Dane says Schlecks have to attack Evans
Saxo Bank-Sungard, the team of defending Tour de France champion Alberto Contador, hopes the Spaniard will take time back from his rivals when the race heads for its first mountain stage tomorrow. Contador lost time on stage one due to a crash and then lost a few more seconds when his team was slower than that of his rival’s teams on stage two’s team time trial.
He currently trails Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team) by 1’41” and Andy Schleck (Leopard Trek) by 1’30”.
One of Contador’s loyal men in the mountains will be Chris Anker Sørensen. Speaking of tomorrow’s 211km thriller he told Feltet.dk, “I think we’ll see attacks. Alberto should get some of the lost time back, so it’s clear that he is going out and attacking.”
The Dane, who rode in support of Andy and Frank Schleck in previous editions of the race, will hope to be an ally to his team captain who he believes is still in contention for victory. Sørensen also said the Schleck brothers have got to attack Evans and gain time on him, as he is likely to benefit from the time trial on the penultimate day of the race in Grenoble.
Sørensen also predicted that other favourites will be aggressive. “Ivan Basso and Robert Gesink have got to go out and attack, so I think it gets really exciting.”
The first half of tomorrow’s stage is flat until the peloton reaches La Hourquette d’Ancizan, a climb that ascends up to 1538 meters. Next they’ll tackle the Col du Tourmalet before finishing with the climb to Luz-Ardiden. The last time the race finished there was in 2003 when Lance Armstrong won the day.