Tinkoff-Saxo’s Alberto Contador wins stage 3 of Route du Sud, 13 seconds in front of rival Nairo Quintana. Contador, who now leads the race with 0’17”, put in a determined effort on Port de Balès after his teammates had laid down the ground work decimating the group of favorites. The ultimate attack came on the descent of the final climb, where he dropped Quintana and Latour.

Upon crossing the line in Bagnères-de-Luchon as the winner of the queen stage of Route du Sud just three weeks after having conquered the Giro d’Italia, Contador says that he was very satisfied his shape.

“I'm very happy with this victory. I strive to win in every race not just for myself and my team but also for our sponsors. I'd like to thank Tinkoff Bank, Saxo Bank, Citroën, Specialized, Sportful and all the partners of the team for their invaluable help. That's why it's always important to try and win”, says Contador.

"This stage was very important. My teammates have done a very big job. It was very difficult to get rid of Nairo (Quintana). But in the beginning of the descent, he lost 3-4 meters. At the bottom, there was a lot of wind and he could not come back to me. The objective was to reach the finish at least a few seconds ahead of him. I did it!

“All my teammates did a very good job today and for that reason I had to round off the effort. On Port de Balès I was with Quintana and I asked him whether he wanted to collaborate in order to bring Latour back, who was alone at the front. Quintana said he didn't want to because he considered I was very strong. There was still a long way to go but I tried to control the race to the top of the climb. At that point I got a few meters from Quintana and I realized it was a question of gritting my teeth and holding on to the finish line. I staged a few attacks, just enough to be able to control the race”, comments Contador before adding:

“Every win is always important and boosts your morale but this one doesn't mean much. The main objective remains the Tour de France.

"Three days before coming to the Route du Sud, I started to feel less tired. Since the beginning of the race, the sensations have been good. I am still in the recovery phase. My main goal is obviously the Tour de France. Today I was focused on my feelings. If I had not won this stage, I would not have been overly concerned."

Stage 3 of Route du Sud took the riders from Izaourt to Bagnères-de-Luchon, where Tinkoff-Saxo’s Michael Rogers also grabbed the stage win in Tour de France 2014. Tinkoff-Saxo put in a solid pace on the final climb to Port de Balès decimating the front group.

Midway on the iconic climb, Alberto Contador put in a series of attacks that immediately splintered the group. He crested the top with Nairo Quintana and Pierre-Roger Latour but shortly after initiated another attack on the fast downhill section towards the finish line. Patxi Vila, Tinkoff-Saxo sports director, elaborates on the effort made.

“As we have said before, we came to the Route du Sud with one of the main objectives being to win the queen stage. The first two stages were meant to put Alberto and the team back into racing rhythm in order attack on the third stage. We achieved this goal and we are obviously happy with that”, says Vila and adds:

“Today, we took control of the race from the start and the squad did an incredible work. Every single rider, with no exception, did a fantastic job today. On top of that, Alberto was able to round off the effort when it seemed very difficult. He didn't manage to get away of Quintana on the climb as it was windy but he did it in the decent. He once again proved the great champion he is and the extremely wide array of racing skills he has. Most riders have just one way to win but Alberto can do it under various conditions, which makes it even more impressive”

Patxi Vila notes that it’s difficult to draw any conclusions about the relative shape of the favorites for Tour de France from today’s stage 3.

“It goes without saying that every victory in a race is encouraging but we think we cannot draw any conclusion today in what regards the Tour de France. Quintana showed today he was strong. In addition, he's also fresher and without any doubt he will be a strong rival next month. There will be other very strong rivals as well, so it's a long way until the Tour”, comments Patxi Vila and concludes:

“After today's hard work, all our riders are tired but so will be the rest of the peloton. We will enjoy our victory tonight, the morale is high but tomorrow is another day and we will have once again to be very attentive and fight hard to maintain Alberto's leadership. We will not take anything for granted”.