As we have informed yesterday, Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) officially confirmed Steven de Jongh as his trainer at a press conference following his victory in the Tirreno-Adriatico. The former Team Sky sports director was brought on board of the Danish squad to help their leader to regain his disposition from the time before him suspension and even though the Spaniard crushed whole opposition in Italian mountains the Dutchman claims he is still not at his best level.
De Jongh started the cooperation with Contador and Tinkoff-Saxo last winter, quickly convincing the Spaniard to spend more time on altitude training and improved his ability to control weight.
After an overly disappointing 2013 season, the Tinkoff-Saxo leader has shown some signs of life earlier this year winning the queen stage of Volta ao Algarve, but his latest performances in the Tirreno-Adriatico proved that Contador is back to his best.
However, de Jongh claims that there is still a room for further improvement in regards to Contador’s physical shape.
"He's still not at his top level," Steven de Jongh told De Telegraaf.
"In terms of weight, fitness and strength there is still a margin towards the Tour to make him even stronger"
The Tinkoff-Saxo coach also claimed that even though below-par performances of Contador last year had a psychological background, they were able to turn it into his strength and use his determination as an additional kick to undergo very solid preparations.
“Determination to get to the top back was unprecedented," de Jongh concluded.
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