The scene was set for another battle between the favorites on stage 18 with a 7 k uphill finish. Alberto Contador finished fifth, together with Valverde and Rodriguez, 12 seconds behind rival Chris Froome after a tactical ascend to the top. After the stage, Alberto Contador played down the importance of the seconds lost.
“Clearly it is better not to lose time,” stated the leader of Tinkoff-Saxo, “but I hope it’s not too much of an issue. I had to control the three and I thought that Alejandro had to defend the podium, while the stage was a pretty good opportunity for him as well. It is true that we lost time and now I have to follow Froome on Ancares. But I’m happy with my shape, I feel pretty good and we have one less day to go now.”
Alberto commented that he did not want to work alone to close the gap to Froome. “They also had interests, especially Alejandro, who didn’t want to lose his second place on the podium. Perhaps I was a bit cooler than usual,” he said after crossing the finish line, still leading with 1’19’’ to second-placed Chris Froome.
But Alberto wasn’t surprised that Froome attacked on the slopes of Monte Castrove.
“Not at all, he was sitting last in the group and I knew that when we took the foot of the throttle for a second, he would try. He took a few meters and behind no one wanted to work more than necessary to avoid a counterattack. That was one of the reasons behind the time differences,” said Contador.
“On Saturday’s stage to Ancares, the race will be different,” commented Alberto. “The climb today and the one to Ancares can’t be compared. Today was a stage like a Classic but Ancares is a high mountain out of category.”
Finally, Alberto Contador said that if he had been alone, he would have followed Froome’s attack. “Yes, sure I would have gone with him. Maybe in a couple of days I will regret this, but I don’t give it any significant importance right now,” concluded the captain of Tinkoff-Saxo.
