Alberto Contador dealt his rivals a psychological blow when the rode away from all his rivals in the finale of topday's first mountain stage of the Tour de France. The Spaniard may only have gained 3 seconds on Vincenzo Nibali but he hadn't expected to drop the race leader in this kind of explosive finale.

Tinkoff-Saxo and Alberto Contador had noticeably success in trying to shake the GC-favorites on today’s stage in the Vosges. Contador attacked on the final 1,8 kilometer finishing climb in the wake of a strong effort by his teammates. Contador took time on many of his rivals and climbed to 6th in the overall GC.

“It was the first day in the mountains and we had to prove our strength as a team. We did an outstanding job and the most important thing is that we tried. The feeling was good, but the differences were small. But did not expect to unhook Nibali. It was a really short climb, but I’m happy with the result”, says Alberto Contador after the stage.

Tinkoff-Saxo took to the front of the peloton with 30 k to go just before the three climbs in the finale. Contador says that the ambition was to test the competitors.

“I wanted to see how Nibali felt. It was a surprise to me that he let go of my wheel on the final 50 meters. I wasn’t hundred percent sure if there was a rider ahead for the stage win. So I was looking at Nibali all the time, until I saw the finish line screen indicating two minutes and then I decided to try to gain some seconds”, says Alberto Contador and continues:

“The team was extraordinary today and my legs responded well. We have to gain time every day, because Nibali is a great rider, like the rest of those in front of me. Today was not about proving anything to anyone; I was trying to make up time and test my rivals. Nibali is a rider that knows how to win the Grand Tours and combined with his advantage he’s still the favorite. He has 2:30 minutes and that’s a lot of time”.

Finally, Alberto said that he, the next two days, awaits some very important stages.

“The first thing is to recover and not catch a cold. But on Monday there’s already quite a hard climb at the end and the whole stage will be equally difficult. If I’m feeling well and the situation allows it, I will try to make op more seconds on Nibali”, concludes Alberto Contador.

“In the first week of the race, Matteo, Michael and Daniele have done a very good job on the flat stretches and today, Sergio, Rafal, Nicolas and Michael demonstrated that they are ready for the mountains," sports director Philippe Mauduit said. "Alberto didn’t go 100% but tested his rivals and Nibali who seems like the strongest. We gained a few seconds on Nibali, a minute and more on other rivals and the mountains are yet to come. We’re looking forward to Alps and Pyreness but don’t underestimate tomorrow’s and Monday’s stages either."