After taking his victory in the Pyrenean based Route du Sud, Alberto Contador stayed a few days in the South of France to recon the summit finishes of La Pierre Saint-Martin, Cauterets and Plateau de Beille. The Tinkoff-Saxo leader is already familiar with some of the parcours, as he had paid a visit Cauterets ahead of his ride at the Route du Sud. He also claimed victory on the Plateau de Beille en route to winning the 2007 Tour de France, beating Michael Rasmussen in a sprint to the line. The victory on the hors catégorie climb was his first of three stage wins at the Tour de France, with two more to come during the 2009 race.

El Pistolero told Spanish newspaper AS : "Basically, I am focused on my efforts to recover. The four days of competition in France were really good to get my legs back up to speed and they were quite demanding. Now what I have to do is rest, with a little bit of training but very gently. The work is done, it is important that the body absorbs it." He added: "The serious level must be reached in the Tour."