www.albertocontadornotebook.info - Alberto Contador Fans Notebook



CONTADOR IN AALBORG CRIT TODAY

August 18, 2015 - Giro champ visits Denmark for exhibition appearance


Alberto Contador will ride the Aalborg Mægleren Grand Prix this evening in Denmark. He'll be joined by his brother Fran, Tinkoff-Saxo teammates Michael Valgren, Christopher Juul Jensen and Michael Mørkøv, and a strong roster of Danish talent.

The Aalborg Grand Prix will take place over a 2.2-km circuit in Aalborg City. The event is sponsored by Restaurant MEAT.

If you're not one of the nearly 20,000 people expected to attend today, you can see the event on television HERE at 18:15 CET (11:15 US CDT).


MAGLIA ROSA RIDES AGAIN IN DUTCH CRITERIUM

August 17, 2015 - Contador wins the road race event in Etten-Leur


Profronde Etten-Leur 2015

Alberto Contador shows off the maglia rosa in the Etten-Leur criterium (Profronde Etten-Leur)

Alberto Contador, reigning champion of the Giro d'Italia, won the road race portion of the PROFWIELERRONDE ETTEN-LEUR 2015 yesterday in front of a huge and jovial crowd in the Netherlands. Contador stood out in a strong field of mostly Dutch riders, by virtue of both his VIP role and his raspberry sorbet-colored Giro champion's jersey.

Tom Dumoulin won the time trial in a comeback from serious injury sustained at the Tour de France. Chris Froome won the day overall with the highest tally from the time trial, the road race and the points race.

Final podium:

1 Froome, 2 Contador, Mollema


TODAY: PROFWIELERRONDE ETTEN-LEUR

August 16, 2015 - Contador rides Dutch criterium as season winds to a close


Alberto Contador will participate in the criterium PROFWIELERRONDE ETTEN-LEUR 2015 today in the Netherlands, where he will line up for three events along with Tom Dumoulin, Bauke Mollema, Chris Froome and others. The criterium is sponsored by Rabobank.

Profronde Etten-Leur schedule:
13:30 - Presentation
14:00 - Time trial
14:30 - Road race
17:00 - Points race


UPDATE: NO SAN SEBASTIÁN FOR CONTADOR

August 1, 2015 - Alberto is under the weather


Alberto Contador will not ride the Clásica San Sebastián today after all. He has announced via Twitter that he's not feeling well and is sorry to miss the Saturday race. Roman Kreuziger will take his place as captain of Tinkoff-Saxo.


CONTADOR WILL RIDE SAN SEBASTIÁN

July 26, 2015 - Alberto will wrap up 2015 season next Saturday in the one-day classic, take a break, and get down to brass tacks for 2016


Alberto Contador before Stage 2 of the Tour de France

Alberto Contador in the salad days of the 2015 Tour (Colin Flockton)

It’s done: Alberto Contador has completed the 2015 Tour de France in fifth place overall. But he´ll be back on the bike one more time – next Saturday, August 1, at the Clásica San Sebastián – before closing the book on this season. When he gets back to the office, he’ll start preparations for his 2016 season.

“I haven’t gone in a couple of years, and I want to say goodbye to the year there before taking a vacation,” Contador said of the the Basque classic that’s a mainstay of Tour de France GC men. “We’re starting a rest period now, and after San Sebastián I’ll gradually decrease time on the bike.”

With San Sebastián, Contador will have completed 66 days of racing in 2015. He placed 2nd in Andalucía, 5th in Tirreno-Adriatico, 4th in the Volta a Catalunya, 1st in the Giro, 1st at Ruta del Sol, and 5th at the Tour de France. “I want to rest well because this year has been really hard,” he said.

“I’ll prepare meticulously for next year, with the objective of doing a good beginning to the season and later the Tour. I’ll start to train a little earlier, in order to arrive at the first races with a good foundation,” Contador added.

About the final podium of this Tour, he said, “Of course it’s fair, the riders who are going to be up there have been the strongest by a margin. I’d like to be on the highest step, but there are times when you can do that and other times when you can’t; when you’re there, you enjoy it more.”

Riding for Tinkoff-Saxo in the Clásica San Sebastián: Alberto Contador, Jesús Hernández, Sergio Paulinho, Mauele Boaro, Oliver Zaugg, Roman Kreuziger, Rafal Majka


102ND TOUR DE FRANCE

July 4-26, 2015


GO TO 2015 TOUR DE FRANCE


CONTADOR WINS ROUTE DU SUD

June 21, 2015 - Alberto earns another overall title less than three weeks after Giro triumph


Orangeman

Route du Sud winner Alberto Contador flanked by Latour and Quintana (Colin Flockton)

Stage 4, June 21: Revel - Gaillac, 166 km

Alberto Contador took the overall win in the 39th Route du Sud today, adding the triumph to his palmarés only 22 days after winning the Giro d’Italia. Contador got his fourth win of the season by finishing safely in the bunch sprint behind stage winner Bryan Coquard, then claimed the winner’s cup on the podium with Nairo Quintana, 2nd, and Pierre-Roger Latour, 3rd. He now becomes only the second Spanish winner in the history of the Pyrenean stage race, following Óscar Sevilla (2007).

“I’m really happy with this result. We weren’t thinking about the victory; we wanted to do well in yesterday’s stage and my team has supported me really well. We have to be aware that the level of seriousness will really ratchet up in thirteen days in Utrecht, at the startline of the Tour. I’m going to keep focusing on my preparation, with the goal of arriving at the start in the best form possible. As of this very moment, all I have to do is rest and recover so that I’m at 100% when I get there,” Alberto said.

Alberto was sheltered by his teammates throughout today’s ride, which was a far cry from yesterday’s queen stage in terms of interest. The Tinkoff-Saxo squad drove the pace in the pack while keeping the breakaway on a short leash. “It was a hot day and it was all about controling the race and defending our position. The whole team worked hard and I’d like to thank all of them for their effort. I feel proud of them.”

What happens between now and the Fourth of July, when the riders will rev their engines at the startline of the Tour de France? “Basically, recovering from the efforts. These four days have been demanding, and very good for getting the speed back in my legs. And now what we have to do is fool around with rest and a little training, but only light training. The job is already done; now what’s important is that the body recover.”

“Winning always makes you happy, but this changes nothing and you can’t relax. You have to be aware that every race is different. I think that it would be a serious mistake on my part to think like that,” said Alberto.

ACCORDING TO…

Patxi Vila, Tinkoff-Saxo DS: ""Although it might have looked like an easy final stage, it turned out to be harder than expected. It took more effort to bring back the breakaway, but all in all we’re obviously happy with the result. It has been a good and fruitful week. We came with two main objectives: to win the queen stage and to have a good GC position. Alberto won both the stage and the race, so it’s a satisfying result for us. Alberto was in good shape and hopefully he’ll keep his form until the Tour. However, it’s still too early and we expect his rivals to be strong. His victory is the result of very hard and dedicated work by the entire squad, especially in the two last stages.”

RESULTS: Contador in Stage 4, 31st (s.t. Coquard - 3:42:10). Contador in GC, 1st (16:53:22)

TOP FIVE: 1 Contador, 2 Quintana (0:17), 3 Latour (0:41), 4 Rossetto (1:06), 5 Sepulveda (1:06)

COMPLETE CLASSIFICATIONS


CONTADOR RULES IN ROUTE DU SUD QUEEN STAGE

June 20, 2015 - Alberto takes stage and leader jersey on smarts, courage and masterful descending skill


Orangeman

Alberto Contador's newest leader jersey is orange, not raspberry, lemon or cherry like the others (Colin Flockton)

Stage 3, June 20: Izaourt - Bagneres-de-Luchon, 181 km

Alberto Contador won the queen stage of the Route du Sud today, not with his customary uphill attack style, but rather by descending like one of the best in the business. He finished the stage 13 seconds plus bonifications ahead of Nairo Quintana. Contador is the new race leader going into tomorrow's final stage.

“Every victory is always important and raises morale, but this one doesn’t mean too much," he said after the stage. "My principal objective continues to be the Tour.”

Even though Contador played down the importance of winning a full-blown Tour de France-style mountain stage, he clearly felt good about the accomplishment. “I’m very happy about this victory. I make an effort to win in every race, not just for me but also for my team and my sponsors. That’s why it’s always important to try to win,” he said.

The winner of the Giro d’Italia highlighted the work done by his team, who drove a pace meant to wear out the opposition. “All my teammates did a great job today and the least I could do was to finish it off.”

Contador and Quintana, who are both riding in the Pyrenees with a bigger picture in mind, rode side by side up the Port de Balés as if it were a training ride, albeit it one punctuated by occasional little digs by Alberto. He explained, “On the Port de Balés I was with Quintana and I asked him if he wanted to collaborate to bring back Latour, who was alone at the front of the race. Qunitana told me that he didn't want to because he considered that I was very strong. There was still a long way to the finish line but I tried to control the race until going over the top."

Contador summited first, although the two were still neck and neck. He accelerated and passed Quintana on the left, as the Colombian took a bottle from a soigneur to his right. “At that point I had a few meters on Quintana and I told myself then that it was all about gritting my teeth and hanging on until the finish line,” he said.

Quintana was dropped on the downhill, rode timidly at times and was outclassed by the descending ability of Contador, who he kept a laser-like focus for 20 technical kilometers at breakneck speed. Alberto claimed his prizes in Bagneres-de-Luchon: the queen stage win and the race leadership.

ACCORDING TO...

Patxi Vila, Tinkoff-Saxo DS: “As we've said before, we came to the Route du Sud with one of the main objectives being to win the queen stage. The first two stages were meant to put Alberto and the team back into racing rhythm in order attack on the third stage. We achieved this goal and we're obviously happy with that.”

“Today, we took control of the race from the start and the squad did an incredible job. Every single rider, without exception, did a fantastic job today. On top of that, Alberto was able to round off the effort when it seemed very difficult. He didn't manage to get away from Quintana on the climb as it was windy, but he did it in the descent. He once again proved what a great champion he is and the extremely wide array of racing skills he has. Most riders have just one way to win but Alberto can do it under various conditions, which makes it even more impressive”

“It goes without saying that every victory in a race is encouraging but we don't think we can draw any conclusions today regarding the Tour de France. Quintana showed today that he was strong. In addition, he's also fresher and without any doubt he will be a strong rival next month. There will be other very strong rivals as well, so it's a long way until the Tour.”

“After today's hard work, all our riders are tired but so will be the rest of the peloton. We will enjoy our victory tonight. Morale is high but tomorrow is another day and once again we'll have to be very attentive and fight hard to maintain Alberto's leadership. We won't take anything for granted”.

Nairo Quintana, 2nd overall: “I’m very satisfied with what I did today; it was a great test, I felt strong.”

“Tinkoff took the stage very fast: it was a proper Tour de France day, at a very high speed. Contador put in a strong attack halfway up the ascent and I was able to make a creditable response.”

“At a certain moment, he asked me whether I wanted to take turns working together, and he’d leave the stage win to me. I answered that I wasn’t going to take a turn nor was I going to attack.”

"On the descent the road was gritty and it wasn’t worth the trouble to make a play for it. Contador took a lot of risks descending.”

RESULTS: Contador in Stage 3, 1st (4:48:05). Contador in GC, 1st (13:11:04)

TOP TEN: 1 Contador, 2 Quintana (0:17), 3 Latour (0:41), 4 Rossetto (0:58), 5 Sepulveda (1:31), 6 Rubiano (2:06), 7 Gallego (3:06), 8 Loubet (3:06), 9 Figueiredo (3:06), 10 N. Brown (3:06)

PHOTO DAYBOOK: PHOTOS BY COLIN FLOCKTON

COMPLETE CLASSIFICATIONS




CONTADOR HOME SAFE AFTER STAGE 2

June 19, 2015 - Again today, Alberto catches a ride with the fastmen in the finale to minimize risk of a pileup


Tough guy

Alberto Contador, a tough guy with a tough job (Colin Flockton)

Stage 2, June 19: Auch - Saint-Gaudens, 141 km

Alberto Contador finished Stage 2 of the Route du Sud safely today, as Bryan Coquard (Europcar) won in an animated sprint. Contador finished with the same time as Coquard and now sits in 11th overall, still 0:13 behind race leader Steven Tronet.

"My legs are improving and I feel eager to test myself," said Alberto, looking ahead to tomorrow's queen stage, "but I see myself as a bit of an unknown. Maybe it will cost me on the ascents."

Teammate Christopher Juul-Jensen, the young Irish Dane, rode brilliantly again in the finale, but his hopes died when the road took a last steep upward jab. He and a few other late-stage buccaneers found themselves swamped by the oncoming pack, and the sprint was on. Contador left the protection of his team at this point and latched onto the back of the sprinters in order to finish in as safe a position as possible.

ACCORDING TO...

Christopher Juul-Jensen: “Today we had a hard finale. The Route du Sud is a good training for the riders that will go on to the Tour. It's up and down all day and a good way to build your legs. In the finale, the riders in my group knew that our chances were getting thinner by the minute. I tried to attack towards the end but they were quickly coming from behind us. It was a tricky uphill finish and the final 500 meters were very hard. To have a realistic chance at winning we would have needed probably another 20 seconds of advantage in the final 2km."

“I'm very thankful to the team and Alberto who allowed me to give it a shot if I felt I had the legs. I'm still on the hunt for my first stage win as a pro, so I appreciate it they gave me that opportunity. Tomorrow, I will be focused on giving my best for Alberto. We have to make sure he is well placed to have the best result possible and, hopefully, we will then have to defend on Sunday. I had my chance yesterday and today but on Saturday and Sunday, we will all work hard for Alberto."

Patxi Vila, Tinkoff-Saxo DS: “Alberto feels in good shape after the first two days of racing and is getting back to race mode. He looks forward to Saturday's queen stage. After the initial transition stages he wants to race in what is his terrain. As I said before, one of the main goals we have in this race is tomorrow's stage, which will possibly define the GC. With Alberto having a good shape and high morale we will try to go for it. We will see how we feel tomorrow and after assessing our rivals we will set the final strategy."

Nairo Quintana, rival for the overall win, about tomorrow's queen stage: "I didn't come with the idea of winning, but rather to get into competition rhythmn and speed before traveling to the Tour."

RESULTS: Contador in Stage 2, 16th (s.t. Bryan Coquard - 3:23:25). Contador in GC, 11th (0:13 Tronet - 8:22:56)

TOP ELEVEN: 1 Tronet, 2 Coquard (0:03), 3 Hardy (0:04), 4 Svendgaard (0:06), 5 Fonseca (0:09), 6 Molard (0:13), 7 Pacher (0:13), 8 Gerdemann (0:13), 9 Hansen (0:13), 10 Avila (0:13), 11 Contador (0:13)

PHOTO DAYBOOK: PHOTOS BY COLIN FLOCKTON

COMPLETE CLASSIFICATIONS


ROUTE DU SUD ALREADY HOPPING

June 18, 2015 - Attacks fly at the end of Stage 1, but Contador finishes safe and sound


Racing again puts a smile on Alberto's face

Alberto looks happy to be back on the bike (Colin Flockton)

Stage 1, June 18: Lourdes - Auch, 204 km

Alberto Contador finished in 10th place today in Stage 1 of the Route du Sud, arriving on the tail of a sprint that was won by Steven Tronet of the Auber 93 team. Contador rode near the front protected by his team for most of the stage, but in the tricky finale, he skipped ahead to be in the safest possible position.

“It was the first day of competition since the Giro and a relatively calm stage," he said at the end of the day. "There was an escape at the start of the stage, while Europcar together with us controled the pack."

Tinkoff-Saxo's Chris Juul-Jensen was sent ahead to follow a late attack by Julien Berard of AG2R at 16.7 km to go. They broke away in the wake of 19-year-old Daniel Martínez of the Colombia team, who was sweeping up KOM points alone in front. The move lit the blue touch paper in the peloton, which sputtered with one attack after another on the narrow, twisting road.

Contador explained, "We decided to have a rider up ahead to have some type of control over the race. At the end, it turned out to be difficult owing to the undulating terrain, but I felt in good form.”

Juul-Jensen was caught by a short string of riders that emerged from the feeding frenzy, but things did not calm down in the main pack. “In the final 500 meters, which were uphill, I decided to go to the front," said Contador. "With so few days until the start of the Tour de France, it’s better to be in front with the aim of minimizing the risk of a crash."

Alberto and the other race favorites finished together, three seconds behind the stage winner. Bonifications do apply in the Route du Sud, so he now sits 13" off the lead.

"Being my first contact with competition since the Giro, it was a long stage – 220 kilometers," Alberto continued. "It turned out to be very useful – with a finale on a hill – after having rested for three weeks, and in general, I felt well physically.”

ACCORDING TO...

Patxi Vila, Tinkoff-Saxo DS: “It was a long and relatively quite stage. There was a breakaway that started very early in the race and set a strong pace. In the main group, Europcar initially took responsibility to work towards bringing the breakaway back and we helped as well towards that. We alternated with them at the front and had one rider to pull initially and two later on. Alberto decided to stay in the front as well and in the final sprint he moved ahead. It was an uneventful stage that played out the way we had planned. We managed to stay safe and avoid any crashes and incidents and it was a good return to competition after the Giro."

RESULTS: Contador in Stage 1, 10th (0:03 Steven Tronet - 4:59:41). Contador in GC, 10th (0:13 Tronet - 4:59:31)

TOP TEN: 1 Tronet, 2 Hardy (0:04), 3 Carbet (0:06), 4 Pacher (0:13), 5 Skjerping (0:13), 6 Gerdemann (0:13), 7 Roux (0:13), 8 Molard (0:13), Avila (0:13), 10 Contador (0:13)

PHOTO DAYBOOK: PHOTOS BY COLIN FLOCKTON

COMPLETE CLASSIFICATIONS



Scroll to 11:16 to see an interview with Contador


TODAY: LA ROUTE DU SUD

June 18, 2015 - Pyrenean tour kicks off in Lourdes


Look for Alberto Contador wearing bib number 1 today as La Route du Sud begins a four-day trek through southwestern France. Eurosport will carry live video coverage of all stages.

Start time for Stage 1: 11:30. Live pictures start at 2:15 CET (7:15 am CDT).

Contador has never ridden the Route du Sud before, but since arriving he has already taken advantage of the locality by doing a recon of Cauterets, the finishing climb of Stage 11 of the upcoming Tour de France.

PHOTO DAYBOOK - RACE ATLAS: ROUTE DU SUD

Riding for Tinkoff-Saxo: 1 Alberto Contador, 2 Ivan Basso, 3 Christopher Juul-Jensen, 4 Jesús Hernández, 5 Oliver Zaugg, 6 Sergio Paulinho, 7 Michael Rogers, 8 Ivan Rovny, DS: Patxi Vila


NEXT RACE: LA ROUTE DU SUD

June 17, 2015 - Four days of Tour de France prep on offer in Pyrenean stage race


39th Route du Sud The 39th edition of the Route du Sud runs from Thursday, June 18 through Sunday, June 21, 2015.

This year, sixteen teams of eight riders each will leave from Lourdes to cover 692 kilometers in four stages through the Pyrenees, including three first-category climbs.

This is Alberto Contador's first career appearance in the Route du Sud. He will face off here against Nairo Quintana, winner of the 2012 edition, as both riders continue preparation for the year’s biggest confrontation: the Tour de France.

There has been only one Spanish winner in the history of the Route du Sud to date, Óscar Sevilla in 2007. Another past winner is Michael Rogers (2003), current teammate and road captain of Alberto Contador at Tinkoff-Saxo. Last year’s edition was won by then-teammate of Contador, Nicolas Roche, who shares his spot on the honor roll with his father, Stephen Roche (1985), and his cousin, Dan Martin (2008)

Tinkoff-Saxo directeur sportif Patxi Vila explained the team's approach to the race in a press release today: “Firstly, it's the first race after the Giro for Alberto Contador, Ivan Basso and Michael Rogers and these three riders need to compete before the Tour. The main objective for Tinkoff-Saxo is that they compete and enter into race-mode once again. After nearly three weeks of break they have to get into the mindset of a competition.

“Secondly, these four days of racing will provide a very good assessment of their form, especially for Alberto. The real test will come in the third stage. It's the race's queen stage with three Cat 1 climbs, including the famous Port de Balès and will give a very good indication of Alberto's form. He will, obviously, fight to be in the front and being a very competitive athlete, we don't rule out the possibility that he might try to go for a stage win. However, there will be other, fresher, riders from other teams that will give their best because the GC will most probably be decided there."

Vila went on to say, “The first two stages are fairly flat and suited for sprinters. Tinkoff-Saxo will not bring sprinters to the race and as a result these initial 350km of racing will be used to bring the riders to race-mode and prepare for the third stage. If Alberto feels good on the third stage, he will obviously need the entire squad to help him and that will be their task. The fourth and final stage is also fairly flat and will provide the last, real-race training for Alberto prior to the Tour de France."

Riding for Tinkoff-Saxo: Alberto Contador, Ivan Basso, Jesús Hernández, Christopher Juul-Jensen, Sergio Paulinho, Michael Rogers, Ivan Rovny, Oliver Zaugg, DS: Patxi Vila

Read more, and see daily maps, profiles, start times and more information at our RACE ATLAS


CONTADOR SET FOR ROUTE DU SUD

June 16, 2015 - Pedaling again after a much-deserved break, Giro winner Alberto looks forward to four days of racing in France this week


Alberto's Route du Sud card

Alberto's Route du Sud card (La Route du Sud)

Alberto Contador returns to competition this Thursday, June 18, after having won the Giro d’Italia on May 31. After two weeks of active rest, Alberto is very motivated in view of his next challenge, the Tour de France. “If it were easy, I wouldn’t have this motivation. I hope to arrive at the startline in the top condition,” says the leader of the Tinkoff-Saxo team two days before the start of the Route de Sud.

“Physically and muscularly I still feel the wear and tear of the Giro, especially from the final week, which was really tough. As a result of that, I’ve tried, above all, to rest as much as possible during this time,” said Contador. “I focused on recovery and I’ve only done three days of specific training to activate my body.”

How to you think you’ll feel in the four days of the Route du Sud?
For me, it’s an unknown. I can’t know now what my form will be like. I’ve been really careful about all the details, both rest and nutrition, which is somewhat complicated, because you have to eat lightly, just the opposite of how it happens in a competition. The most important thing is that I’m eager to ride the Route du Sud, since it’s going to give me speed in the legs and I’m going to be in motion again. Surely, it’s going to take me a while to get up to pace, but I have a good foundation and it will allow me to get some good training done in race mode.

Are you already thinking about the Tour de France? How do you see yourself right now?
I see it with uncertainty, but also with the motivation to experience something that’s new for me. I’m mentally very excited and motivated by this challenge. Physically, when I get up, my legs still hurt, I feel a little muscle fatigue, but this is normal. If it were easy, I wouldn’t have this motivation and, on second thought, there are still more days left to recover than days that have passed since the end of the Giro. I hope to arrive at the startline in top condition.

Where have you been training?
After going to Pinto to celebrate the victory with my friends and family, I went to Lugano and from there to Livigno, where I was cloistered and focused. It’s a good place, with climbs of iconic mountains very close by, like Gavio and Stelvio, and also with the chance to train on flat terrain at an altitude of 1,800 meters. I took advantage of it to prepare my return to competition, even though I’m going to tackle this race is a more relaxed mode.

Alberto Contador will ride the Route de Sud from June 18-21. The Tour de France begins on July 4 in Utrecht.

Team Tinkoff-Saxo via BICICICLISMO


All text © 2007-2008 Rebecca Bell, contadorfans@hotmail.com.
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