Spaniard satisfied after final training camp
The goal for Astana’s captain Alberto Contador is the third Tour de France title and the teammates to help him achieve the goal have been announced. Alexandre Vinokourov, David De la Fuente, Andriy Grivko, Jesus Hernandez, Maxim Iglinskiy, Daniel Navarro, Benjamin Noval and Paolo Tiralongo are the eight riders to support Contador.
On Friday, Contador finished his final training camp in altitude. He was there with Navarro, Tiralongo, Noval, de la Fuente, Hernández and Óscar Pereiro. Pereiro is the only one from the list to miss the Tour. Most were expecting the 2006 winner to help his compatriot to a third Tour title.
The camp was in the Sierra de Madrid, with big climbs in the vicinity. Some time trial work was done as well. Among others, Contador went over the Bola del Mundo (2.247 m), the highest climb in the Sierra de Madrid, with sections of up to 20 percent. This climb will make its debut in this year’s Vuelta a España. “It is amazing, impressive. It has some very steep sections, where you need an adequate gearing,” Contador said. “I think on form, you need to at least mount a 36×28.”
The Spaniard feels ready for the Tour. “I am very content with the work that we did with all my teammates.” Contador travels to Rotterdam, for the start of the Tour, on Wednesday.
Interestingly, Vinokourov and Iglinskiy represent the only Kazakh’s on Astana’s Tour de France team, which is telling about their intentions for July. Last December the vice-president of the Kazakh Cycling Federation Nikolaï Proskurine told L’Equipe he wanted to have at least four riders from the team’s home country in the Grande Boucle. It seems the priorities have changed to fielding the best team to help Contador secure his third Tour crown.