This Tuesday, Tinkoff-Saxo carried out its first training ride in Italy prior to the start of Giro d’Italia. During the three-hour ride, the nine riders alternated between road and time-trial bikes to recognize the course of the inaugural team time-trial, which will, among other challenges, pass through a bike path along the coast to San Remo.

“It’s a time trial without any great mysteries regarding the corners”, says Alberto Contador after finishing the morning’s work. “It will be important to have a good organization because it is on a bike path, which requires that the relays have to be well coordinated to allow for smooth transitions, because it is a fairly narrow road”.

The team captain of Tinkoff-Saxo says he had “good sensations” two days before the start. “I have arrived pretty well, we have worked very hard since late last year, when I had this race in mind. It is the first big goal of the season and I’ve prioritized the first part of the year for it. I’m happy to be here and also motivated by the team that I have, because it’s very powerful and all riders are here in good shape and excited about this challenge. Now it’s time to have good legs”.

Regarding the result of the time trial, Alberto Contador doesn’t expect too big time differences on the 17.6km parcours. “There cannot be big differences because it isn’t a technical course. Strong teams will get a good time. I hope we’ll do a good time trial, especially regarding my direct rivals, but they’ll also do a great race because they have really strong teams for this”, finishes Contador.