weight: 62kg
WorldTour ranking: 2
Wins in 2015: 4
Career wins: 61
Days racing in 2015: 44
Best Tour GC finish: Winner
(2007, 2009)
Km raced in 2015: 7,291
Form rating: ++++
From one angle, two-time Tour champion Alberto Contador’s season is coming to the boil at the perfect time. After a quiet start to 2015, he brushed off an early crash at the Giro d’Italia to throttle the life out of the race in its final week, and his single-minded drive up the Mortirolo on stage 16 was something to behold. His main Tour challengers, though, were elsewhere. While he left a Quintana in his wake in Italy, it was Dayer rather than older brother Nairo; and it was the latter who took the honours at Tirreno-Adriatico in March, when the Spaniard could only manage fifth. Chris Froome beat him at the Ruta del Sol, and Richie Porte and Alejandro Valverde saw him off in Catalonia.
Height: 1.76m
Weight: 62kg
WorldTour ranking: 2
Wins in 2015: 4
Career wins: 61
Days racing in 2015: 44
Best Tour GC finish: Winner
(2007, 2009)
Km raced in 2015: 7,291
Form rating: ++++
From one angle, two-time Tour champion Alberto Contador’s season is coming to the boil at the perfect time. After a quiet start to 2015, he brushed off an early crash at the Giro d’Italia to throttle the life out of the race in its final week, and his single-minded drive up the Mortirolo on stage 16 was something to behold. His main Tour challengers, though, were elsewhere. While he left a Quintana in his wake in Italy, it was Dayer rather than older brother Nairo; and it was the latter who took the honours at Tirreno-Adriatico in March, when the Spaniard could only manage fifth. Chris Froome beat him at the Ruta del Sol, and Richie Porte and Alejandro Valverde saw him off in Catalonia.
Reason enough to worry? Maybe not. Contador remains a formidable rider when he hits the front — briefly losing the lead to Fabio Aru after being caught behind a crash on stage 13 of the Giro was the first time he had ever had to surrender a Grand Tour leader’s jersey. But his rivals will have noticed the little wobble in the race’s penultimate stage that cost him a couple of minutes. If he is going to pick up his first Tour win for six years, he will need to be rock-solid.
Key support
Now the UCI has dropped its biological passport case against Roman Kreuziger, it looks like Tinkoff-Saxo’s big guns — Kreuziger, Michael Rogers and Ivan Basso — will come together for this Tour. All three were with Contador at the Giro and emerged unscathed, and they look to have put good mileage in their legs this season without being overworked. The trio can boast eight top-10 GC finishes between them at the Tour, as well as around 40 years of experience, and Rogers and Basso in particular will offer the wise old heads that every Tour winner requires.
Now the UCI has dropped its biological passport case against Roman Kreuziger, it looks like Tinkoff-Saxo’s big guns — Kreuziger, Michael Rogers and Ivan Basso — will come together for this Tour. All three were with Contador at the Giro and emerged unscathed, and they look to have put good mileage in their legs this season without being overworked. The trio can boast eight top-10 GC finishes between them at the Tour, as well as around 40 years of experience, and Rogers and Basso in particular will offer the wise old heads that every Tour winner requires.
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