Spaniard would provide DNA if asked to.

Alberto Contador has told Spanish sports daily MARCA that he is hopeful that, “for the good of cycling,” the Operación Puerto trial will be as extensive as possible and that he would be willing to hand over his DNA to clarify “everything once and for all.”

Speaking about the enormous media attention on Operación Puerto, Contador said: “I hope it is useful for something and, for the good of cycling, that we get to the bottom of this. That way, if things are done well and the case is completed correctly, we can finally start talking about sport.”

Originally, Contador was scheduled to give testimony in the Puerto trial but it was eventually decided that his witness statement would not be necessary. However, he told MARCA that if asked to do so, he would provide his DNA – a request made to all the riders who have testified in the case.

“I wouldn’t think about it for a moment,” Contador said. “I would hand it over the moment they asked for it so that everything could be clarified for once and for all.”

Speaking about the Tour of Oman, where Contador finished second behind Chris Froome (Sky), the Saxo-Tinkoff rider said he was “pleased that all the big names are already up there, it’s better for the fans than waiting for the big Tours.”

Contador then went on to heap praise on the man who might turn out to be his main rival at the forthcoming Tour. “Chris was very strong, that’s undeniable, but although he beat me, I was very pleased with how I raced there because I felt very good. If I had tackled the race differently, maybe the result would have been different, but Froome and his team were very strong.”

Contador said his weight had been to blame for failing to stay in contact with Froome on the Green Mountain stage where the Briton took the lead. “The stage was really aggressive on that climb and with the weight I was carrying, it was very difficult to maintain the right sort of rhythm.”

Froome and Contador, in any case, will cross swords again this week in Tirreno-Adriatico, where Contador says he “hopes to be fighting for the overall triumph.” Going into more details about the Tirreno-Adriatico, the 30-year-old from Pinto said that he has studied the route carefully and he depicts it as “very well-balanced,” with long stages for Milan-San Remo hopefuls and an individual time trial on the last day, of 9.3 km, which might be decisive. “It’s a race in which every second counts.”

After Tirreno-Adriatico, Contador’s race itinerary will include the GP Nobili Rubinetterie, Critérium International, the Tour of the Basque Country and then almost certainly a long break before the Dauphiné Libéré. He may yet take part in some of the Ardennes Classics, with Flèche Wallone, in which he took third in 2011, the obvious target, with the Liège-Bastogne-Liège a credible alternative.