Contador right on time in Dauphine prologue
Source: Agencies |
June 8, 2010, Tuesday
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ALBERTO Contador wasted no time in showing he was ready for his big event of the year, the Tour de France, when he won the 6km prologue of the Criterium du Dauphine in France on Sunday.
Ahead of what is often considered a dress rehearsal for the world's biggest race, the two-time Tour champion had claimed he only came on the week-long race in the Alps to work on his form and try his new time-trial bike.
The Spaniard obviously adjusted quickly to the new machine, outclassing the rest of the field in eight minutes and 34 seconds.
"It's unbelievable to win here but it has nothing to do with lakes," said Contador, who had won the final time trial of the 2009 Tour in a rather similar setting in Annecy.
"I feel it was perfect training with the new bike. Today, the descent was very technical but I rode well," he added.
The Astana team leader won ahead of two of the most promising riders in the bunch, American Tejay Van Garderen of Team Columbia and Slovenia's Janez Brajkovic, a teammate of Lance Armstrong in the RadioShack crew.
Armstrong, who often used the Dauphine as a warm-up race for the Tour, shunned it this year in favor of the Tour of Luxembourg, in which he came third on Sunday.
Van Garderen, one of his country's leading prospects, finished two seconds off the pace while Brajkovic was five seconds slower than Contador.
Clad in his Spanish champion jersey, Contador perfectly mastered the tricks of a short yet tricky and hilly ride along the French shores of Lake Geneva at an average speed of 47.6kph.
If Briton Geraint Thomas made the best of his track skills to take fourth place, 10 seconds adrift, most of Contador's leading rivals fared rather poorly. Russian Denis Menchov lost 24 seconds while Olympic champion Samuel Sanchez of Spain squandered 34 seconds.
Even Scot David Millar, who might fare better in Saturday's 49km timed effort in Sorgues, relinquished 15 seconds on a terrain which seemed to favour his time-trial qualities.
The 191km first stage to St Laurent du Pont is a bumpy one but could suit sprinters as well.
Contador is not bidding for a stage win.
Ahead of what is often considered a dress rehearsal for the world's biggest race, the two-time Tour champion had claimed he only came on the week-long race in the Alps to work on his form and try his new time-trial bike.
The Spaniard obviously adjusted quickly to the new machine, outclassing the rest of the field in eight minutes and 34 seconds.
"It's unbelievable to win here but it has nothing to do with lakes," said Contador, who had won the final time trial of the 2009 Tour in a rather similar setting in Annecy.
"I feel it was perfect training with the new bike. Today, the descent was very technical but I rode well," he added.
The Astana team leader won ahead of two of the most promising riders in the bunch, American Tejay Van Garderen of Team Columbia and Slovenia's Janez Brajkovic, a teammate of Lance Armstrong in the RadioShack crew.
Armstrong, who often used the Dauphine as a warm-up race for the Tour, shunned it this year in favor of the Tour of Luxembourg, in which he came third on Sunday.
Van Garderen, one of his country's leading prospects, finished two seconds off the pace while Brajkovic was five seconds slower than Contador.
Clad in his Spanish champion jersey, Contador perfectly mastered the tricks of a short yet tricky and hilly ride along the French shores of Lake Geneva at an average speed of 47.6kph.
If Briton Geraint Thomas made the best of his track skills to take fourth place, 10 seconds adrift, most of Contador's leading rivals fared rather poorly. Russian Denis Menchov lost 24 seconds while Olympic champion Samuel Sanchez of Spain squandered 34 seconds.
Even Scot David Millar, who might fare better in Saturday's 49km timed effort in Sorgues, relinquished 15 seconds on a terrain which seemed to favour his time-trial qualities.
The 191km first stage to St Laurent du Pont is a bumpy one but could suit sprinters as well.
Contador is not bidding for a stage win.
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