Alberto Contador (Team Saxo-Tinkoff) overcame a crisis on the last climb in today's penultimate stage in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco to rejoin the group of favourites on the descent. However, he lost 4 seconds to main rival Richie Porte (Sky), and the Vuelta winner acknowledges that the Australian enters the final time trial as the man to beat.

Alberto Contador entered this year's Vuelta al Pais Vasco with the firm hope of finally winning a stage race this season, but he has failed to gain any time on his expected main rival Richie Porte in the mountains. Today's penultimate stage was the last chance ahead of the race's final time trial, and once again he missed out.

Actually, he ended up losing 4 seconds after the Australian soloed off to take the stage win, and Contador had even been dropped on the final climb. On a stage held in harsh weather conditions, the Spaniard attributed hi s difficulties to the effect of the cold and rain.

“I'm going to remember this stage for a long time," he said. "The weather was so very bad and there have been moments of rain and even snow. I got the cold into the body and once that happens, it complicates the physical condition but at the end we saved the day without too much trouble."

Contador now faces the difficult task of trying to take back those 4 seconds on Porte in tomorrow's decisive time trial. He is a strong time triallist with a number of victories in the race against the clock, but he has not been able to rediscover his previous strength in the discipline after he returned from suspension.

On the other hand, Porte is an expert in the discipline with already two victories under his belt this year, and Contador acknowledges that Porte is the favourite ahead of tomorrow's battle.

"Now, I'll try to recover as effectively as possible and wait to see how the race goes tomorrow," he said. "The time differences between us are very small and it'll all depend on how we've recovered. Richie Porte has made some impressive time trials this year so he's the favorite but let's see how he feels tomorrow."

Sports director Philippe Mauduit admitted that the plan had been to attack, but in the end the team lacked the strength to make a difference.

”That was an intense stage with high pace from the start and groups of riders were dropped on the many climbs along the way," he explained. "Our boys did what they could to stay in front and of course, we wanted to put in an attack but they simply didn't have the power. The cold weather was a fierce opponent and a lot of riders suffered – including Alberto and the strongest rider won the stage. Richie is obviously the big favorite on tomorrow's stage but I'm sure Alberto will do what he can to remain his position in the GC."

Starting at 15.25, you can follow the final time trial on CyclingQuotes.com/live.