Alberto Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) bounced back from yesterday's hugely disappointing 61st place in the time trial when he was only surpassed by bug Tour rival Chris Froome (Sky) in the first mountaintop finish in this year's Criterium du Dauphiné. The Spaniard was glad to feel a little better but said that there was still some way to go before he has reached his top level.

Alberto Contador drew many headlines yesterday when he was caught by his former domestique Richie Porte and lost 2.45 to bug Tour rival Chris Froome in the Criterium du Dauphiné. Today he showed encouraging signs when the race entered his favoured terrain in the mountains as he finished second behind Froome.

Contador attacked with 1,4km to go and dropped Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) who was the only one who initially followed him. However, Froome burst clear from the peloton a little later, closed the gap to the Spaniard and dropped him inside the final 500m of the race.

While the performance was certainly better than yesterday's where he claimed to be suffering from allergies, the defeat to Froome was a hard pill to swallow. Hence, Contador also kept a cautious approach when he was asked for his reaction to the day's stage.

"I am happy because I felt a little better than yesterday but not much," he said I've been following wheels the whole race. I know that this time of the year is not the best for me due to allergies and I have to take it day by day.  My condition is improving every day and that is the most important"

Contador said from the very beginning of the race that he was at the Dauphiné only to prepare for the Tour and not to chase a top result. This is in line with his approach to previous editions of the French race and he reiterated that stance today.

“Froome is very strong, like his team but this is not my race," he said. "I'm here to improve the condition and not to go too fast, because the real goal is the Tour de France. Regardless of the result, the goal is to get ready for the Tour. If you can win a stage, it's fine because it always gives you a bit of confidence, but the
important thing is to keep working."

While Contador has now moved into 13th overall 2.49 behind new leader Froome, he has limited chances of battling for the podium. However, teammate Michael Rogers, 2nd in the race last year, is 4th overall and is only 41 seconds shy a top 3 finish and in general the team performed strongly. When only 12 riders were left in the peloton, Contador was still supported by Rogers and Jesus Hernandez.

“Rogers is placed very well overall and the team also is going better each day," Contador said. "Today we had three riders in the front group and that is thanks to the hard work of all my teammates."

Contador will tackle an easier stage tomorrow before he is set to kick back into action in the two crucial stages on Saturday on Sunday. Starting at 12.45, you can follow tomorrow's stage on CyclingQuotes.com/live.