Tinkoff-Saxo’s Alberto Contador commenced his final preparation ahead of Tour de France as he returned to racing in Route du Sud, where he finished 10th and most importantly stayed safe throughout the stage.
 
After the stage, Alberto Contador commented that he had good sensations during his first race since winning the Giro d’Italia.
 
"It was the first day of racing after the Giro and a relatively quiet stage. There was a breakaway at the start of the stage, while Europcar together with us, controlled the group. We decided to have a rider to collaborate in the front of the group so that we could have some control of the race. At the end, it turned out to be more difficult because of the undulating terrain but I felt in good shape”, says Contador and adds:
 
“In the final 500 meters, that were uphill, I decided to move to the front. With so few days left until the start of the Tour de France, it is better to be in the front in order to minimize the risks of a crash. Being my first contact with a competition after the Giro, it was a long stage, 220km long. It proved very useful in order to ramp up after a break of nearly three weeks and all in all the sensation I had today was good”.

Stage 1 ran from Lourdes to Auch with a total distance of 204km. Alberto Contador finished 10th on the stage together with the main bunch, 3 seconds off Steven Tronet, who took the stage win. Patxi Vila, Tinkoff-Saxo sports director, explains how the stage unfolded:
 
“It was a long and relatively quite stage. There was a breakaway that started very early in the race and set a strong pace. In the main group, Europcar initially took responsibility to work towards bringing the breakaway back and we helped as well towards that. We alternated with them at the front and had one rider to pull initially and two later on. Alberto decided to stay in the front as well and in the final sprint he moved ahead. It was an uneventful stage that played out the way we had planned. We managed to stay safe and avoid any crashes and incidents and it was a good return to competition after the Giro”, finishes Patxi Vila.