Impressive stuff from Alberto Contador last night at the Dauphine. Clearly he had plenty in the tank and may well have been up for the stage win. But instead he openly sacrificed his own ambitions on the Col de Vars and Montee de Risoul to chaperone Mick Rogers to the finish in an attempt to keep the Aussie on the podium. It didn’t work, of course. But that wasn’t the point. Such a selfless show of teamwork by the dancing Spaniard (even if his DS told him to do it) was an important investment – and so wonderfully apt for a rider sponsored by not one but two banks.
It was no speculative flutter by Senor Contador, mind you. He knows the roles will soon be reversed in the 100th Tour de France. Rogers and co will be chaperoning him. And when things get tough, as they most certainly will, you can bet they’ll remember the Dauphine and be prepared to push themselves within a tyre width of implosion to help him stick with Froome, Evans etc in his quest to summit the top step in Paris once again. Whether that will be enough remains to be seen. But it will be riveting viewing. 19 sleeps…
Carbon Addiction 