Alberto Contador has admitted he was “afraid” during the fifth stage of the Tour de France that featured 11 sectors from Paris-Roubaix, which became 9 after 2 were removed due to bad weather making them unrideable.

‘In sector one, he was in the front, he was OK, but in sector two there was a lot of mud and he was afraid to be honest,” Tinkoff-Saxo team manager, Bjarne Riis said of Wednesday’s stage. “I think he was happy to survive. I mean, he’s 60 kilogrammes, what do you do?! Nibali is different rider, technically, he’s very good.”

“He saw this year’s sectors twice, that’s how to do it,” continued Riis. “But then it was different because of the rain. I can understand that he was scared on the pavé. I would’ve been that way myself!”

As a result of his fear, Contador finished 2:35 down on Yellow Jersey Vincenzo Nibali, meaning he has a lot of time to make up on the Italian in the mountains.

“It’s not only Alberto who needs to attack, but there are many guys who need to attack, from Porte (1:54 to Nibali) on down. That’s what I like about this Tour de France, it’s very open and it’s going to be fun to watch. You know, in the big mountains you can easily take one minute,” said Riis.

“Astana won’t be worn down, they are riding as they should with the yellow jersey, spending energy in the front in the finals like we do – so that’s not more. They’ll have a strong team, but at the end of the day, it comes down to Nibali and how strong he is.”

“One day, Alberto will take off and it’ll be a head-to-head fight. Alberto can still win this Tour de France, but he needs to be strong to do it.”