Spaniard 'very happy' with condition ahead of double bid
Thursday 2 July 2015 18:02, UK
Alberto Contador has insisted he has fully recovered from his race-winning exertions at May’s Giro d’Italia and is in “good shape” ahead of his bid to complete the double at the Tour de France this month.
Contador is aiming to become the first man to win the Giro and Tour in the same year since Marco Pantani in 1998.
He will have had only 33 days of recovery time between the two grand tours, four of which were taken up by racing to victory at the Route de Sud in June.
The 32-year-old Spaniard, however, is adamant he is physically ready for what he believes will be the toughest Tour route he has ever ridden.
Speaking at his Tinkoff-Saxo team’s pre-race press conference, he said: "I was worried that I wouldn't recover well from the Giro, but I have done. Both my head and body are in good shape. It was maybe harder on my head [to recover] than anything else. Now it's up to me to take the Tour day by day.
"In my head I feel really motivated, and how my body will react is a new challenge, but I'm very happy with the condition I have. It's hard and it's going to be fundamental not to crash or fall off - and that's hard enough.”
Contador won the Tour in 2007 and 2009 but has not finished on the podium at the race since.
Although he is keen to end that run and add a third yellow jersey to his palmares, it is the history attached to winning the double that will serve as his primary motivation over the next three weeks.
He added: "If I were to win the Tour full stop, it wouldn't change my career so much. Something that people can remember is winning the Giro and the Tour in the same year.
"Everything in life is a challenge and a motivation and this is something that motivates me and drives me on.
"Having the Giro does make me feel a bit less stressed, but the Giro-Tour double is one victory, not two.”
Contador also won last September’s Vuelta a Espana, which means that if he claims the Tour title, he will become the first man since Bernard Hinault in 1982/83 and only the third rider in history to have been reigning champion in all three grand tours at the same time.
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