Alberto Contador’s disposition was the biggest among numerous question marks at the beginning of the 69th edition of the Vuelta a Espana, as Tinkoff-Saxo did everything they could to leave the whole world of cycling uninformed. Even though the Russian team is known for playing mind games with rivals, sports director Steven de Jongh insists that they weren’t trying to fool anyone this time around, and that an unbelievable recovery of the 31-year old Spaniard truly surprised them.

It took Contador exactly seven weeks to recover from tibia fracture (and several injuries of a less significance) he suffered during 10th stage of the Tour de France enough to become the main protagonist of the second mountaintop finish of the Vuelta a Espana on Sunday.

While his performances in first two mountain stages of the Spanish three-week event couldn’t be decisive in regards to his condition - ascents tackled by riders weren’t overly difficult, Tuesday’s individual time trial certainly could. On a surprisingly tricky course, the 33-year old Spaniard finished fourth, beaten only by the 2014 season’s time trialing revelation Rigoberto Uran (Omega Pharma – Quick Step) among general classification contenders, and took the leaders jersey from crushed Nairo Quintana (Movistar).

During the rest day on Monday, both Contador and Tinkoff-Saxo manager Bjarne Riis timidly mentioned for the first time that the Spaniard might target the overall victory in the Vuelta. However, Russian team sports director Steven de Jongh insists that his quick recovery was a huge surprise for everyone, apparently including those best informed, and that it remains uncertain whether he won’t suffer some effects of the recent injury later in the race.

Asked by Belgian media whether the team was trying to fool other rivals by exaggerating severity of Contador’s injuries, De Jongh denied.

“No,” De Jongh told Sporza. “There will always be some cynics, but he has just recovered much quicker than we expected.”

“He’s still in pain when he walks. Fortunately, he’s not a footballer. He can still suffer a very bad day, though, so we shouldn’t push our luck just yet.”