Alberto Contador lines up at the start of his fourth consecutive stage race in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco today, after winning the Tirreno-Adriatico in an impressive style and finishing runner-up in both Volta ao Algarve and Volta a Catalunya, to Michał Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) and Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) respectively. The Tinkoff-Saxo leader aims to dominate just another mountainous event this season, trying to repeat his successes in the Basque Country from 2008 and 2009.

Having his confidence significantly boosted following his most recent showings in Italy and Catalunya, Contador do not hide his intentions in regards to the Vuelta al Pais Vasco.

“I want to ride a great race. I know there are big names. I am fine and very excited about entering the race which has provided me with so many good memories,” Contador told The Courier.

Having the individual time trial from Markina to Xemein on the ultimate day on his mind, the Tinkoff-Saxo leader is aware that he will have to gain time on his rivals beforehand.

“In the time trial you can get more advantage than on [other] stages and Markina [course] suits well riders like Van Garderen, Martin and Kwiatkowski. I don’t know how they would recover from [earlier] efforts, but I expect them to be strong against the clock.”

“I’ll have to gain advantage before the ultimate day, especially on the time trialists. In the Vualta al Pais Vasco every single stage has to be treated as a classic,” Contador explained.

Contador’s successful appearances in Algarve, Tirreno and Catalunya marked his return to the top, highlighted by regaining the first position in the WorldTour individual standings.

“It was a cumulation of twenty, very intensive days of competition, always challenging. So yes, in the Volta [a Catalunya] I’ve noticed the increasing fatigue. It is normal. Last week was planned to get some rest: only yesterday I rode for an hour but today I didn’t touch a bike again. In addition, I got a little cold in the Volta and had to remain careful,” contador told the Basque newspaper.  

The Tinkoff-Saxo leader also referred to his 2014 season’s main objective – the Tour de France, with its cobbled fifth stage from Ypres to Arenberg and 54-kilometer long, demanding time trial on a penultimate day.

“The thing that concerns me is the time trial. I will be forced to spend many hours of training on a time trial bike beforehand. The race will judge it.”