Sunday 22 February 2015 18:04, UK
If ever there is a rider's interview quote to be taken with a helping of salt, it's that of Alberto Contador when he says he is not in ideal form for an upcoming race.
In inviting the casual observer to downplay his chances and expectations, the rider known as “El Pistolero” generally proceeds to shoot any such humble predictions to pieces by showing just what kind of form he is in.
So far, this has been the case at the Ruta del Sol, where Contador's commanding effort in the last 8km of stage three on Friday showed just where his winter training has placed him in respect of his peers.
For those salivating in anticipation at the prospect of big battles ahead, Chris Froome's slow but important recovery to limit time losses - which could have been much more significant - augurs well for the season ahead.
While many of us have been looking forward to the first mano-a-mano match-up between the two this season, we really only have glimpses of what's to come.
Contador is attempting to peak for both the Giro d'Italia in May as well as the Tour de France, while Froome is keeping his powder relatively dry for the big joust in July.
As such, their race preparation will be at very different stages this early in the year. Yes, much has been made of the rivalry between these two riders, but when each regards the other as their own biggest competition, we would do well to pay heed.
It is too early, and indeed dismissive of formidable competition, to get excited about any general classification battle royale, but events elsewhere have inspired excitement aplenty, though for rather different reasons.
Geraint Thomas' manner of taking the leader's jersey on stage two of the Volta ao Algarve was a relatively rare chance for the Welshman to enjoy the spoils of individual victory given the depth of his talent.
I say relatively rare given that we are talking about a multiple Olympic and world track champion, Commmonwealth road champion and a key aide in a Tour de France-winning team.
Yet for all his talent, there has been much speculation as to why he hasn't reaped as many rewards for himself as some would like.
Is it the unfortunate combination of bad luck and crashes, to which he seems so prone? Is it that within Team Sky he will necessarily be in the shadows of riders whose greater grand tour potential necessitates a supporting role?
Whatever the reason, team-mates, fans and commentators alike tend to celebrate when Thomas wins, if only because he is a good guy who works blummin' hard.
When he fractured his pelvis on stage one of the 2013 Tour de France in and needed help with the excruciating process of getting on his bike of a morning, he still continued the 2,000 miles to Paris to assist Chris Froome to victory.
Later that year, it struck me at the world road race championships that Thomas was the last man of British team on the wet and treacherous roads of Florence. With Sir Bradley Wiggins pulling out of the race soon after it hit the city circuit, others followed suit, much to the vocal dismay of team coach Rod Ellingworth.
That Thomas only abandoned when learning that his efforts to assist Chris Froome were fruitless, since the team leader was also now warming up on the team bus, speaks volumes of the rider.
At the risk of sounding premature, it's worth casting our minds back to last year, and the rider who won on corresponding stage of the 2014 Volta ao Algarve. Michal Kwiatkowski didn't have such a bad season following his overall race win.
Thomas may not be planning to follow the same trajectory and become world road race champion, but regardless of the general classification outcome on Sunday, the race so far should give confidence going into the classics. Let's just hope crashes don't get in the way.
Away from the road, on the track something equally exciting took place on the boards of Paris on Thursday evening, although for very different reasons.
After dominating with a four-year unbeaten run in the women's team pursuit, the British women's squad were comprehensively beaten by Australia at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships.
To rub salt in the wound, the Aussies smashed the British world record by three seconds. Three whole seconds. That's quite something.
As one might hope, though, it only seems to have fired up the competition. No team can continue to surpass itself without a credible challenger.
It must be said, however, that the British girls managed this for quite some time, breaking their own world records repeatedly. Joanna Rowsell has already warned her antipodean rivals that their time at the top won't last very long.
Such bravado is to be expected in elite sport but I love that there is now a real rivalry in the women's team pursuit, as there has been in the men's.
I love that the excitement attached to the women's event has come about after the number of riders and distance covered was changed to equal the men's. I have a feeling the women's team pursuit will now be one of the most exciting events to watch at the Rio de Janeiro velodrome as the men's event has been before.
And I Iove that the gauntlet has been thrown down at just the time in the Olympic cycle when the rivalry proper can begin.
Much as I'm looking forward to the 2016 Olympic Games, the build-up is part of the excitement. It looks like it has just begun.
